Seeing is forgetting the name of the things one sees.

Regarder, c’est-à-dire oublier les noms des choses que l’on voit.

Paul Valéry

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More information about this quote

Topic

Names Perception

Author

Paul Valéry

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Paradox Zen koan

Language

French

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Occupation

Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Valéry, Paul. Quoted in Robert Irwin: A Way to Look at Things by Not Forgetting Their Names, written by Adrian Kohn. c. 1982.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Paul Valery about names: “Seeing is forgetting the name of the things one sees.”
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A quote by Paul Valery about names: “Seeing is forgetting the name of the things one sees.”
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A quote by Paul Valery about names: “Seeing is forgetting the name of the things one sees.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1930s

Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still.

T.S. Eliot

Burnt Norton

More information about this quote
Topic
Meaning of words Words Limits of language

Author

T.S. Eliot
Source
Burnt Norton Four Quartets
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1936 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Eliot, T. S. “Burnt Norton.” Collected Poems 1909–1935. Harcourt, Brace And Company, 1936, pt. 5.

Another quote originally in French

Experience shows us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of love Love Relationships

Author

Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Source
Wind, Sand and Stars
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1939 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

De Saint-Exupery, Antoine. Terre des hommes [Wind, Sand and Stars]. Gallimard, 1939.

Another quote of the following type Paradox

We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

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More information about this quote
Topic
Healing Suffering

Author

Marcel Proust
Source
The Fugitive In Search of Lost Time
Medium
Novel
Genre
Modernist literature
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
French
Time
1922 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Albertine disparue [Albertine Gone]. Paris: Gallimard, 1927.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. The Fugitive, edited and translated by Peter Collier. Penguin Classics, 2021.