--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As I train myself to cast off words, as I…" description: "\"“As I train myself to cast off words, as I learn to erase word-thoughts, I begin to feel a new world rising up around me, The old world of houses, room..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/steven-millhauser-16834_language_as-i-train-myself-to-cast-off-words-as-i_1797622.jpg" --- # As I train myself to cast off words, as I learn to erase… ![“As I train myself to cast off words, as I learn to erase word-thoughts, I begin to feel a new world rising up around me, The old world of houses, rooms, trees and streets shimmers, wavers and tears away, revealing another universe as startling as fire. We are shut off from the fullness of things…” quote by Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/steven-millhauser-16834_language_as-i-train-myself-to-cast-off-words-as-i_1797622.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/steven-millhauser-16834_language_as-i-train-myself-to-cast-off-words-as-i_1797622.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/steven-millhauser-16834_language_as-i-train-myself-to-cast-off-words-as-i_1797622.jpg) > ““As I train myself to cast off words, as I learn to erase word-thoughts, I begin to feel a new world rising up around me, The old world of houses, rooms, trees and streets shimmers, wavers and tears away, revealing another universe as startling as fire. We are shut off from the fullness of things. Words hide the world. They blur together elements that exist apart, or they break elements into pieces bind up the world, contract it into hard little pellets of perception. But the unbound world, the world behind the world – how fluid it is, how lovely and dangerous. At rare moments of clarity, I succeed in breaking through. Then I see. I see a place where nothing is known, because nothing is shaped in advance by words. There, nothing is hidden from me. There, every object presents itself entirely, with all its being. It's as if, looking at a house, you were able to see all four sides and both roof slopes. But then, there's no “house,” no “object,” no form that stops at a boundary, only a stream of manifold, precise, and nameless sensations, shifting into one another, pullulating, a fullness, a flow. Stripped of words, untamed, the universe pours in on me from every direction. I become what I see. I am earth, I am air. I am all. My eyes are suns. My hair streams among the galaxies.”” [Steven Millhauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-millhauser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator explores how shedding language reveals a fluid, boundless reality, where perception becomes pure sensation unmediated by words. **In simple terms:** Dropping words lets you experience the world directly. Key Takeaway Practice mindfulness to perceive without labeling. Themes perception language mindfulness Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - artistic creation - psychotherapy - nature observation Key Concepts phenomenology sensory immersion Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape your reality? - Can you sustain awareness without naming? A Different Perspective Pure sensation can be overwhelming without conceptual anchors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Moments of clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments-of-clarity/) [Old world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Rare moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rare-moments/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“We are not walking in the Word if our thoughts are opposite of what it says. 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(To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) [Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As I train myself to cast off words, as I learn to erase word-thoughts, I begin to feel a new world rising up around me, The old world of houses, rooms, trees and streets shimmers, wavers and tears away, revealing another universe as startling as fire. We are shut off from the fullness of things. Words hide the world. They blur together elements that exist apart, or they break elements into pieces bind up the world, contract it into hard little pellets of perception. But the unbound world, the world behind the world – how fluid it is, how lovely and dangerous. At rare moments of clarity, I succeed in breaking through. Then I see. I see a place where nothing is known, because nothing is shaped in advance by words. There, nothing is hidden from me. There, every object presents itself entirely, with all its being. It's as if, looking at a house, you were able to see all four sides and both roof slopes. But then, there's no “house,” no “object,” no form that stops at a boundary, only a stream of manifold, precise, and nameless sensations, shifting into one another, pullulating, a fullness, a flow. Stripped of words, untamed, the universe pours in on me from every direction. I become what I see. I am earth, I am air. I am all. My eyes are suns. 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