--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are astonished at thought, but…" description: "\"We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png" --- # We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally… ![“We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png) > “We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thought and sensation are both sources of marvel, each offering distinct ways to experience wonder. **In simple terms:** Both mind and feeling inspire awe. Key Takeaway Appreciate both intellect and feeling. Themes wonder philosophy perception Mood curious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading philosophy - creative brainstorming - mindfulness practice Key Concepts epistemology sensory experience Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance rational analysis with emotional insight? - When does feeling reveal truth beyond logic? A Different Perspective Sensation can be fleeting and harder to articulate than thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Sensations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensations/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [She wondered whether there would ever come an hour in her life when she didn't think of him -- didn't speak to him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/she-wondered-whether-there-would-ever-come-an-hour-in-her-life-when/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I think that before my son was born, I didn't have a strong sensation for future. I was living in this kind of never-ending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/i-think-that-before-my-son-was-born-i-didn-t-have-a-strong-sensation/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [Pain is a sensation produced by something contrary to the course of nature and this sensation is set up by one of two circumstances:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avicenna/pain-is-a-sensation-produced-by-something-contrary-to-the-course-of/) [Avicenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avicenna/) > [Music is an attitude. It's a sensation to the average person, to the human being. And keep it simple, stupid. That's always been my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-dale/music-is-an-attitude-it-s-a-sensation-to-the-average-person-to-the/) [Dick Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-dale/) > [I never met a man I didn't get a kind of strange and exciting tingling sensation from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/i-never-met-a-man-i-didn-t-get-a-kind-of-strange-and-exciting/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [The sensation of writing a book is the sensation of spinning, blinded by love and daring. It is the sensation of rearing and peering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-burroway/the-sensation-of-writing-a-book-is-the-sensation-of-spinning-blinded-2/) [Janet Burroway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-burroway/) > [Too many commercials. Too many lies. Too many celebrities. I don't recognize. Too many brand names. Too many magazines. I got so much sensation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-small/too-many-commercials-too-many-lies-too-many-celebrities-i-don-t/) [Fred Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-small/) > [For me, beauty is a physical sensation, something we feel with our whole body. It is not the result of judgement. We do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/for-me-beauty-is-a-physical-sensation-something-we-feel-with-our/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The sensation of flying is incredible, and it's such a miraculous notion to go into the air and see the world without delineation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-mclaughlin/the-sensation-of-flying-is-incredible-and-it-s-such-a-miraculous/) [Ellen McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-mclaughlin/) > [What delights us in the spring is more a sensation than an appearance, more a hope than any visible reality. There is something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/what-delights-us-in-the-spring-is-more-a-sensation-than-an-appearance/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [You may feel a sensation of floating. You may see colors, maybe no phenomena, it doesn't matter. You are absorbing power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-may-feel-a-sensation-of-floating-you-may-see-colors-maybe-no/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“We are content with the 'given' in sensation's quest. We have been metamorphosised from a mad body dancing on hillsides to a pair of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/we-are-content-with-the-given-in-sensation-s-quest-we-have-been/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [I find the relationship of sensation and physicality, and, for me, it's music like anything else. It's a different way of expressing and exploring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-parkins/i-find-the-relationship-of-sensation-and-physicality-and-for-me-it-s/) [Zeena Parkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-parkins/) > [There is something hidden in each sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-cerati/there-is-something-hidden-in-each-sensation/) [Gustavo Cerati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-cerati/) > [Death is nothing to us: for that which is dissolved is without sensation; and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/death-is-nothing-to-us-for-that-which-is-dissolved-is-without/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Astonished quotes > [There are times when phrases such as 'totally astonished' just don't do the job. I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-times-when-phrases-such-as-totally-astonished-just-don-t-do/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I am distressed, depressed, rapturous. I am all these things at once and cannot add up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/i-am-astonished-disappointed-pleased-with-myself-i-am-distressed/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Young people have the advantage because they have their whole lives open to be astonished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/young-people-have-the-advantage-because-they-have-their-whole-lives/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [“The orb sat, exhausted and astonished.  In a thousand years and more—it had never been thanked for failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debora-geary/the-orb-sat-exhausted-and-astonished-in-a-thousand-years-and-more-it/) [Debora Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debora-geary/) > [Her professors were astonished by her leaps of thought, by the finesse and elegance of her insights. She arrived at hypotheses by sheer intuition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-eisenberg/her-professors-were-astonished-by-her-leaps-of-thought-by-the-finesse/) [Deborah Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-eisenberg/) > [In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-tasmania-an-island-the-size-of-ireland-whose-primeval-forests/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Only a fool is astonished by the foolishness of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/only-a-fool-is-astonished-by-the-foolishness-of-mankind/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Her thoughts rambled, but she wasn’t daydreaming. Her senses were sharp. She caught the fall of every leaf in the garden, the rustle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/her-thoughts-rambled-but-she-wasn-t-daydreaming-her-senses-were-sharp/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I was so astonished that another had penetrated so deeply into the secrets of my soul, and that he knew what I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-muller/i-was-so-astonished-that-another-had-penetrated-so-deeply-into-the/) [Max Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-muller/) > [When I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-sunderland/when-i-saw-the-plane-i-was-absolutely-astonished-two-emotions-crashed/) [Abby Sunderland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-sunderland/) > [“To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidonie-gabrielle-colette-2/to-be-astonished-is-one-of-the-surest-ways-of-not-growing-old-too/) Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette > [I'm astonished at how readily a great many people I know, young people, have accepted a reduced economic prospect and limited freedoms in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/i-m-astonished-at-how-readily-a-great-many-people-i-know-young-people/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-maurois/in-literature-as-in-love-we-are-astonished-at-what-is-chosen-by-others/) [Andre Maurois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-maurois/) > [Do you know what astonished me the most in this world? The inability of force to create anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/do-you-know-what-astonished-me-the-most-in-this-world-the-inability/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The amazing heroic women in labor, they are the truest inspiration, and when they push their babies into the light... I am astonished every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/the-amazing-heroic-women-in-labor-they-are-the-truest-inspiration-and/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) Browse all 104 Astonished quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensation-is-equally-wonderful/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astonished" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensation-is-equally-wonderful/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/voltaire-173_astonished_we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensati_2055209.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are astonished at thought, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensation-is-equally-wonderful/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-are-astonished-at-thought-but-sensation-is-equally-wonderful/#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 } } ] } ```