--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Borders I have never seen one. But I have…" description: "\"Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.\" — Thor Heyerdahl" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/thor-heyerdahl-18316_borders_borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have_1816804.jpg" --- # Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist… ![“Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.” quote by Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/thor-heyerdahl-18316_borders_borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have_1816804.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/thor-heyerdahl-18316_borders_borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have_1816804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/thor-heyerdahl-18316_borders_borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have_1816804.jpg) > “Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.” [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Borders are mental constructs, not physical barriers, shaping how people perceive others. **In simple terms:** Borders exist in minds, not geography. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge mental limits. Themes perception identity division Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - travel - cross‑cultural work - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology social constructs Questions to Reflect On - How do your mental borders limit you? - What can you do to broaden your perspective? A Different Perspective Physical borders still affect movement and law. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [There are ideas that exist in our minds that can be accounted for by no established laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brockden-brown/there-are-ideas-that-exist-in-our-minds-that-can-be-accounted-for-by/) [Charles Brockden Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brockden-brown/) > [After I go out this door, I may only exist in the minds of all my acquaintances…I may be an orange peel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/after-i-go-out-this-door-i-may-only-exist-in-the-minds-of-all-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our handicaps exist only in our minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/our-handicaps-exist-only-in-our-minds/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/our-whole-social-environment-seems-to-us-to-be-filled-with-forces/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [You exist in the minds of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshuah-bearman/you-exist-in-the-minds-of-other-people/) [Joshuah Bearman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshuah-bearman/) > [Contemporary philosophers have exercised themselves with the problem of our knowledge of other minds. Enmeshed in the dogma of the ghost in the machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/contemporary-philosophers-have-exercised-themselves-with-the-problem/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [We should remember that science exists only because there are people, and its concepts exist only in the minds of men. Behind these concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/we-should-remember-that-science-exists-only-because-there-are-people/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [The Rubicons which women must cross, the sex barriers which they must breach, are ultimately those that exist in their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freda-adler/the-rubicons-which-women-must-cross-the-sex-barriers-which-they-must/) [Freda Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freda-adler/) > [Ideas exist in our minds that can be accounted for by no established laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brockden-brown/ideas-exist-in-our-minds-that-can-be-accounted-for-by-no-established/) [Charles Brockden Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brockden-brown/) > [The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-jansen/the-walls-between-art-and-engineering-exist-only-in-our-minds/) [Theo Jansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-jansen/) > [There is only eternity. That's our real body. The stars are our blanket. Time doesn't even exist, except in our own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-only-eternity-that-s-our-real-body-the-stars-are-our-blanket/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Confidence is seen, not heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-clarkson/confidence-is-seen-not-heard/) [Kelly Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-clarkson/) > [Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/writers-should-be-read-but-neither-seen-nor-heard/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all. marie antoinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/i-have-seen-all-i-have-heard-all-i-have-forgotten-all-marie-antoinette/) [Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/) > [“In my opinion, children should be seen and not heard. I'm an adult, so it follows that I should be heard and not seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/in-my-opinion-children-should-be-seen-and-not-heard-i-m-an-adult-so/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) ## More by Thor Heyerdahl > [One learns more from listening than speaking.And both the wind and the people who continue to live close to nature still have much to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/one-learns-more-from-listening-than-speaking-and-both-the-wind-and/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [We are not talking about esthetics. We are talking about life: survival of Man. We must train young people to get another vision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/we-are-not-talking-about-esthetics-we-are-talking-about-life-survival/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [“Progress can today be defined as man's ability to complicate simplicity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/progress-can-today-be-defined-as-man-s-ability-to-complicate/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [I have never been able to grasp the meaning of time. I don't believe it exists. I've felt this again and again, when alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/i-have-never-been-able-to-grasp-the-meaning-of-time-i-don-t-believe/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [It says in the Bible, in plain words, that God made a self-portrait. He created man in His own image - man and woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-says-in-the-bible-in-plain-words-that-god-made-a-self-portrait-he/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Therefore, I feel convinced that any political picture can be changed to suit the needs of the powers that be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/therefore-i-feel-convinced-that-any-political-picture-can-be-changed/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Am going to cross Pacific on a wooden raft to support a theory that the South Sea islands were peopled from Peru. Will you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/am-going-to-cross-pacific-on-a-wooden-raft-to-support-a-theory-that/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Any scientist can testify that a dead ocean means a dead planet … No national law, no national precautions can save the planet. