Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
George BerkeleyRead
To be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi)." Or, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Perception shapes reality; without an observer, existence is questioned.
This quote by George Berkeley emphasizes the idea that existence is closely tied to perception. According to Berkeley, something only exists if it is experienced or perceived by someone; hence, if an event occurs without anyone to observe it, its existence becomes contested. This challenges us to think about the nature of reality and how our perceptions define what we understand to be real.
Themes
PerceptionRealityExistenceSoundPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of reality at a book club.
More from George Berkeley
All quotes →Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.
George BerkeleyRead
All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth - in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world - have not any subsistence without a mind.
George BerkeleyRead
The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
George BerkeleyRead
Many things, for aught I know, may exist, whereof neither I nor any other man hath or can have any idea or notion whatsoever.
George BerkeleyRead
A ray of imagination or of wisdom may enlighten the universe, and glow into remotest centuries.
George BerkeleyRead
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