Anaïs Nin? Orville Clark? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent literary figure and acclaimed modern diarist Anaïs Nin stated something like the following: When we become familiar with people and scenes we cease to see them; therefore, the true artist must shake up the commonplace. The resultant novelty will enable a renewal of …
Tag Archives: Anais Nin
A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned
Paul Valéry? W. H. Auden? Anaïs Nin? Maya Deren? Jean Cocteau? Esther Kellner? Gene Fowler? Gore Vidal? Marianne Moore? George Lucas? Oscar Wilde? Dear Quote Investigator: A creative person who is absorbed with the task of generating an artwork hesitates to declare completion. Reworking and improving a piece are always tantalizing possibilities. Here are five …
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The Eye Sees Only What the Mind Is Prepared To Comprehend
Henri Bergson? Robertson Davies? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Carlyle? Anais Nin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: One might see a duck when looking at the famous ambiguous image above, or one might see a rabbit. Perceiving one animal partially blocks the recognition of the other animal, and mental effort is required to switch one’s viewpoint. …
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One Sees What One Carries In One’s Own Heart
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Anais Nin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: During a Rorschach test a patient is shown a series of ambiguous inkblots and his or her reactions and interpretations are recorded. This assessment reminds me of an adage. Here are two versions: You see in the world what you carry in your heart. They …
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Whatever We Achieve Inwardly Will Change Outer Reality
J. K. Rowling? Anaïs Nin? Plutarch? Otto Rank? Dear Quote Investigator: J. K. Rowling created the beloved fantasy universe of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She delivered a humorous and touching commencement address at Harvard University in 2008. While in college she studied the classics, and her address included a …
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This Diary Is My Kief, Hashish, and Opium Pipe. This Is My Drug and My Vice
Anaïs Nin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The acclaimed modern diarist Anaïs Nin apparently experienced an addictive intensity when writing in her diary. The following words have been attributed to her: This diary is my kief, hashish, and opium pipe. Is this an authentic quotation, or is it simply a hallucination? Quote Investigator: The publication of …
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We Don’t See Things As They Are, We See Them As We Are
Anaïs Nin? Babylonian Talmud? Immanuel Kant? G. T. W. Patrick? H. M. Tomlinson? Steven Covey? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Our preconceptions can dramatically alter the way we perceive the world. There is a saying attributed to the prominent writer Anaïs Nin that reflects this idea: We don’t see things as they are; we see them …
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