I have only to contemplate myself; man comes from nothing, passes through time, and disappears forever in the bosom of God. He is seen but for a moment wandering on the verge of two abysses, and then is lost. If man were wholly ignorant of himself he would have no poetry in him, for one cannot describe what one does not conceive. If he saw himself clearly, his imagination would remain idle and would have nothing to add to the picture. But the nature of man is sufficiently revealed for him to know something of himself and sufficiently veiled to leave much impenetrable darkness, a darkness in which he ever gropes, forever in vain, trying to understand himself.Alexis De Tocqueville
About This Quote
This quote from the philosopher and writer Jean Jacques Rousseau illustrates how we can’t know ourselves completely. We only know a little about our own nature and, as a result, we can never fully comprehend who we are or why we make the choices we do.
Source: Democracy In America
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More Quotes By Alexis De Tocqueville
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