Perception influences how we move through the world and how we engage with others. Education, experience, family, and community all help us develop our core beliefs — but perception is not the same as reality. Our perception can be skewed by everything from our physical abilities to our social identities. Knowing that, it is important to consider different perspectives, even when they contain ideas that conflict with our own interpretation of the world.
Science fiction author Philip K. Dick posited, “Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world, a world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans… If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn’t we be talking about plural realities?” In those moments when we’re confronted with a different perspective, one that conflicts with our own understanding of reality, we can be quick to dismiss it because it challenges our long-held beliefs — or we can reexamine the conventional wisdom we have accepted as fundamental truth and make room for a new perspective.
Here are 14 intriguing quotes — from world leaders, leading scientists, gifted artists, and other experts — that encourage us to challenge our perception of the world.
Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to you.Douglas Adams, author
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.André Gide, French author
You can’t depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus.Mark Twain
You can change in an instant. You can change your mind. You can change your timing. You can change your approach. You can change your words.Karen Maezen Miller, Zen teacher
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.Kahlil Gibran, writer
If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.Elizabeth Gilbert, writer
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.Will Durant, historian and philosopher
Turn off your logical brain that says 1 + 1 = 2. Open up your mind to the possibility that 1 + 1 can equal 48, a Mercedes-Benz, an apple pie, a blue horse.Natalie Goldberg, writer
As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it.Andy Warhol, artist
You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.Goldie Hawn, actress
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.Albert Einstein
Accept — then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.Eckhart Tolle, spiritual teacher
What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.Martha Graham, dancer/choreographer
If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.Catherine Cook, entrepreneur
Photo credit: akinbostanci/ iStock
