--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too much reality can be a dazzle, a…" description: "\"Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close immediacy an exhaustion\" — Theodore Roethke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg" --- # Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close… ![“Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close immediacy an exhaustion” quote by Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg) > “Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close immediacy an exhaustion” [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive exposure to harsh reality can overwhelm and fatigue the mind, making life feel blinding and exhausting **In simple terms:** Too much reality overwhelms Key Takeaway Limit exposure to harsh overload Themes balance overwhelm exhaustion Mood anxious reflective Type cautionary philosophical When to use this quote - daily news consumption - high‑stress jobs - social media scrolling - intense relationships Key Concepts Sensory overload psychological fatigue Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when reality becomes too intense? - What practices restore mental clarity? A Different Perspective Even a dazzle can hide truths; occasional retreat is needed ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exhaustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhaustion/) [Immediacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immediacy/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [The moon of a bright silver, which dazzles by its shining, illumines a world which surely is no longer ours; for it resembles in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-loti/the-moon-of-a-bright-silver-which-dazzles-by-its-shining-illumines-a/) [Pierre Loti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-loti/) > [How much it is to be regretted, that the British ladies should ever sit down contented to polish, when they are able to reform;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/how-much-it-is-to-be-regretted-that-the-british-ladies-should-ever/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [“Be the man who has the spirit of a ruthless tiger, ravaging every dusty corner of my soul. Be the man for whom I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malak-el-halabi/be-the-man-who-has-the-spirit-of-a-ruthless-tiger-ravaging-every/) [Malak El Halabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malak-el-halabi/) > [“Everyone has one or two secrets they never want to reveal to others. But they also want at least one person to accept everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minari-endou/everyone-has-one-or-two-secrets-they-never-want-to-reveal-to-others/) [Minari Endou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minari-endou/) > [You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-philippine-duchesne/you-may-dazzle-the-mind-with-a-thousand-brilliant-discoveries-of/) [Rose Philippine Duchesne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-philippine-duchesne/) > [It is as if my heart and my brain did not belong to the same person. Feelings come quicker than lightning and fill my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-as-if-my-heart-and-my-brain-did-not-belong-to-the-same-person/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-truth-must-dazzle-gradually-or-every-man-be-blind/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [There is a glare about worldly success which is very apt to dazzle men's eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/there-is-a-glare-about-worldly-success-which-is-very-apt-to-dazzle/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [Scholes was playing tiki-taka football when nobody in England knew what it was. He was another of those players, like Denis Law or Bobby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-redknapp/scholes-was-playing-tiki-taka-football-when-nobody-in-england-knew/) [Harry Redknapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-redknapp/) > [There is a homely directness about these rustic apothegms which makes them far more palatable than the strained and sophisticated epigrams of the characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brander-matthews/there-is-a-homely-directness-about-these-rustic-apothegms-which-makes/) [Brander Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brander-matthews/) > [I do feel pretty lucky that I'm not so great at playing and singing, it forces me to make sure I've really got something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lewis/i-do-feel-pretty-lucky-that-i-m-not-so-great-at-playing-and-singing/) [Jeffrey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lewis/) > [May your trails be dim, lonesome, stony, narrow, winding and only slightly uphill. May the wind bring rain for the slickrock potholes fourteen miles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/may-your-trails-be-dim-lonesome-stony-narrow-winding-and-only/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Our senses will not admit anything extreme. Too much noise confuses us, too much light dazzles us, too great distance or nearness prevents vision,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/our-senses-will-not-admit-anything-extreme-too-much-noise-confuses-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I dazzle you with that footwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-darin/i-dazzle-you-with-that-footwork/) [Bobby Darin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-darin/) > [PERORATION, n. The explosion of an oratorical rocket. It dazzles, but to an observer having the wrong kind of nose its most conspicuous peculiarity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/peroration-n-the-explosion-of-an-oratorical-rocket-it-dazzles-but-to/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) ## More by Theodore Roethke > [I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-wake-to-sleep-and-take-my-waking-slow-i-feel-my-fate-in-what-i/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/those-who-are-willing-to-be-vulnerable-move-among-mysteries/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-lively-understandable-spirit-once-entertained-you-it-will-come/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I came to love, I came into my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-came-to-love-i-came-into-my-own/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I bleed my bones, their marrow to bestowUpon that God who knows what I would know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-bleed-my-bones-their-marrow-to-bestowupon-that-god-who-knows-what-i/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/all-finite-things-reveal-infinitude-the-mountain-with-its-singular/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [We think by feeling. What is there to know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/we-think-by-feeling-what-is-there-to-know/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I can hear, underground, that sucking and sobbing, In my veins, in my bones I feel it,- The small water seeping upward, The tight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-can-hear-underground-that-sucking-and-sobbing-in-my-veins-in-my/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/over-every-mountain-there-is-a-path-although-it-may-not-be-seen-from/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [(I measure time by how a body sways.