Eric Hoffer Quotes on Perception
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Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. Hence the mysterious power of both flattery and calumny.... It is thus with most of us: we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.
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A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past.
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We usually see only the things we are looking for - so much so that we sometimes see them where they are not.
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What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.
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To overestimate the originality of one's thoughts is perhaps a less serious defect than being unaware of their newness. There is a more pronounced lack of sensitivity in underestimating (ourselves and others) than in overestimating.