--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we reason, we would be understood; if…" description: "\"If we reason, we would be understood; if we imagine, we would that the airy children of our brain were born anew within another's; if we feel, we would..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc7/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_airy_if-we-reason-we-would-be-understood-if-w_1228378.jpg" --- # If we reason, we would be understood; if we imagine, we… ![“If we reason, we would be understood; if we imagine, we would that the airy children of our brain were born anew within another's; if we feel, we would that another's nerves should vibrate to our own, that the beams of their eyes should kindle at once and mix and melt into our own, that lips of…” quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc7/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_airy_if-we-reason-we-would-be-understood-if-w_1228378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc7/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_airy_if-we-reason-we-would-be-understood-if-w_1228378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc7/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_airy_if-we-reason-we-would-be-understood-if-w_1228378.jpg) > “If we reason, we would be understood; if we imagine, we would that the airy children of our brain were born anew within another's; if we feel, we would that another's nerves should vibrate to our own, that the beams of their eyes should kindle at once and mix and melt into our own, that lips of motionless ice should not reply to lips quivering and burning with the heart's best blood. This is Love.” [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is a deep, shared emotional resonance where imagination, feeling, and reason merge, creating a unified experience. **In simple terms:** Love unites mind, heart, and senses. Key Takeaway Seek deep connection beyond words. Themes love empathy creativity Mood passionate reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - romantic relationships - friendships - artistic collaborations - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychological resonance shared experience emotional fusion Questions to Reflect On - What does true emotional resonance feel like? - How can we nurture shared imagination? A Different Perspective Idealistic view may overlook practical challenges of relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [You didn't get past something like that, you go through it -- and for that reason alone, I understood more about her than she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/you-didn-t-get-past-something-like-that-you-go-through-it-and-for/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“Shura,” she whispered. “I’m going to have a baby.” At first she didn’t think Alexander heard her, he was mute so long. “You what?”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paullina-simons/shura-she-whispered-i-m-going-to-have-a-baby-at-first-she-didn-t/) [Paullina Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paullina-simons/) > [“ Ai-ee ,” he whispered. “You learn quick.” Raising tear-filled eyes to his, she again spat in his face. This time he felt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/ai-ee-he-whispered-you-learn-quick-raising-tear-filled-eyes-to-his/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“Clevinger was already on the way, half out of his chair with emotion, his eyes moist and his lips quivering and pale. As always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/clevinger-was-already-on-the-way-half-out-of-his-chair-with-emotion/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [“It’s always you and me.” I nodded again and felt my lips quivering. He kept whispering, “Always me and my Sylvie, yeah?” “Yeah,” I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/it-s-always-you-and-me-i-nodded-again-and-felt-my-lips-quivering-he/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [Oh, that the wise from their bright minds would kindle Such lamps within the dome of this dim world That the pale name of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/oh-that-the-wise-from-their-bright-minds-would-kindle-such-lamps/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Mutability is the badge of infirmity. It is seldom that a man continues to wish and design the same thing two days alike. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-charron/mutability-is-the-badge-of-infirmity-it-is-seldom-that-a-man/) [Pierre Charron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-charron/) > [Sorrow itself is not so hard to bear As the thought of sorrow coming. Airy ghosts, That work no harm, do terrify us more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/sorrow-itself-is-not-so-hard-to-bear-as-the-thought-of-sorrow-coming/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [But housekeeping is fun. It is one job where you enjoy the results right along as you work. You may work all day washing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-taber/but-housekeeping-is-fun-it-is-one-job-where-you-enjoy-the-results/) [Gladys Taber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-taber/) > [“ Autumn Days Yellow, mellow, ripened days, Sheltered in a golden coating; O'er the dreamy, listless haze, White and dainty cloudlets floating; Winking at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-carleton/autumn-days-yellow-mellow-ripened-days-sheltered-in-a-golden-coating/) [Will Carleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-carleton/) > [When I feel the joy of receiving a gift my heart nudges me to join creation's ballet, the airy dance of giving and receiving,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/when-i-feel-the-joy-of-receiving-a-gift-my-heart-nudges-me-to-join/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [My family dumplings are sleek and seductive, yet stout and masculine. They taste of meat, yet of flour. They are wet, yet they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-p-t-coffin/my-family-dumplings-are-sleek-and-seductive-yet-stout-and-masculine/) Robert P. T. Coffin > [This rough magic I here abjure and when I have required some heavenly music, which even now I do, to work mine end upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/this-rough-magic-i-here-abjure-and-when-i-have-required-some-heavenly/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Imagination helps you to recognize the reality of facts, but then to go beyond them, to penetrate beneath them, to rise above them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/imagination-helps-you-to-recognize-the-reality-of-facts-but-then-to/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) ## More by Percy Bysshe Shelley > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-quick-dreams-the-passion-winged-ministers-of-thought/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hail-to-thee-blithe-spirit/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The jealous keys of truth's eternal doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-jealous-keys-of-truth-s-eternal-doors/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/though-we-eat-little-flesh-and-drink-no-wine-yet-let-s-be-merry-we-ll/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A dream has power to poison sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Titles are tinsel, power a corrupter, glorya bubble, and excessive wealth a libel on its possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/titles-are-tinsel-power-a-corrupter-glorya-bubble-and-excessive/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed !”