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Throw away the lights, the definitions, And say of what you see in the dark That it is this or that it is that, But do not use the rotted names. How should you walk in that space and know Nothing of the madness of space, Nothing of its jocular procreations? Throw the lights away. Nothing must stand Between you and the shapes you take When the crust of shape has been destroyed.

Wallace Stevens#90

RealityPerceptionImaginationLanguageExperienceNaming

About this quote

What does it mean?
Reject fixed definitions and labels to perceive reality directly without the distortion of conventional names.
In plain terms
Stop using old labels to see things as they really are.
What can you take from it?
Avoid predefined categories to experience raw reality.

Where it applies

  • artistic creation
  • philosophical inquiry
  • personal insight

Putting it to work

  • meditation on objects
  • writing without cliches
  • questioning assumptions

Questions to consider

  • How do names limit your perception?
  • What do you see when you ignore labels?

Another view

Some structure is necessary for communication and shared understanding.

More from Wallace Stevens

  1. What is beyond the cathedral, outside, Balances with nuptial song. So it is to sit and to balance things To and to and to the point of still, To say of one mas…

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  2. Here is the bread of time to come, Here is its actual stone. The bread Will be our bread, the stone will be Our bed and we shall sleep by night. We shall forge…

    Permalink to quote #91
  3. The wind in which the dead leaves blow. Here I inhale profounder strength And as I am, I speak and move And things are as I think they are And say they are on …

    Permalink to quote #88

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