Quotes about Point of View
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
If we give a description of the world that ignores point of view, that is solely "from the outside" - of space, of time, of a subject - we may be able to say many things but we lose certain crucial aspects of the world. Because the world that we have been given is the world seen from within it, not from without.
In the mountains, we see a valley covered by a sea of white clouds. The surface of the clouds gleams, immaculate. We start to walk toward the valley. The air becomes more humid, then less clear; the sky is no longer blue. We find ourselves in a fog. Where did the well-defined surface of the clouds go? It vanished. Its disappearance is gradual; there is no surface that separates the fog from the sparse air of the heights. Was it an illusion? No, it was a view from afar. Come to think of it, it`s like this with all surfaces. This dense marble table would look like a fog if I were shrunk to a small enough, atomic scale. Everything in the world becomes blurred when seen close up. Where exactly does the mountain end and where do the plains begin? Where does the savannah begin and the desert end? We cut the world into large slices. We think of it in terms of concepts that are meaningful for us, that emerge at a certain scale.
There is a conventional or popular point of view. There is a personal point of view. There is a large point of view which the majority share. There is a small point of view which just a few share. But there is no right point of view. You are always right. You are always wrong. It just depends from which pole you are looked at. Advances in any field are built upon people with the small or personal point of view.
People are like sheep: they follow the leader, It is the leader who has a point of view about which way they should go. Having an original point of view or angle is a novelty. Recognising its value is intelligent. Having the courage to stand up for it in tlie face of public opinion is what makes you a winner.
Most of the biggest catastrophes that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and out there, but that we are willfully blind to, because we can't handle, don't want to handle, the conflict that it provokes. But when we dare to break that silence, or when we dare to see, and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking.
Open information is fantastic, open networks are essential. But the truth won't set us free until we develop the skills and the habit and the talent and the moral courage to use it. Openness isn't the end. It's the beginning.
Democracy works only if we citizens are capable of thinking beyond our narrow self-interest. But to do so, we need a shared view of the world we cohabit. We need to come into contact with other peoples' lives and needs and desires. The filter bubble pushes us in the opposite direction - it creates the impression that our narrow self-interest is all that exists. And while this is great for getting people to shop online, it’s not great for getting people to make better decisions together.
Because personalized filters usually have no Zoom Out function, it's easy to lose your bearings, to believe the world is a narrow island when in fact it's an immense, varied continent.
It’s a cliché, but the experience of walking in the other side’s shoes does seem to be the best way to understand their point of view.
Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they`re in the game.
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.