183 Quotes About Interpretation

We cannot control the way people interpret our ideas or thoughts, but we can control the words and tones we choose to convey them. Peace is built on understanding, and wars are built on misunderstandings. Never underestimate the power of a single word, and never recklessly throw around words. One wrong word, or misinterpreted word, can change the meaning of an entire sentence and start a war. And one right word, or one kind word, can grant you the heavens and open doors.

A veces en las tardes una caraNos mira desde el fondo de un espejo;El arte debe ser como ese espejoQue nos revela nuestra propia cara.(At times in the evenings a faceLooks at us out of the depths of a mirror;Art should be like that mirrorWhich reveals to us our own face.)

Shakespeare was not a scholar in the sense we regard the term to-day, yet no man ever lived or probably ever will live that equalled or will equal him in the expression of thought. He simply read the book of nature and interpreted it from the standpoint of his own magnificent genius.

Every man, it seems, interprets the world in the light of his habits and desires

[C]hange your thinking, your interpretation of he world, change the way you see! To change the way you see is to change the world. (50)

Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art.

All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.

The idea is to spin the wheel of metaphors and images until sparks of associations begin to fly for the reader.

I'm a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.