Human attention inevitably flickers; we survey things in succession, and our acts of synthesis and our realization of fact are only occasional.
 George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty (1896). copy citation

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Author George Santayana
Source The Sense of Beauty
Topic attention acts
Date 1896
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26842/26842-h/26842-h.htm

Context

“The perfection thus revealed is relative to our nature and faculties; if it were not, it could have no value for us. It is revealed to us in brief moments, but it is not for that reason an unstable or fantastic thing. Human attention inevitably flickers; we survey things in succession, and our acts of synthesis and our realization of fact are only occasional. This is the tenure of all our possessions; we are not uninterruptedly conscious of ourselves, our physical environment, our ruling passions, or our deepest conviction. What wonder, then, that we are not constantly conscious of that perfection which is the implicit ideal of all our preferences and desires?” source