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-measure-time-by-how-a-body-sways/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [To follow the drops sliding from a lifting oar, Head up, while the rower breathes, and the small boat drifts quietly shoreward...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/to-follow-the-drops-sliding-from-a-lifting-oar-head-up-while-the/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Any fool can take a bad line out of a poem; it takes a real pro to throw out a good line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/any-fool-can-take-a-bad-line-out-of-a-poem-it-takes-a-real-pro-to/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [Love begets love. This torment is my joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/love-begets-love-this-torment-is-my-joy/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [“I Knew a Woman" I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-knew-a-woman-i-knew-a-woman-lovely-in-her-bones-when-small-birds/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [A mind too active is no mind at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-mind-too-active-is-no-mind-at-all/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) [Explore all 116 Theodore Roethke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## More Dazzle quotes > [The moon of a bright silver, which dazzles by its shining, illumines a world which surely is no longer ours; for it resembles in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-loti/the-moon-of-a-bright-silver-which-dazzles-by-its-shining-illumines-a/) [Pierre Loti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-loti/) > [I dazzle you with that footwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-darin/i-dazzle-you-with-that-footwork/) [Bobby Darin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-darin/) > [Our senses will not admit anything extreme. Too much noise confuses us, too much light dazzles us, too great distance or nearness prevents vision,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/our-senses-will-not-admit-anything-extreme-too-much-noise-confuses-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [May your trails be dim, lonesome, stony, narrow, winding and only slightly uphill. May the wind bring rain for the slickrock potholes fourteen miles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/may-your-trails-be-dim-lonesome-stony-narrow-winding-and-only/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [I do feel pretty lucky that I'm not so great at playing and singing, it forces me to make sure I've really got something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lewis/i-do-feel-pretty-lucky-that-i-m-not-so-great-at-playing-and-singing/) [Jeffrey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lewis/) > [There is a homely directness about these rustic apothegms which makes them far more palatable than the strained and sophisticated epigrams of the characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brander-matthews/there-is-a-homely-directness-about-these-rustic-apothegms-which-makes/) [Brander Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brander-matthews/) > [Scholes was playing tiki-taka football when nobody in England knew what it was. He was another of those players, like Denis Law or Bobby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-redknapp/scholes-was-playing-tiki-taka-football-when-nobody-in-england-knew/) [Harry Redknapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-redknapp/) > [There is a glare about worldly success which is very apt to dazzle men's eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/there-is-a-glare-about-worldly-success-which-is-very-apt-to-dazzle/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [The Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-truth-must-dazzle-gradually-or-every-man-be-blind/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It is as if my heart and my brain did not belong to the same person. Feelings come quicker than lightning and fill my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-as-if-my-heart-and-my-brain-did-not-belong-to-the-same-person/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-philippine-duchesne/you-may-dazzle-the-mind-with-a-thousand-brilliant-discoveries-of/) [Rose Philippine Duchesne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-philippine-duchesne/) > [“Everyone has one or two secrets they never want to reveal to others. But they also want at least one person to accept everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minari-endou/everyone-has-one-or-two-secrets-they-never-want-to-reveal-to-others/) [Minari Endou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minari-endou/) > [“Be the man who has the spirit of a ruthless tiger, ravaging every dusty corner of my soul. Be the man for whom I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malak-el-halabi/be-the-man-who-has-the-spirit-of-a-ruthless-tiger-ravaging-every/) [Malak El Halabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malak-el-halabi/) > [How much it is to be regretted, that the British ladies should ever sit down contented to polish, when they are able to reform;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/how-much-it-is-to-be-regretted-that-the-british-ladies-should-ever/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [PERORATION, n. The explosion of an oratorical rocket. It dazzles, but to an observer having the wrong kind of nose its most conspicuous peculiarity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/peroration-n-the-explosion-of-an-oratorical-rocket-it-dazzles-but-to/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) Browse all 114 Dazzle quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close immediacy an exhaustion", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore Roethke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfeit-too-close-immediacy-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dazzle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfeit-too-close-immediacy-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/theodore-roethke-4077_dazzle_too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfe_2324728.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Too much reality can be a dazzle, a surfeit;Too close immediacy an exhaustion” — Theodore Roethke", "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": "Theodore Roethke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Too much reality can be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfeit-too-close-immediacy-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/too-much-reality-can-be-a-dazzle-a-surfeit-too-close-immediacy-an/#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 } } ] } ```