Joseph Joubert Quotes

Obscurity, indeed, is painful to the mind as well as to the eye; but to bring light from obscurity, by whatever labour, must needsbe delightful and rejoicing.

I think I am seeing more clearly now than ever.

I feel like if you can describe something fully and accurately, then people will be able to see it themselves - they don't need be told what to.

A lot of the fun lies in trying to penetrate the mystery; and this is best done by saying over the lines to yourself again and again, till they pass through the stage of sounding like nonsense, and finally return to a full sense that had at first escaped notice.

I only see clearly what I remember.

There is no darkness but ignorance.

The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.

It's a murky world out there, and it's hard to figure things out sometimes.

Experience teaches us not to assume that the obvious is clearly understood

When you understand things, there's no more magic.

Not to create confusion in what is clear, but to throw light on what is obscure.

An image is a stop the mind makes between uncertainties.

Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.

All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.

I think the purpose of the writer is to help us see. The writer is someone who can perhaps have the joy of helping others see.

All your life, you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye. And when something nudges it into outline, it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.

The mind's passion is all for singling out. Obscurity has another tale to tell.

I really value words. I really try to illustrate and let people draw their own conclusions.

Truth makes on the ocean of nature no one track of light; every eye, looking on, finds its own.

The analysis of concepts is for the understanding nothing more than what the magnifying glass is for sight.

To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one.

It is said that the night brings counsel, but it is not said that the counsel is necessarily good.

In many cases it is a matter for decision and not a simple matter of fact whether x understands y; and so on.

The doors of wisdom are never shut.