--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as…" description: "\"It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as if one were not looking back down the receding perspectives of time but rather down on the earth from a great h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/w-g-sebald-10441_clouds_it-makes-one-s-head-heavy-and-giddy-as-i_2032411.png" --- # It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as if one were not… ![“It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as if one were not looking back down the receding perspectives of time but rather down on the earth from a great height, from one of those towers whose tops are lost to view in the clouds” quote by W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/w-g-sebald-10441_clouds_it-makes-one-s-head-heavy-and-giddy-as-i_2032411.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/w-g-sebald-10441_clouds_it-makes-one-s-head-heavy-and-giddy-as-i_2032411.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/w-g-sebald-10441_clouds_it-makes-one-s-head-heavy-and-giddy-as-i_2032411.png) > “It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as if one were not looking back down the receding perspectives of time but rather down on the earth from a great height, from one of those towers whose tops are lost to view in the clouds” [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels a dizzying perspective shift, seeing time from a lofty, detached viewpoint, like standing on a hidden tower. **In simple terms:** Seeing time from a high, detached view. Key Takeaway Embrace broader perspectives to gain insight. Themes time perspective existence Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel - historical research - self‑reflection Key Concepts philosophy literature psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does distance affect understanding? - What can ground us when perspective feels lofty? A Different Perspective Such distance can also cause alienation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clouds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clouds/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Giddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giddy/) [Giddy Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giddy-looking-3121845/) [Great heights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-heights/) [Head Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/head-heavy-3739257/) [Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy/) [Heavy Giddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy-giddy-3739256/) [Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/height/) [Height Towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/height-towers-3739258/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-back/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towers/) [Towers Tops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towers-tops-3739259/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [The mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-mind-seemed-to-grow-giddy-by-looking-so-far-into-the-abyss-of-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If a situation requires sudden thought and action, the blood is promptly driven to the head. If a heavy meal is to be digested,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/if-a-situation-requires-sudden-thought-and-action-the-blood-is/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) > [I need a lighter head for my heavy heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-need-a-lighter-head-for-my-heavy-heart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have often caught sight of myself, my spine humped over, defining my hollowness, my head too heavy for my body, swinging like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/i-have-often-caught-sight-of-myself-my-spine-humped-over-defining-my/) [Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/) > [The Florida Gator head - It's not only heavy, it's kind of awkward in the front. It had that long beak. I put it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-corso/the-florida-gator-head-it-s-not-only-heavy-it-s-kind-of-awkward-in/) [Lee Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-corso/) > [My biggest fear, I think falling from a great height. If I want to keep myself awake at night I imagine I'm on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/my-biggest-fear-i-think-falling-from-a-great-height-if-i-want-to-keep/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [The mind reaches great heights only by spurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/the-mind-reaches-great-heights-only-by-spurts/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Each time the losses and deceptions of life teach us about impermanence, they bring us closer to the truth. When you fall from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/each-time-the-losses-and-deceptions-of-life-teach-us-about/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [Meditation ... must be power of will and strength of attention, being like a flight to great heights wherein wings must be plied hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-vila-blake/meditation-must-be-power-of-will-and-strength-of-attention-being-like/) [James Vila Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-vila-blake/) > [But people need lift, too. People don't get moving, they don't soar, they don't achieve great heights, without someone buoying them up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wein/but-people-need-lift-too-people-don-t-get-moving-they-don-t-soar-they/) [Elizabeth Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wein/) > [When the pursuit of natural harmony is a shared journey, great heights can be attained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-hill/when-the-pursuit-of-natural-harmony-is-a-shared-journey-great-heights/) [Lynn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-hill/) > [To answer oppression with appropriate resistance requires knowledge of two kinds: in the first place, self-knowledge by the victim, which means awareness that oppression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/to-answer-oppression-with-appropriate-resistance-requires-knowledge/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [“Without great mountains we cannot reach great heights. And we are born to reach great heights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/without-great-mountains-we-cannot-reach-great-heights-and-we-are-born/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [It seems that it is impossible to live without discovering the purpose of your life. And the first thing which a person should do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-seems-that-it-is-impossible-to-live-without-discovering-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [It is in meeting the great tests that mankind can most