James Geary | Sept/Oct 2009 issue
Every polished surface conceals a mirror. Whatever shines—the blade of a knife, the curve of another person’s eye—is intent on reflection. Desperate for attention, these things seem to think the best way to get it is to display us to ourselves. Why else would images gather wherever water stops to collect itself? Why else would windows, meant to be transparent, show us pictures of ourselves looking through them? Mirrors are untrustworthy because each one presents a slightly different perspective. They may feign objectivity, but they really can’t resist giving an opinion, playing up imperfections and blemishes, grotesquely magnifying things or cruelly diminishing them. And we can’t resist looking, even though we can never argue with the mirror. It just throws our own words back at us. As French poet and playwright Jean Cocteau observed, “Mirrors would do well to reflect a little longer before sending back images.”
James Geary is the author of Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists
and Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists. jamesgeary.com
Mirrors would do well to reflect a little longer before sending back images.
More of Today's Solutions
Roadside milkweed is giving monarchs a new migration highway
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Researchers have planted 9,000 milkweed plants along roads in six North Florida counties, with 6,000 more going in ...
Read MoreThe physics of what happens when you suppress a sneeze
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Holding in a sneeze carries more risk than most people assume. The injuries it can cause include ruptured ...
Read MoreHunger stones, dino tracks, and lost cities; discoveries exposed by drought
The severe droughts that are plaguing many parts of the world are altering life as we know it. Even though the climate crisis and ...
Read MoreRevolutionizing roadway power: Detroit pioneers wireless EV charging
Detroit proudly reveals the nation's trailblazing innovation: a length of road that wirelessly charges electric vehicles (EVs) on the move or at rest, signaling ...
Read More
