For life is tendency, and the essence of a tendency is to develop in the form of a sheaf, creating, by its very growth, divergent directions among which its impetus is divided.
Henri BergsonRead
In just the same way the thousands of successive positions of a runner are contracted into one sole symbolic attitude, which our eye perceives, which art reproduces, and which becomes for everyone the image of a man who runs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of an action can be captured in a single symbolic representation despite being made up of numerous individual movements.
This quote by Henri Bergson illustrates how the complex and continuous nature of an activity, such as running, can be distilled into a singular, recognizable image or idea. It emphasizes the power of perception and art to encapsulate the essence of human actions in a simplified form, allowing us to appreciate the deeper meaning behind movements that might otherwise be overlooked.
Themes
EssenceActionSymbolismPerceptionArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the philosophy of movement, this quote can illustrate the abstract representation of physical actions.
More from Henri Bergson
All quotes →To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
Henri BergsonRead
Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.
Henri BergsonRead
I believe that the time given to refutation in philosophy is usually time lost. Of the many attacks directed by many thinkers against each other, what now remains? Nothing, or assuredly very little. That which counts and endures is the modicum of positive truth which each contributes. The true statement is, of itself, able to displace the erroneous idea, and becomes, without our having taken the trouble of refuting anyone, the best of refutations.
Henri BergsonRead
Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science
Henri BergsonRead
And I also see how this body influences external images: it gives back movement to them.
Henri BergsonRead
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