successfully rise to great heights. Out of danger and restless insecurity comes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-is-in-meeting-the-great-tests-that-mankind-can-most-successfully/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## More by W. G. Sebald > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“In the warmer months of the year one or other of those nocturnal insects quite often strays indoors from the small garden behind my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/in-the-warmer-months-of-the-year-one-or-other-of-those-nocturnal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“It is a sore point, because you do have advantages if you have access to more than one language. You also have problems, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-is-a-sore-point-because-you-do-have-advantages-if-you-have-access/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [When I was a boy, I'd hide under the kitchen table and wind string around the chairs. I have a sense now that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/when-i-was-a-boy-i-d-hide-under-the-kitchen-table-and-wind-string/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I've always felt that the traditional novel doesn't give you enough information about the narrator, and I think it's important to know the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-felt-that-the-traditional-novel-doesn-t-give-you-enough/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I came from anonymity, and I will continue to write as a private pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-came-from-anonymity-and-i-will-continue-to-write-as-a-private/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [The longer I carry on, the more difficult writing seems to get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/the-longer-i-carry-on-the-more-difficult-writing-seems-to-get/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I don't want to talk about my trials and tribulations. Once you reveal even part of what your real problems might be in life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-don-t-want-to-talk-about-my-trials-and-tribulations-once-you-reveal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Mine is a European imagination, shaped largely by my very promiscuous reading in German, French, English and, with greater difficulty, Italian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/mine-is-a-european-imagination-shaped-largely-by-my-very-promiscuous/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I was brought up largely by my grandfather because my father only returned from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1947 and worked in the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-was-brought-up-largely-by-my-grandfather-because-my-father-only/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Places seem to me to have some kind of memory, in that they activate memory in those who look at them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/places-seem-to-me-to-have-some-kind-of-memory-in-that-they-activate/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Men and animals regard each other across a gulf of mutual incomprehension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/men-and-animals-regard-each-other-across-a-gulf-of-mutual/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [It must be extremely uncomfortable to live with a writer - all that preoccupation and brooding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-must-be-extremely-uncomfortable-to-live-with-a-writer-all-that/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“This, I thought, will be what is left after the earth has ground itself down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/this-i-thought-will-be-what-is-left-after-the-earth-has-ground-itself/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I cannot get over the fact that I was born in 1944. I want to find out as much as I can about that year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-cannot-get-over-the-fact-that-i-was-born-in-1944-i-want-to-find-out/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) [Explore all 65 W. G. Sebald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## More Clouds quotes > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [No matter how strong the storm, how hard the rain and how vicious the wind there is always a gap in the clouds for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-greenhalgh/no-matter-how-strong-the-storm-how-hard-the-rain-and-how-vicious-the/) [Ben Greenhalgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-greenhalgh/) > [The sacred lamp of day Now dipt in Western clouds his parting day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-falconer/the-sacred-lamp-of-day-now-dipt-in-western-clouds-his-parting-day/) [William Falconer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-falconer/) > [Just as the setting sun turned the clouds to liquid gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/just-as-the-setting-sun-turned-the-clouds-to-liquid-gold/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Evil may mar the divine image and cloud its brilliance, but it cannot destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/evil-may-mar-the-divine-image-and-cloud-its-brilliance-but-it-cannot/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. I held my wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/max-you-have-a-bigger-mission-than-finding-the-flock-s-parents-focus/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/above-the-clouds-i-lift-my-wing-to-hear-the-bells-of-heaven-ring-some/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Sometimes in life the clouds are too dark to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/sometimes-in-life-the-clouds-are-too-dark-to-see/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. May you wake up... and start dancing while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/may-you-eat-an-unfamiliar-dessert-in-a-strange-land-at-least-once/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [We're thrilled that our partnership with Adobe has now grown to span our three clouds - Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics 365 -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-johnson/we-re-thrilled-that-our-partnership-with-adobe-has-now-grown-to-span/) [Peggy Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-johnson/) [Browse all 2,443 Clouds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clouds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It makes one’s head heavy and giddy, as if one were not looking back down the receding perspectives of time but rather down on the earth from a great height, from one of those towers whose tops are lost to view in the clouds", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. G. 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