Quote#Success & Failure
In every particular in which a picture constitutes a sight that is…
Quote byAlexander Bryan Johnson · 1786–1867
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Physiology of the Senses: Or, How and what We See, Hear, Taste, Feel and Smell (1856), Part II. Of the Extent of Sensible Knowledge..
English (original)
In every particular in which a picture constitutes a sight that is not identical with the sight represented, the picture will fail to communicate the represented object.
— Alexander Bryan Johnson
More from Alexander Bryan Johnson
Success but sharpens his avidity, and facility but augments his impatience.
Man exists in a world of his own creation.
when my language or positions shall, in a casual perusal, seem absurd
All that the book contains is the elucidation of but one precept: namely, to interpret language by nature. We [generally and incorrectly] reverse the rule and interpret nature by language.
I request the reader to seek some more creditable interpretation. The best which he can conceive should be assumed to be my intention: as on an escutcheon, when a figure resembles both an eagle and a buzzard, heraldry decides that the bird …
To fix the fluctuating mass of theories, no man has suggested any other expedient than the construction of some new theory, to whose authority... all persons shall submit. The remedy is constantly augmenting the disease.