We recognise someone in a pose of reflection though Reflection is not characterised by a specific genre in representational form, notwithstanding Rodin’s ‘Thinker’. That sculpture was perhaps the first time that attention in the arts was directed towards the posture of reflection per se.
Reflection tends to be overlooked through familiarity. We can treat it in a cavalier way. We might not pay much attention to someone given over to reflection and might just suppose that they are staring ‘vacantly’ into space.
Below is a montage of figurines showing subjects in a ruminative state of Reflection.
Beneath the pictures is a companion piece of quotations. These words of wisdom also may be familiar but, again, it is rare to find them gathered together under one heading, that of Reflection.
‘La Penseuse’ (French female Thinker)
Modern art ‘Thinker’ by Tolleck Winner
A caricature of Einstein who wrote ‘I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking’
What celebrated people say about reflection
Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury, the greatest reward, that costs nothing. – Dodie Smith
People think about reflection even if their thoughts are not docketed in a single mainstream ‘subject’. It may not be easy to find a category on a bookshelf entitled ‘What people think about reflection’. That is a comment on the communal focus of conscious minds. The fact of the matter may be different. People like a publicly celebrated authority figure to dress up worthwhile sayings but in truth we all can have our say in our democratic times and we can all learn from each other. That said, many are the thoughts and sayings of celebrated people about aspects of reflection….:
Reflection doesn’t take anything away from decisiveness, from being a person of action. In fact it generates the inner toughness that you need to be an effective person of action. Think of leadership as the sum of two vectors, competence (your specialty, your skills your know-how) and your and authenticity (your identity, your character, your attitude) – Peter Koestenbaum
Ultimately knowledge in martial art means simply self-knowledge. It can become intelligible only in the vigorous and constant process of self-inquiry and self-discovery. – Bruce Lee
It’s our mind which forces our self to do positive activities and also negative activities. So first learn to control your mind then automatically you will start doing positive activities which will result in a discussion of different great ideas.- Zeeshan Talib
We can … go beyond mere opinions and so-called common sense conclusions. One must learn to be a skilful scientist and not accept anything at all. Everything must be seen though one’s own microscope and one has to reach one’s own conclusions in one’s own way. Until we do that there is no saviour, no guru, no blessings and no guidance could be of any help – Chögyam Trungpa
The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness, and “consciousness” cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will and “will” cannot evolve involuntarily. – Gurdjieff
If you feel drawn to solitude, give yourself complete permission to go in that direction. We need silence and beauty to re-connect with the spiritual side of ourselves. The world is a noisy place, as is the mind. The spiritual journey is not about developing more and more beliefs and opinions. Rather, it is about shedding away our beliefs and preconceived notions about reality in order to have the True Nature of things revealed to us. This requires radical self-honesty and humility. The truly wise understand the limitations of the intellect and seek to go beyond it rather than refining it. – Beau Norton (PerfectlyatPeace.com)
Develop the heart. Too much energy in your country is spent in developing the mind instead of the mind instead of the heart. Develop the heart. – Dalai Lama
We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves. – Blaise Pascal
To refuse to recognise any part of reality is to confuse our vision of the whole, and to make ourselves incapable of the redemptory action which the world requires. – Dame Rebecca West
If you are losing your leisure, look out!… it may be that you are losing your soul. – Virginia Woolf
In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate. – Rene Descartes
Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily – Epictetus
