--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Looking is not indifferent. There can…" description: "\"Looking is not indifferent. There can never be any question of 'just looking'.\" — Victor Burgin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/victor-burgin-50840_indifferent_looking-is-not-indifferent-there-can-nev_2277141.jpg" --- # Looking is not indifferent. There can never be any… ![“Looking is not indifferent. There can never be any question of 'just looking'.” quote by Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/victor-burgin-50840_indifferent_looking-is-not-indifferent-there-can-nev_2277141.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/victor-burgin-50840_indifferent_looking-is-not-indifferent-there-can-nev_2277141.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/victor-burgin-50840_indifferent_looking-is-not-indifferent-there-can-nev_2277141.jpg) > “Looking is not indifferent. There can never be any question of 'just looking'.” [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observing is an active, ethical stance, not passive neutrality. **In simple terms:** Seeing is a choice, not emptiness. Key Takeaway Engage consciously when you look. Themes observation ethics agency Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - art criticism - daily interactions - social media consumption Key Concepts Phenomenology responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How does your gaze affect the subject? - What responsibilities come with seeing? A Different Perspective Observation can be misinterpreted as approval. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Indifferent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent/) [Indifferent Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent-question-5300265/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Just looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-looking/) [Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking/) [Looking Indifferent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-indifferent-5300264/) ## Related quotes > [People's opinions don't interfere with me. Ageing gracefully is supposed to mean trying not to hide time passing and just looking a wreck. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-moreau/people-s-opinions-don-t-interfere-with-me-ageing-gracefully-is/) [Jeanne Moreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-moreau/) > [In my life, I'm just looking for that life of integrity that my father had. I have a good heart; I'm not a heartbreaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnathon-schaech/in-my-life-i-m-just-looking-for-that-life-of-integrity-that-my-father/) [Johnathon Schaech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnathon-schaech/) > [I love collard greens and sweet potatoes. But like, traveling, I'm always just looking for that thing where you feel like there's love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/i-love-collard-greens-and-sweet-potatoes-but-like-traveling-i-m/) [Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/) > [Everyone's just looking at you. They're expecting you to win every game, and it's just not possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-trump/everyone-s-just-looking-at-you-they-re-expecting-you-to-win-every/) [Judd Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-trump/) > [There are so many different kinds of motivation for investing or giving or parting with your money in whatever other way, and plain old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-jackley/there-are-so-many-different-kinds-of-motivation-for-investing-or/) [Jessica Jackley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-jackley/) > [We had this party in New York, and there were a lot of gay men there dressed up as the characters. I showed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saunders/we-had-this-party-in-new-york-and-there-were-a-lot-of-gay-men-there/) [Jennifer Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-saunders/) > [“He bored me by just looking at him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-glines/he-bored-me-by-just-looking-at-him/) [Abbi Glines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-glines/) > [Every morning, I can lose myself just by looking at my son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-martinez/every-morning-i-can-lose-myself-just-by-looking-at-my-son/) [Olivier Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-martinez/) > [You know they're just looking for wrinkles and cellulite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-fairchild/you-know-they-re-just-looking-for-wrinkles-and-cellulite/) [Morgan Fairchild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-fairchild/) > [Journalists often ask me when I go to the field, 'What do you expect to find?' And my answer always is, 'The unexpected,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-johanson/journalists-often-ask-me-when-i-go-to-the-field-what-do-you-expect-to/) [Donald Johanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-johanson/) > [It was close to like a 67- or 70-day shoot for 'Tron' on stage, in the suit. You can't even sit down during the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hedlund/it-was-close-to-like-a-67-or-70-day-shoot-for-tron-on-stage-in-the/) [Garrett Hedlund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hedlund/) > [Just looking at him, hurt her](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-looking-at-him-hurt-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We'll open for anyone, we are just looking to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-entwistle/we-ll-open-for-anyone-we-are-just-looking-to-play/) [John Entwistle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-entwistle/) > [Just looking at each other is something really moving to me, more so than the nudity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-hahn/just-looking-at-each-other-is-something-really-moving-to-me-more-so/) [Kathryn Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-hahn/) > [Just looking at society as a whole, there are a lot of different things that we are not doing as a group to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-shields/just-looking-at-society-as-a-whole-there-are-a-lot-of-different/) [Will Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-shields/) ## More by Victor Burgin > [ The only pertinent political question in relation to an identity \[or its photograph\] is not Is it really coherent? but What does it actually… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/the-only-pertinent-political-question-in-relation-to-an-identity-or/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) > [It seems to be extensively believed by photographers that meanings are to be found in the world much in the way rabbits are found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/it-seems-to-be-extensively-believed-by-photographers-that-meanings/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) > [Our conviction that we are free to choose what we make of a photograph hides the complicity to which we are recruited in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/our-conviction-that-we-are-free-to-choose-what-we-make-of-a/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) > [ The wholeness, coherence, identity, which we attribute to the depicted scene \[in a photograph\] is a projection, a refusal of an impoverished reality in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/the-wholeness-coherence-identity-which-we-attribute-to-the-depicted/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) > [A job the artist does which no-one else does is to dismantle existing communication codes and to combine some of their elements into structures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/a-job-the-artist-does-which-no-one-else-does-is-to-dismantle-existing/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) > [Even the uncaptioned art photograph is invaded by language in the very moment it is looked at: in memory, in association, snatches of words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-burgin/even-the-uncaptioned-art-photograph-is-invaded-by-language-in-the/) [Victor Burgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) [Explore all 7 Victor Burgin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-burgin/) ## More Indifferent quotes > [The corporate state is an immensely powerful machine, ordered, legalistic, rational, yet utterly out of human control, wholly and perfectly indifferent to any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/the-corporate-state-is-an-immensely-powerful-machine-ordered/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Wisdom views with an indifferent eye all finite joys, all blessings born to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/wisdom-views-with-an-indifferent-eye-all-finite-joys-all-blessings/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity? Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all? Is the eternal truth man's fighting soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eberhart/was-man-made-stupid-to-see-his-own-stupidity-is-god-by-definition/) [Richard Eberhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eberhart/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I only asked my friends to be friendly and polite, I found them indifferent and censorious; The one I left to silence, the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/i-only-asked-my-friends-to-be-friendly-and-polite-i-found-them/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/whatever-withdraws-us-from-the-power-of-our-senses-whatever-makes-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-henley/insect-politics-indifferent-universe-bang-your-head-against-the-wall/) [Don Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-henley/) > [As her time in Florence drew to a close she was only at ease amongst those to whom she felt indifferent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-her-time-in-florence-drew-to-a-close-she-was-only-at-ease-amongst/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are some people, who place enormous value on their home and feel that it defines them, that a stain on the carpet is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/there-are-some-people-who-place-enormous-value-on-their-home-and-feel/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [So You Want to Know All about her. Who she really is. (Was?) Why she swerved off the high road. Hard left to nowhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/so-you-want-to-know-all-about-her-who-she-really-is-was-why-she/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [“the fear of being indifferent is not the same as indifference itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-landweber/the-fear-of-being-indifferent-is-not-the-same-as-indifference-itself/) [Michael Landweber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-landweber/) > [Everyone's gonna have their opinion, everyone's gonna have their favorite bands. The best way I can describe it is music is like food, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/everyone-s-gonna-have-their-opinion-everyone-s-gonna-have-their/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/one-and-the-same-thing-can-at-the-same-time-be-good-bad-and/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) [Browse all 777 Indifferent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Looking is not indifferent. 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