--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All that we are not stares back at what…" description: "\"All that we are not stares back at what we are.\" — W. H. Auden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/w-h-auden-856_lens_all-that-we-are-not-stares-back-at-what_1267507.png" --- # All that we are not stares back at what we are. ![“All that we are not stares back at what we are.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/w-h-auden-856_lens_all-that-we-are-not-stares-back-at-what_1267507.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/w-h-auden-856_lens_all-that-we-are-not-stares-back-at-what_1267507.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/w-h-auden-856_lens_all-that-we-are-not-stares-back-at-what_1267507.png) > “All that we are not stares back at what we are.” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often define ourselves by how others perceive us, reflecting our inner identity. **In simple terms:** Identity is shaped by others’ views. Key Takeaway Seek self‑knowledge beyond external judgments. Themes identity perception self‑awareness Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationships - career Key Concepts philosophy psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you see yourself versus how others see you? - Can you separate self‑worth from others’ opinions? A Different Perspective Self‑perception may differ from external perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lens/) [Stares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stares/) ## Related quotes > [Intellectual disgrace Stares from every human face, And the seas of pity lie Locked and frozen in each eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/intellectual-disgrace-stares-from-every-human-face-and-the-seas-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“I risk a glance, and St. Clair stares back. Deeply. He has not looked at me like this before. I turn away first, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-perkins/i-risk-a-glance-and-st-clair-stares-back-deeply-he-has-not-looked-at/) [Stephanie Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-perkins/) > [“What’s the one thing so terrible that you’ve never told anyone? The one thing no one could ever forgive?” She stares hard into him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dunbar/what-s-the-one-thing-so-terrible-that-you-ve-never-told-anyone-the/) [Robert Dunbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dunbar/) > [“You know the horrible life of the alarm clock – it’s a monster that has always appalled me because of the number of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-vache/you-know-the-horrible-life-of-the-alarm-clock-it-s-a-monster-that-has/) [Jacques Vache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-vache/) > [His dark hair is perfectly recklessly up today, those tanned muscles flexing as he extends out his arms and does his little turn. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-evans/his-dark-hair-is-perfectly-recklessly-up-today-those-tanned-muscles/) [Katy Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-evans/) > [“The dread of being stares us in the eye, and in a deadly gush we perceive how the minds are dangling in threads of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wessel-zapffe/the-dread-of-being-stares-us-in-the-eye-and-in-a-deadly-gush-we/) [Peter Wessel Zapffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wessel-zapffe/) > [ “\[A\]s I stepped over the curb, I became excruciatingly aware of my skin color, and my heart pounded with social anxiety. 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His eyes narrow for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-sparrow/for-a-moment-we-sit-in-silence-eventually-i-turn-to-him-and-say-do/) [Rebecca Sparrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-sparrow/) > [“Well at least your awake," he sighs "You had me worried." "Get your hands away from me." He waves sheathed fingers in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/well-at-least-your-awake-he-sighs-you-had-me-worried-get-your-hands/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by W. H. Auden > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More Lens quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [“‎..: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/) > [Making progress on longstanding challenges requires a different lens and a new approach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayanna-pressley/making-progress-on-longstanding-challenges-requires-a-different-lens/) [Ayanna Pressley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayanna-pressley/) > [My first experience with film was through a still camera. I would sit, very much against my will, with my father in the game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavid-hood/my-first-experience-with-film-was-through-a-still-camera-i-would-sit/) [Gavid Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavid-hood/) > [No lens is quick enough to track the movement of the human body. The molecules are always moving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-rees/no-lens-is-quick-enough-to-track-the-movement-of-the-human-body-the/) [Roger Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-rees/) > [Light-skinned privilege is largely through a white lens. It is exploited by oppressive forces... It was always a facade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-sampson/light-skinned-privilege-is-largely-through-a-white-lens-it-is/) [Kendrick Sampson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-sampson/) > [The self is merely the lens through which we see others and the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-self-is-merely-the-lens-through-which-we-see-others-and-the-world/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Peace can be a lens through which you see the world. Be it. Live it. Radiate it out. Peace is an inside job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/peace-can-be-a-lens-through-which-you-see-the-world-be-it-live-it/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [I've always had the utmost respect and awe of what the lens can do and what a director can do with just a camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-gray-gubler/i-ve-always-had-the-utmost-respect-and-awe-of-what-the-lens-can-do/) [Matthew Gray Gubler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-gray-gubler/) > [The lens is the actor's best critic... showing his mind more clearly than on the stage. You can get wonderful cooperation out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-greenstreet/the-lens-is-the-actor-s-best-critic-showing-his-mind-more-clearly/) [Sydney Greenstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-greenstreet/) > [A screenplay is really an instruction manual, and it can be interpreted in any number of ways. 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