--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is not a circle with a single center…" description: "\"“Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.”\" — Victor Hugo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/392/victor-hugo-32_mindset_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center_2543067.jpg" --- # Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse… ![“Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/392/victor-hugo-32_mindset_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center_2543067.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/392/victor-hugo-32_mindset_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center_2543067.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/392/victor-hugo-32_mindset_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center_2543067.jpg) > ““Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.”” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature has dual focal points: facts and ideas, not a single center. **In simple terms:** People are driven by both facts and ideas. Key Takeaway Balance evidence with imagination. Themes human nature dualism knowledge Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - decision making - creative work - education - conflict resolution Key Concepts philosophy cognitive psychology Questions to Reflect On - Which focal point dominates your decisions? - How can you integrate facts and ideas? A Different Perspective Focusing on one aspect can limit perspective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Center Ellipse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/center-ellipse-1451738/) [Ellipse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ellipse-1451736/) [Ellipse Focii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ellipse-focii-1451733/) [Focii Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focii-facts-1451740/) [Man Circle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-circle-1451735/) [Mindset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindset/) ## Related quotes > [“Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. Facts form one of these, and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre-he-is-an-ellipse-with-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Mankind is not a circle with a single centre but an ellipse with two focal points of which facts are one and ideas the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/mankind-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre-but-an-ellipse-with-two/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Sometimes it happens that a man's circle of horizon becomes smaller and smaller, and as the radius approaches zero it concentrates on one point.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/sometimes-it-happens-that-a-man-s-circle-of-horizon-becomes-smaller/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [Born with innocence and grew with curiosity, this is a man's circle of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mega/born-with-innocence-and-grew-with-curiosity-this-is-a-man-s-circle-of/) [Mega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mega/) > [The literary man has a circle of the chosen few who read him and become his only public. . . . What more natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amado-nervo/the-literary-man-has-a-circle-of-the-chosen-few-who-read-him-and/) [Amado Nervo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amado-nervo/) > [ So, Fabricius, I already have this: that the most true path of the planet \[Mars\] is an ellipse, which Dürer also calls an oval,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/so-fabricius-i-already-have-this-that-the-most-true-path-of-the/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Many a zero thinks it is the ellipse on which the Earth travels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/many-a-zero-thinks-it-is-the-ellipse-on-which-the-earth-travels/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [The ellipse is as aimless as that, Stretching invisibly into the future so as to reappear In our present. Its flexing is its account,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-ellipse-is-as-aimless-as-that-stretching-invisibly-into-the/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Having a dope mindset and good energy is rare, and you just putting a little bit of your light into someone else can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordae/having-a-dope-mindset-and-good-energy-is-rare-and-you-just-putting-a/) [Cordae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordae/) > [My mindset as a running back is to go no matter what. You've got to have a fight in you, something extra in you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-kamara/my-mindset-as-a-running-back-is-to-go-no-matter-what-you-ve-got-to/) [Alvin Kamara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-kamara/) > [My whole thing when I got in the NBA was I want to win a championship. The mindset hasn't changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bam-adebayo/my-whole-thing-when-i-got-in-the-nba-was-i-want-to-win-a-championship/) [Bam Adebayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bam-adebayo/) > [When you feel you have good although incomplete expertise, start trying things. If it's not working, try something else; maintain an experimental mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/when-you-feel-you-have-good-although-incomplete-expertise-start/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [I think you can get, as a player, stuck in the mindset of trying too hard to prove yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trinity-rodman/i-think-you-can-get-as-a-player-stuck-in-the-mindset-of-trying-too/) [Trinity Rodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trinity-rodman/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Mindset quotes > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [I think you can get, as a player, stuck in the mindset of trying too hard to prove yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trinity-rodman/i-think-you-can-get-as-a-player-stuck-in-the-mindset-of-trying-too/) [Trinity Rodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trinity-rodman/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [When you feel you have good although incomplete expertise, start trying things. If it's not working, try something else; maintain an experimental mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/when-you-feel-you-have-good-although-incomplete-expertise-start/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [My whole thing when I got in the NBA was I want to win a championship. The mindset hasn't changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bam-adebayo/my-whole-thing-when-i-got-in-the-nba-was-i-want-to-win-a-championship/) [Bam Adebayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bam-adebayo/) > [My mindset as a running back is to go no matter what. You've got to have a fight in you, something extra in you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-kamara/my-mindset-as-a-running-back-is-to-go-no-matter-what-you-ve-got-to/) [Alvin Kamara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-kamara/) > [Having a dope mindset and good energy is rare, and you just putting a little bit of your light into someone else can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordae/having-a-dope-mindset-and-good-energy-is-rare-and-you-just-putting-a/) [Cordae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordae/) > [“‎..:When we don't have the have the right mindset, we only see a dim and blurry picture of things. It is as if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-garcia/when-we-don-t-have-the-have-the-right-mindset-we-only-see-a-dim-and/) [Rafael Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-garcia/) > [We all have prejudices to dispel: the need to get away from thinking that 'I' am important and special and 'you' are not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/we-all-have-prejudices-to-dispel-the-need-to-get-away-from-thinking/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [You are facing death and danger and competition, but at any moment, you can decide to have a fearless mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/you-are-facing-death-and-danger-and-competition-but-at-any-moment-you/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“Stop focusing on your past mistakes. Don’t be ashamed of the things that you’ve done. We ALL have made mistakes. Don’t you see? All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/stop-focusing-on-your-past-mistakes-don-t-be-ashamed-of-the-things/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [“In fact, living with the mindset “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” may get you there quite a bit faster!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-de-sena/in-fact-living-with-the-mindset-i-ll-sleep-when-i-m-dead-may-get-you/) [Joe De Sena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-de-sena/) > [I chose Juventus for their winning mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wojciech-szczesny/i-chose-juventus-for-their-winning-mindset/) [Wojciech Szczesny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wojciech-szczesny/) > [I think at the end of the day, when you talk about going across the middle, it's just a mindset. And trust between quarterback…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandin-cooks/i-think-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-you-talk-about-going-across-the/) [Brandin Cooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandin-cooks/) > [There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-are-powers-inside-of-you-which-if-you-could-discover-and-use/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) [Browse all 1,554 Mindset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindset/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. 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