Criticism Quote by Walter Pater
““Analysis goes a step farther still, and assures us that those impressions of the individual mind to which, for each one of us, experience dwindles down, are in perpetual flight; that each of them is limited by time, and that as time is infinitely divisible, each of them is infinitely divisible also; all that is actual in it being a single moment, gone while we try to apprehend it, of which it may ever be more truly said that it has ceased to be than that it is. To such a tremulous wisp constantly reforming itself on the stream, to a single sharp impression, with a sense in it, a relic more or less fleeting, of such moments gone by, what is real in our life fines itself down.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater, 1885
Moments are fleeting; our perception of them is constantly changing, making it hard to grasp a stable reality.
In simple terms: Moments pass quickly, perception shifts.
Key Takeaway
Accept impermanence.
Themes
impermanence
perception
time
reality
Mood
contemplative
melancholic
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- mindfulness practice
- creative writing
- psychology research
- art criticism
Key Concepts
philosophy
phenomenology
ephemerality
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you stay present with changing thoughts?
- What does “real” mean to you?
A Different Perspective
Our tendency to cling to fixed ideas can cause suffering.
