This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
Art | Culture | Individual | Perception | Sense | Thought | Tyranny | Art | Thought |
Leonardo da Vinci, fully Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
The organ of perception acts more readily than judgment.
A Course In Miracles, aka ACIM
Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation.
Maimonides, given name Moses ben Maimon or Moshe ben Maimon, known as "Rambam" NULL
Know that for the human mind there are certain objects of perception which are within the scope of its nature and capacity; on the other hand, there are, amongst things which actually exist, certain objects which the mind can in no way and by no means grasp: the gates of perception are dosed against it. Further, there are things of which the mind understands one part, but remains ignorant of the other; and when man is able to comprehend certain things, it does not follow that he must be able to comprehend everything.
Man | Means | Mind | Nature | Perception |
Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
The universe is change; life is your perception of it.
Life | Life | Perception | Universe |
I start from unified experince and from there acquire, in a secondary way, consciousness of a unifying activity when, taking up an analytical attitude, I break up perception into qualities and sensations, and when, in order to recapture on the basis of these the object into which I was in the first place blindly thrown, I am obliged to suppose an act of synthesis which is merely the counterpart of my analysis.
Consciousness | Object | Order | Perception | Qualities |
The perception of other people and the intersubjective world is problematic only for adults. The child lives in a world which he unhesitatingly believes accessible to all around him. He has no awares of himself or of others as private subjectives, nor does he suspect that all of us, himself included, are limited to one certain point of view of the world. That is why he subjects neither his thoughts, in which he believes as they present themselves, to any sort of criticism. He has no knowledge of points of view. For him men are empty heads turned towards one single, self-evident world where everything takes place, even dreams, which are, he thinks, in his room, and even thinking, since it is not distinct from words.
Knowledge | Men | People | Perception | Present | World | Child |
In perception we do not think the object and we do not think ourselves thinking it, we are given over to the object and we merge into this body which is better informed than we are about the world.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Man, by nature, is a selfish creature. Even in his relationships with others he tends to focus primarily on himself or, at most, on his self-colored perception of his fellow. "Love" is the endeavor to transcend this intrinsic selfishness and truly relate to one's fellow, to be sensitive to and devoted to his/her needs as an individual distinct of oneself and one's own stake in the relationship.
Focus | Individual | Perception | Selfishness |
Perhaps a new kind of inspired physicist, experienced in the yogic modes of perception, might arise to comprehend the further reaches of matter, space and time. A physicist (if he were still called that) trained in yogic perception would compare his discoveries with those derived from today's "normal" physics, and there would probably be a "principle of complementarity" existing between the insights derived from the various consciousness states, "normal" and "yogic". Physics would be entirely empirical (in this broadened sense), its findings with instruments ranging from the ordinary senses and their physical extensions (telescopes, radar, etc.) to the subtle yogic ways (indriyas) of apprehending the universe.
Consciousness | Perception | Space |
Michelangelo, aka Michaelangelo Buonarroti, fully Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni NULL
Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.
Beauty | Perception | Beauty |
Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, also Moses Hayyim Luzzato, known by Hebrew acronym RaMCHal
God desired, however, that there should be a [theurgic] way for man to free himself from the physical restrictions [of the natural world]. In this manner, he would then be able [through the use of theurgy] to attain things as a result of spiritual rules rather than those of physical law. He would thus be able to attain enlightenment and a perception of the spiritual....In attaining this, man would also be able to better elevate all existence to its preferred good state [of unity]. He would be able to accomplish this both below and on high, both in the Roots and in the Branches.
Better | Enlightenment | Existence | Good | Man | Perception |
The only cure for materialism is the cleansing of the six sense (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind). If the senses are clogged, one's perception is stifled. The more it is stifled, the more contaminated the sense become. This creates disorder in the world, and that is the greatest evil of all.
Evil | Materialism | Perception | Sense |
Nāgārjuna, fully Acharya Nāgārjuna NULL
If wanderers were not themselves the cause, then like the scent and color of the lotus in the sky, there would be no perception of the universe.
Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward
People often feel unable to get out of a distasteful or unhappy situa- tion. They assume they are trapped in a job, in a community, in a marriage, family, or a way of life. They do not see the alternatives of looking for a new job or improving the one they have, of moving out of the community, of changing their marriage patterns, of break- ing off a relationship, or of loving and disciplining their children more effectively. They limit their perception of the problem, not seeing possible options or an obvious solution. They use one narrow approach and repeat this approach over and over even though it obviously does not resolve or change the situation.
Change | Children | Marriage | Perception |
Remember: in order for a perception to change one must be frustrated in one's actions or change one's purpose.
Change | Order | Perception |
Paramahansa Yogananda, born Mukunda Lal Ghosh
Aum is the most sacred symbol that can be used to know God. The vibration of Aum contains all the concepts of Him and all His manifestations. No other mantra or symbol gives greater calmness and divine attunement of the mind to God. Chanting this sacred Name leads to perception of the Infinite.
Calmness | Mind | Perception | Sacred |
Paul Tillich, fully Paul Johannes Tillich
In the creative vision of God the individual is present as a whole in his essential being and inner teleos and at the same time in the infinity of the special moments of his life process. Of course this is said symbolically, since we are unable to have a perception of or even an imagination of that which belongs to the divine life. The mystery of being beyond essence and existence is hidden in the mystery of the creativity of the divine life.
Creativity | Existence | God | Imagination | Individual | Life | Life | Mystery | Perception | Present | Time | Vision | God |