Quote by Richard Holmes

Physical vision - one might say scientific vision - brings about a metaphysical shift in the observer's view of reality as a whole. The geography of the earth, or the structure of the solar system, are in an instant utterly changed, and forever. The explorer, the scientific observer, the literary reader, experience the Sublime: a moment of revelation into the idea of the unbounded, the infinite.

Physical vision - one might say scientific vision - brings a

Summary

This quote highlights the transformative power of physical vision, particularly in scientific exploration and literary reading. When we see and understand the geography of the earth or the structure of the solar system, our perception of reality undergoes a profound metaphysical shift. It alters our understanding of the world, rendering it forever changed. This shift leads to an experience of the Sublime, where we encounter a moment of revelation that opens our minds to the idea of the unbounded and infinite. It emphasizes the transformative potential of knowledge and the awe-inspiring nature of exploring the unknown.

Topics

Science Reading Inspirational Observation Vision Sublime Ineffable

By Richard Holmes

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

It is part of our pedagogy to teach the operations of thinki

It is part of our pedagogy to teach the operations of thinking, feeling, and willing so that they may be made conscious. For if we do not know the difference between an emotion and a thought, we will know very little. We need to understand the components (of emotions) at work... in order to free their hold.

Mary Caroline Richards

A man who publishes his letters becomes a nudist--nothing sh

A man who publishes his letters becomes a nudist--nothing shields him from the world's gaze except his bare skin. A writer, writing away, can always fix himself up to make himself more presentable, but a man who has written a letter is stuck with it for all time.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Daddy loves you, but he smacks you, and he can shout at you

Daddy loves you, but he smacks you, and he can shout at you and smash things, but Daddy still loves you. So when you get into a relationship with someone who does all of that, why would it be unusual?

You have to wake up a virgin each morning.

You have to wake up a virgin each morning.

Jean-Louis Barrault

Knowledge about life is one thing effective occupation of a

Knowledge about life is one thing effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. I

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

Any time I got in emotional turmoil, I felt sick all the tim

Any time I got in emotional turmoil, I felt sick all the time, like at any minute I would die.

The culture of independent film criticism has totally gone d

The culture of independent film criticism has totally gone down the drain and this seems to come with the territory of the consumer age that we are now living in.

Every job from the heart is, ultimately, of equal value. The

Every job from the heart is, ultimately, of equal value. The nurse injects the syringe; the writer slides the pen; the farmer plows the dirt; the comedian draws the laughter. Monetary income is the perfect deceiver of a man's true worth.

Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves

Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in nineteenth-century France and England, or twentieth-century Russia and America.

Lillian Hellman

Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to

Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to move back from it a little.

Distance is a great promoter of admiration!

Distance is a great promoter of admiration!