--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: During long periods of history, the mode…" description: "\"During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense pe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/walter-benjamin-1723_accomplished_during-long-periods-of-history-the-mode_102819.jpg" --- # During long periods of history, the mode of human sense… ![“During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well” quote by Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/walter-benjamin-1723_accomplished_during-long-periods-of-history-the-mode_102819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/walter-benjamin-1723_accomplished_during-long-periods-of-history-the-mode_102819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/walter-benjamin-1723_accomplished_during-long-periods-of-history-the-mode_102819.jpg) > “During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well” [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human perception is shaped by the technological and cultural context of its era, not just by biology. **In simple terms:** Our senses adapt to the tools and societies of the time. Key Takeaway Perception evolves with historical and technological change. Themes perception history technology culture Mood analytical reflective Type observational theoretical When to use this quote - Shift from print to digital media - Adoption of VR altering spatial awareness Key Concepts media theory Practical Applications - Design media that aligns with contemporary perception - Educate on media literacy across eras Questions to Reflect On - How do current digital tools reshape our senses? - Can we retain older perceptual habits in a tech‑driven world? A Different Perspective May overstate the determinism of technology on perception, ignoring individual agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accomplished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplished/) [Circumstances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstances/) [Determined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determined/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Human Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-sense-1241444/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Mediums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediums/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Organized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organized/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Perception Changes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception-changes-1241446/) [Perception Organized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception-organized-1241445/) [Periods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/periods/) [Sense perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-perception/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [When knowledge passes into code, it changes state; like water turned to ice, it becomes a new thing, with new properties. We use it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/when-knowledge-passes-into-code-it-changes-state-like-water-turned-to/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [“Human sense of direction, if anything, is a sense of wrong direction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-l-mooers-jr/human-sense-of-direction-if-anything-is-a-sense-of-wrong-direction/) [Robert L. Mooers Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-l-mooers-jr/) > [“Remember, that the darkness is not bad, just different, and all that is good, or bad, is there in the light, or the dark,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/remember-that-the-darkness-is-not-bad-just-different-and-all-that-is/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [If general perception changes from seeing the glass as 'half-full' to seeing it as 'half empty' there are major innovative opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/if-general-perception-changes-from-seeing-the-glass-as-half-full-to/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Perception is a wave. You change as your perception of something changes because you define yourself as a reflection of whatever you happen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/perception-is-a-wave-you-change-as-your-perception-of-something/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I realize that as I get more experience as I get older, my perception changes and that feeds the photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-shore/i-realize-that-as-i-get-more-experience-as-i-get-older-my-perception/) [Stephen Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-shore/) > [Public perception changes with every film. That's the best part of being an actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zareen-khan/public-perception-changes-with-every-film-that-s-the-best-part-of/) [Zareen Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zareen-khan/) > [There is a major ingredient missing from our perception of how changes are brought about; that ingredient is power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-wellstone/there-is-a-major-ingredient-missing-from-our-perception-of-how/) [Paul Wellstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-wellstone/) > [The mind wants to land, to fixate, to hold a concept, but the only way you can be really free is by not fixating.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/the-mind-wants-to-land-to-fixate-to-hold-a-concept-but-the-only-way/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [The brain is the highest of the organs in position, and it is protected by the vault of the head; it has no flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-brain-is-the-highest-of-the-organs-in-position-and-it-is/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Sense-perceptions can only be indirect knowledge, and not direct knowledge. Only one's own awareness is direct knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/sense-perceptions-can-only-be-indirect-knowledge-and-not-direct/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [There is a single general space, a single vast immensity which we may freely call void: in it are unnumerable globes like this on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/there-is-a-single-general-space-a-single-vast-immensity-which-we-may/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [It is one of the commonest of our mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-one-of-the-commonest-of-our-mistakes-to-consider-that-the-limit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What if insanity is just a heightened sense of perception?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ania-ahlborn/what-if-insanity-is-just-a-heightened-sense-of-perception/) [Ania Ahlborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ania-ahlborn/) > [Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world. Our hearing extends to a small distance. Our sight is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/our-senses-enable-us-to-perceive-only-a-minute-portion-of-the-outside/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) ## More by Walter Benjamin > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than of convictions, and of such facts as have scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-construction-of-life-is-at-present-in-the-power-of-facts-far-more/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“It should be pointed out that certain correlative concepts retain their meaning, and possibly their foremost significance, if they are referred exclusively to man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/it-should-be-pointed-out-that-certain-correlative-concepts-retain/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“to great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they labor their entire lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/to-great-writers-finished-works-weigh-lighter-than-those-fragments-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [All religions have honored the beggar. For he proves that in a matter at the same time as prosaic and holy, banal and regenerative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-religions-have-honored-the-beggar-for-he-proves-that-in-a-matter/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-camera-introduces-us-to-unconscious-optics-as-does-psychoanalysis/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Melancholy betrays the world for the sake of knowledge. But in its tenacious self-absorption it embraces dead objects in its contemplation, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/melancholy-betrays-the-world-for-the-sake-of-knowledge-but-in-its/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? A bad poem on springtime, filled to bursting with metaphors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/for-what-is-the-program-of-the-bourgeois-parties-a-bad-poem-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [There was the pedestrian who wedged himself into the crowd, but there was also the flneur who demanded elbow room and was unwilling to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/there-was-the-pedestrian-who-wedged-himself-into-the-crowd-but-there/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out. Only the copied text thus commands the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-power-of-a-text-is-different-when-it-is-read-from-when-it-is/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Quotations in my work are like wayside robbers who leap out armed and relieve the stroller of his conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/quotations-in-my-work-are-like-wayside-robbers-who-leap-out-armed-and/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Each morning the day lies like a fresh shirt on our bed; this incomparably fine, incomparably tightly woven tissue of pure prediction fits us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/each-morning-the-day-lies-like-a-fresh-shirt-on-our-bed-this/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Taking food alone tends to make one hard and coarse. Those accustomed to it must lead a Spartan life if they are not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/taking-food-alone-tends-to-make-one-hard-and-coarse-those-accustomed/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) [Explore all 207 Walter Benjamin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## More Accomplished quotes > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [... even the most sublimely accomplished non-stop talker can't consistently please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger-2/even-the-most-sublimely-accomplished-non-stop-talker-can-t/) [J. D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger-2/) > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Like all writers, he measured the achievements of others by what they had accomplished, asking of them that they measure him by what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/like-all-writers-he-measured-the-achievements-of-others-by-what-they/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I'm proud of what I've accomplished and that is empowering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violet-chachki/i-m-proud-of-what-i-ve-accomplished-and-that-is-empowering/) [Violet Chachki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violet-chachki/) > [We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. 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