You know these things as thoughts, but your thoughts are not your experiences, they are an echo and after-effect of your experiences: as when your room trembles whe na carriage goes past. I however am sitting in the carriage, and often I am the carriage itself.Ina man who thinks like this, the dichotomy between thinking and feeling, intellect and passion, has really disappeared. He feels his thoughts. He can fall in love with an idea. An idea can make him ill.

Summary

This quote emphasizes that thoughts are not equivalent to personal experiences, but rather a reflection of them. It compares thoughts to the residual vibrations in a room after a passing carriage. The quote further suggests that true understanding comes from being actively engaged in experiences, resembling sitting inside the carriage. The distinction between thinking and feeling fades away for someone who fully encompasses this perspective. Such an individual can develop an emotional connection with ideas, experiencing profound love or even physical strain in response to them.

Topics