The way to see what looks good and understand the reasons it looks good, and to be at one with this goodness as the work proceeds, is to cultivate an inner quietness, a peace of mind so that goodness can shine through.
Robert M. PirsigRead
If you have a high evaluation of yourself then your ability to recognize new facts is weakened.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Having a high opinion of oneself can hinder the ability to learn and adapt to new information.
This quote by Robert M. Pirsig suggests that an inflated self-assessment can create cognitive barriers that obstruct a person's capacity to acknowledge and integrate new knowledge or perspectives. When individuals believe they already possess all the answers or hold a superior understanding, they may become resistant to change and fail to recognize valuable insights, ultimately limiting their growth and understanding.
Themes
Self-AssessmentKnowledgeGrowthLearningRecognition
In practice
Example use cases
During a self-improvement workshop, one could share this quote to illustrate the importance of humility in learning.
More from Robert M. Pirsig
All quotes βWhen analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process.
Robert M. PirsigRead
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
Robert M. PirsigRead
It's better not to see than to see wrongly.
Robert M. PirsigRead
The truth knocks on the door and you say, go away, I'm looking for the truth, and it goes away. Puzzling.
Robert M. PirsigRead
You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.
Robert M. PirsigRead
Similar quotes
I here ask pardon of all my compatriots for everything of which I have been guilty towards them. I know that, by my ill-considered and immature works, I have brought distress to many and that I have even provoked others to attack me openly and, in general, have produced displeasure in many.
Nikolai GogolRead
The intelligent poor individual was a much finer observer than the intelligent rich one. The poor individual looks around him at every step, listens suspiciously to every word he hears from the people he meets; thus, every step he takes presents a problem, a task, for his thoughts and feelings. He is alert and sensitive, he is experienced, his soul has been burned.
Knut HamsunRead
Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life.
Khaled HosseiniRead
The international community should support a system of laws to regularize international relations and maintain the peace in the same manner that law governs national order.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means that it still matters what Penn did two hundred years ago or what Franklin did a hundred years ago; I never could feel in New York that it mattered what anybody did an hour ago.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
It is dangerous to be an American Negro male. America has never wanted its Negroes to be men, and does not, generally, treat them as men. It treats them as mascots, pets, or things.
James A. BaldwinRead