--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To see a shadow and think it is a tree…" description: "\"To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be fatal.\" — Phyllis Bottome" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg" --- # To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but… ![“To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be fatal.” quote by Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg) > “To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be fatal.” [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mistaking illusion for reality leads to error; seeing truth prevents fatal misjudgment. **In simple terms:** Confusing shadows with trees is dangerous. Key Takeaway Discern reality from illusion to avoid fatal errors. Themes perception truth error critical thinking Mood cautious thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - daily decision making - risk assessment - education - leadership Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify what you see? - What safeguards prevent misinterpretation? A Different Perspective Human bias often clouds perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Pity Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity-tree-2461542/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Think Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-shadow-2790547/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Tree Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-pity-4197481/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [But there are times when a tree can no longer withstand the pain inflicted on it, and the wind will take pity on that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-lester/but-there-are-times-when-a-tree-can-no-longer-withstand-the-pain/) [Julius Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-lester/) > [You think the shadow is the substance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-think-the-shadow-is-the-substance/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Character is the tree, reputation is the shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/character-is-the-tree-reputation-is-the-shadow/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“We should not expect FRUIT from all trees, few gives SHADOW only”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sube-singh/we-should-not-expect-fruit-from-all-trees-few-gives-shadow-only/) [Sube Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sube-singh/) > [When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-enter-a-grove-peopled-with-ancient-trees-higher-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There was a man that hated his footprints and his shadow, so one day he thought that if he ran fast enough, his footprints…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/there-was-a-man-that-hated-his-footprints-and-his-shadow-so-one-day/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) > [Please dont say you dont miss him. Just to pity me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-yap/please-dont-say-you-dont-miss-him-just-to-pity-me/) [William Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-yap/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone; peace to our children when they fall in small war on the heel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone-peace-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silouan-the-athonite/whoever-will-not-love-his-enemies-cannot-know-the-lord-and-the/) [Silouan the Athonite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silouan-the-athonite/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“How dare I, Mrs Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/how-dare-i-mrs-reed-how-dare-i-because-it-is-the-truth-you-think-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is a pity that, commonly, more care is had--yea, and that among very wise men--to find out rather a cunning man for their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ascham/it-is-a-pity-that-commonly-more-care-is-had-yea-and-that-among-very/) [Roger Ascham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ascham/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [It's a pity that there's such a negative connotation about paying for sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-sprinkle/it-s-a-pity-that-there-s-such-a-negative-connotation-about-paying-for/) [Annie Sprinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-sprinkle/) ## More by Phyllis Bottome > [Jane had that happy disposition which would like to imagine that every one really wishes the well-being of his neighbour and struggles, though sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/jane-had-that-happy-disposition-which-would-like-to-imagine-that/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Neither situations nor people can be altered by the interference of an outsider. If they are to be altered, that alteration must come from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/neither-situations-nor-people-can-be-altered-by-the-interference-of/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Every hen thinks she has laid the best egg! Can we not all believe as we choose? But the choice of others - what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/every-hen-thinks-she-has-laid-the-best-egg-can-we-not-all-believe-as/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [If money had been the way to save the world, Christ himself would have been rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/if-money-had-been-the-way-to-save-the-world-christ-himself-would-have/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [When you know a person particularly well, you cannot escape their ruffled feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/when-you-know-a-person-particularly-well-you-cannot-escape-their/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Poets, when they write of love, give themselves and everyone else away!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/poets-when-they-write-of-love-give-themselves-and-everyone-else-away/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [death ... is not a great affair! Think - it happens once only - to each of us - as birth does. What do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/death-is-not-a-great-affair-think-it-happens-once-only-to-each-of-us/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Taboos on the human heart are more dangerous than any risk we run by using our emotions. Sensation is the life of man; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/taboos-on-the-human-heart-are-more-dangerous-than-any-risk-we-run-by/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [... one pets what one degrades; and one has to support what one has enfeebled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/one-pets-what-one-degrades-and-one-has-to-support-what-one-has/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Truth is no man's slave - but lies - what magnificent servants they make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/truth-is-no-man-s-slave-but-lies-what-magnificent-servants-they-make/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Marriage! ... Why, it is like living in a thimble with a hippopotamus!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/marriage-why-it-is-like-living-in-a-thimble-with-a-hippopotamus/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Anger is like mild, it should not be kept too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/anger-is-like-mild-it-should-not-be-kept-too-long/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [People who talk of new lives believe there will be no new troubles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/people-who-talk-of-new-lives-believe-there-will-be-no-new-troubles/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [All persecution is a sign of fear; for if we did not fear the power of an opinion different from our own, we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/all-persecution-is-a-sign-of-fear-for-if-we-did-not-fear-the-power-of/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Love comes into your being like a tidal wave ... sometimes it withdraws like a wave, till there isn't such a thing as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/love-comes-into-your-being-like-a-tidal-wave-sometimes-it-withdraws/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) [Explore all 85 Phyllis Bottome quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) ## More Pity quotes > [It's a pity that there's such a negative connotation about paying for sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-sprinkle/it-s-a-pity-that-there-s-such-a-negative-connotation-about-paying-for/) [Annie Sprinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-sprinkle/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [It is a pity that, commonly, more care is had--yea, and that among very wise men--to find out rather a cunning man for their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ascham/it-is-a-pity-that-commonly-more-care-is-had-yea-and-that-among-very/) [Roger Ascham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ascham/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“How dare I, Mrs Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/how-dare-i-mrs-reed-how-dare-i-because-it-is-the-truth-you-think-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silouan-the-athonite/whoever-will-not-love-his-enemies-cannot-know-the-lord-and-the/) [Silouan the Athonite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silouan-the-athonite/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone; peace to our children when they fall in small war on the heel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone-peace-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [Please dont say you dont miss him. Just to pity me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-yap/please-dont-say-you-dont-miss-him-just-to-pity-me/) [William Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-yap/) > [It's really a pity that there are observers who view political events like comic strips. There has to be a Zorro, there has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/it-s-really-a-pity-that-there-are-observers-who-view-political-events/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) > [Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/do-not-be-proud-of-your-inconsistency-it-is-a-pity-it-is-a-pity-that/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [The only justice is to follow the sincere intuition of the soul, angry or gentle. Anger is just, and pity is just, but judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-justice-is-to-follow-the-sincere-intuition-of-the-soul-angry/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is not like studying German, where you mull along, in a groping, uncertain way, for thirty years; and at last, just as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-not-like-studying-german-where-you-mull-along-in-a-groping/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Wherever I am, I see the yoke on women in some form or another. On some it sits easy for they are but beasts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-may-alcott/wherever-i-am-i-see-the-yoke-on-women-in-some-form-or-another-on-some/) [Abby May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-may-alcott/) > [“Self-pity is the worst disability a person can have, Callie. It's crippling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-terrell/self-pity-is-the-worst-disability-a-person-can-have-callie-it-s/) [Shelley Terrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-terrell/) [Browse all 2,046 Pity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be fatal.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Phyllis Bottome" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-that-is-a-pity-but-to-see-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Pity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-that-is-a-pity-but-to-see-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99a/phyllis-bottome-8036_pity_to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-t_2911852.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To see a shadow and think it is a tree that is a pity; but to see a tree and to think it a shadow can be…” — Phyllis Bottome", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Phyllis Bottome", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To see a shadow and think...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-that-is-a-pity-but-to-see-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/to-see-a-shadow-and-think-it-is-a-tree-that-is-a-pity-but-to-see-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```