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-fall-upon-the-thorns-of-life-i-bleed/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I love tranquil solitude, And such society As is quiet, wise, and good; Between thee and me What difference? but thou dost possess The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-love-tranquil-solitude-and-such-society-as-is-quiet-wise-and-good/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The practice of utter sincerity towards other men would avail to no good end, if they were incapable of practising it towards their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-practice-of-utter-sincerity-towards-other-men-would-avail-to-no/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow claspest the limits of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/thou-shoreless-flood-which-in-thy-ebb-and-flow-claspest-the-limits-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Senseless is the breast and cold Which relenting love would fold; Bloodless are the veins and chill Which the pulse of pain did fill;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/senseless-is-the-breast-and-cold-which-relenting-love-would-fold/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) [Explore all 533 Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## More Airy quotes > [Imagination helps you to recognize the reality of facts, but then to go beyond them, to penetrate beneath them, to rise above them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/imagination-helps-you-to-recognize-the-reality-of-facts-but-then-to/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [This rough magic I here abjure and when I have required some heavenly music, which even now I do, to work mine end upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/this-rough-magic-i-here-abjure-and-when-i-have-required-some-heavenly/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My family dumplings are sleek and seductive, yet stout and masculine. They taste of meat, yet of flour. They are wet, yet they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-p-t-coffin/my-family-dumplings-are-sleek-and-seductive-yet-stout-and-masculine/) Robert P. T. Coffin > [When I feel the joy of receiving a gift my heart nudges me to join creation's ballet, the airy dance of giving and receiving,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/when-i-feel-the-joy-of-receiving-a-gift-my-heart-nudges-me-to-join/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [“ Autumn Days Yellow, mellow, ripened days, Sheltered in a golden coating; O'er the dreamy, listless haze, White and dainty cloudlets floating; Winking at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-carleton/autumn-days-yellow-mellow-ripened-days-sheltered-in-a-golden-coating/) [Will Carleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-carleton/) > [But housekeeping is fun. It is one job where you enjoy the results right along as you work. You may work all day washing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-taber/but-housekeeping-is-fun-it-is-one-job-where-you-enjoy-the-results/) [Gladys Taber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-taber/) > [Sorrow itself is not so hard to bear As the thought of sorrow coming. Airy ghosts, That work no harm, do terrify us more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/sorrow-itself-is-not-so-hard-to-bear-as-the-thought-of-sorrow-coming/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Mutability is the badge of infirmity. It is seldom that a man continues to wish and design the same thing two days alike. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-charron/mutability-is-the-badge-of-infirmity-it-is-seldom-that-a-man/) [Pierre Charron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-charron/) > [How do you know but ev’ry Bird that cuts the airy way, Is an immense world of delight, clos’d by your senses five?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/how-do-you-know-but-ev-ry-bird-that-cuts-the-airy-way-is-an-immense/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the invisible land where tears shall come no more. O love! O affliction! ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/god-washes-the-eyes-by-tears-until-they-can-behold-the-invisible-land/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Where are Shakespeare's imagination, Bacon's learning, Galileo's dream? Where is the sweet fancy of Sidney, the airy spirit of Fletcher, and Milton's thought severe?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-procter/where-are-shakespeare-s-imagination-bacon-s-learning-galileo-s-dream/) [Bryan Procter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-procter/) > [My home kitchen is airy, with a gas stove, a stainless-steel island table in the center and granite countertops. It's very modest but there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-achatz/my-home-kitchen-is-airy-with-a-gas-stove-a-stainless-steel-island/) [Grant Achatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-achatz/) > [At all costs the true world of childhood must prevail, must be restored; that world whose momentous, heroic, mysterious quality is fed on airy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/at-all-costs-the-true-world-of-childhood-must-prevail-must-be/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Society became my glittering bride, And airy hopes my children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/society-became-my-glittering-bride-and-airy-hopes-my-children/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) Browse all 117 Airy quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we reason, we would be understood; if we imagine, we would that the airy children of our brain were born anew within another's; if we feel, we would that another's nerves should vibrate to our own, that the beams of their eyes should kindle at once and mix and melt into our own, that lips of motionless ice should not reply to lips quivering and burning with the heart's best blood. 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