It’s Not What You Look at That Matters, It’s What You See”.

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“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see”. The synonyms ‘look’ and ‘see’ are different in a subtle way. While the word ‘see’ means to perceive, and understand, ‘look’ means merely turn towards or focus towards an object or an appearance. For Example: The stranger is ‘looking’ at us menacingly; did you ‘see’ him? Yes, but here the word ‘looking’ could be deceptive whereas ‘see’ is perceptive. Hence, ultimately “See” is a word which asks for a deeper introspection through observation whereas “Look” is just a glimpse or glare of outward appearance which may or may not be genuine. With this explanation we can get a rough idea of Henry David Thoreau’s “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see”, i.e., one must not just glance and be deceived by a look but one must observe and perceive to ‘see’. There is still a lot to get from these words as this merely is a semantic explanation. As we saw the major difference is the importance given to ‘observation’ where ‘observation’ is the key to further discern these wise words. Observation, an act of regarding attentively, is the primary instrument to see deeply. From childhood one has heard a lot of stories which prove the power of observation of how one must not go on ‘outward looks’, for instance the Aesop Fables, “the Mountain and the Mouse”, the Panchatantra’s “the Lion and the Mouse”, etc. With the progress of the world from dark ages till-date one can see the power of observation. It’s easy to see that, even when one see’s the same thing, we don’t at all see things in the same way. It can be so much worse if one isn’t paying close attention to what one is looking at. How often does one get into arguments about something you look at, but didn’t see as well as one probably should have. Observation was important earlier but has
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