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/any-scientist-can-testify-that-a-dead-ocean-means-a-dead-planet-no/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [“It was a great moment on board when two large boobies were spotted above the horizon to westward”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-was-a-great-moment-on-board-when-two-large-boobies-were-spotted/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Man invents the most inhuman armaments to assault others so like himself that uniforms are needed to distinguish between friend and foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/man-invents-the-most-inhuman-armaments-to-assault-others-so-like/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [It is also rarer to find happiness in a man surrounded by the miracles of technology than among people living in the desert of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-is-also-rarer-to-find-happiness-in-a-man-surrounded-by-the/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [But if we begin thinking about the world being over 100 million years old, then it's absolutely by chance that you and I are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/but-if-we-begin-thinking-about-the-world-being-over-100-million-years/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Surrounded by military airplanes and warships from the world's most civilized and developed nations, we have been denied permission by friendly governments, for reasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/surrounded-by-military-airplanes-and-warships-from-the-world-s-most/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [It is progress when a centuries-old oak is cut down to give space for a road sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-is-progress-when-a-centuries-old-oak-is-cut-down-to-give-space-for/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [In fighting nature, man can win every battle except the last. If he should win that too, he will perish, like an embryo cutting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/in-fighting-nature-man-can-win-every-battle-except-the-last-if-he/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) [Explore all 34 Thor Heyerdahl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) ## More Borders quotes > [We have to get control of our borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-coffman/we-have-to-get-control-of-our-borders/) [Mike Coffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-coffman/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Preemptive war is what Israel did in '67 with Arab armies on its borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/preemptive-war-is-what-israel-did-in-67-with-arab-armies-on-its/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/when-i-went-to-law-school-which-after-all-was-back-in-the-dark-ages/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [Schengen cannot survive without the most dramatic reform, and the external borders of Europe must be rapidly strengthened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-soames/schengen-cannot-survive-without-the-most-dramatic-reform-and-the/) [Nicholas Soames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-soames/) > [The troops were occasionally occupied in pursuing scattered bands going north or south, and on three occasions the large camp of Sitting Bull ventured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-a-miles/the-troops-were-occasionally-occupied-in-pursuing-scattered-bands/) [Nelson A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-a-miles/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [When we talk about contemporary art and contemporary artists, we usually imagine artists who are alive. But I feel very uncomfortable about placing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasumasa-morimura/when-we-talk-about-contemporary-art-and-contemporary-artists-we/) [Yasumasa Morimura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasumasa-morimura/) > [Photography... unites the obvious and the unconscious at the level of the limimal - the border between what we see and what we suspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-lorca-dicorcia/photography-unites-the-obvious-and-the-unconscious-at-the-level-of/) [Philip-Lorca diCorcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-lorca-dicorcia/) > [When you have the Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee and the political director of the Romney campaign, and their two companies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-caddell/when-you-have-the-chief-of-staff-of-the-republican-national-committee/) [Patrick Caddell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-caddell/) > [Fifty thousand people in Mexico have been murdered. Puerto Penasco, 60 miles south of our border, just had five people and a police officer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-brewer/fifty-thousand-people-in-mexico-have-been-murdered-puerto-penasco-60/) [Jan Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-brewer/) > [The unpleasant truth is that some borders are untenable and preserving them causes conflict, not peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mearsheimer/the-unpleasant-truth-is-that-some-borders-are-untenable-and/) [John Mearsheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mearsheimer/) > [Interesting things happen along borders - transitions - not in the middle where everything is the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/interesting-things-happen-along-borders-transitions-not-in-the-middle/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/at-no-other-time-than-autumn-does-the-earth-let-itself-be-inhaled-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [House Republicans want to pass a strong border security, illegal immigration bill. We want a bill. There is no ifs, ands or buts about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boehner/house-republicans-want-to-pass-a-strong-border-security-illegal/) [John Boehner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boehner/) [Browse all 1,650 Borders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Borders I have never seen one. 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