Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
Tis but a part we see, and not a whole.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that we often only perceive a fragment of reality rather than the complete picture.
Alexander Pope's quote emphasizes the limitations of human perception and understanding. It serves as a reminder that what we observe or understand is often just a small aspect of a much larger truth, encouraging a sense of humility and open-mindedness about our knowledge and insights.
Themes
PerceptionRealityUnderstandingTruthHumility
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about philosophy, one might say this quote to illustrate the nature of human knowledge.
More from Alexander Pope
All quotes βWhat dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Alexander PopeRead
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Alexander PopeRead
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
Alexander PopeRead
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Alexander PopeRead
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Alexander PopeRead
Similar quotes
Mathematicians are like managers - they want improvement without change.
Edsger DijkstraRead
Viscosity and velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes the stillness of disinclination, velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can't tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy.
Susanna KaysenRead
It is true that 'I seem to see a table' does not entail 'I see a table'; but 'I seem to feel a pain' does entail 'I feel a pain'. So scepticism loses its force - cannot open up its characteristic gap - with regard to that which ultimately most concerns us, pleasure and pain.
Galen StrawsonRead
God has made the cat to give man the pleasure of caressing the tiger.
Victor HugoRead
I bold it impossible, that the great monarchies of Europe can subsist much longer; they all affect magnificence and splendor.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
Very often, I confess, the teller of dreams bores me. His dream could perhaps interest me if it were frankly worked on. But to hear a glorious tale of his insanity! I have not yet clarified, psychoanalytically, this boredom during the recital of other people's dreams. Perhaps I have retained the stiffness of a rationalist. I do not follow the tale of justified incoherence docilely. I always suspect that part of the stupidities being recounted are invented.
Gaston BachelardRead