--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is not a circle with a single centre…" description: "\"“Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. Facts form one of these, and ideas the other.”\" — Victor Hugo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd7/victor-hugo-32_man-circle_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre_239473.jpg" --- # Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse… ![“Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. Facts form one of these, and ideas the other.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd7/victor-hugo-32_man-circle_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre_239473.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd7/victor-hugo-32_man-circle_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre_239473.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd7/victor-hugo-32_man-circle_man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-centre_239473.jpg) > ““Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. Facts form one of these, and ideas 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 is complex, having both factual and imaginative dimensions that together shape identity. **In simple terms:** People have facts and ideas shaping them. Key Takeaway Balance facts with imagination. Themes identity complexity duality Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership - education - problem solving Key Concepts philosophy psychology creativity Questions to Reflect On - How do facts and ideas influence your decisions? - Can you identify your “double focus”? A Different Perspective Ideas may lack grounding without facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Centre Ellipse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centre-ellipse-2404498/) [Double Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/double-focus-2404499/) [Ellipse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ellipse-1451736/) [Focus Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus-facts-2404500/) [Man Circle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-circle-1451735/) ## Related quotes > [“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/) > [“Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center-he-is-an-ellipse-with-two/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [ 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/) ## 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 Man Circle quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [“Man is not a circle with a single center; he is an ellipse with two focii. Facts are one, ideas are the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/man-is-not-a-circle-with-a-single-center-he-is-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/) [Browse all 5 Man Circle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-circle-1451735/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man is not a circle with a single centre; he is an ellipse with a double focus. 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