You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
Walker PercyRead
Why is it that one can look at a lion or a planet or an owl or at someone's finger as long as one pleases, but looking into the eyes of another person is, if prolonged past a second, a perilous affair?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Looking into someone's eyes can evoke deep emotional connections or discomfort, unlike observing nature or objects.
This quote by Walker Percy reflects on the complexity of human interactions and the vulnerability that comes with intimate eye contact. While we can gaze at animals or inanimate objects with ease, the eyes of another person reveal profound emotional truths and can create a sense of exposure or danger, highlighting the challenges of genuine human connection.
Themes
RelationshipsEye ContactVulnerabilityEmotionHuman Connection
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the importance of empathy in relationships.
More from Walker Percy
All quotes →They all think any minute I'm going to commit suicide. What a joke. The truth of course is the exact opposite: suicide is the only thing that keeps me alive. Whenever everything else fails, all I have to do is consider suicide and in two seconds I'm as cheerful as a nitwit. But if I could not kill myself -- ah then, I would. I can do without nembutal or murder mysteries but not without suicide.
Walker PercyRead
It is possible, however, that the artist is both thin-skinned and prophetic and, like the canary lowered into the mine shaft to test the air, has caught a whiff of something lethal.
Walker PercyRead
We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away.
Walker PercyRead
Before, I wandered as a diversion. Now I wander seriously and sit and read as a diversion.
Walker PercyRead
Since grief only aggravates your loss, grieve not for what is past.
Walker PercyRead
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