"For if you will turn your eyes inwards upon your mind, continued my father, and observe attentively, you will perceive, brother, that whilst you and I are talking together, and thinking and smoaking our pipes: or whilst we receive successively ideas in our minds, we know that we do exist, and so we estimate the existence, or the continuation of the existence of ourselves."
— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)
Author
Date
1760-7
Metaphor
"For if you will turn your eyes inwards upon your mind, continued my father, and observe attentively, you will perceive, brother, that whilst you and I are talking together, and thinking and smoaking our pipes: or whilst we receive successively ideas in our minds, we know that we do exist, and so we estimate the existence, or the continuation of the existence of ourselves."
Metaphor in Context
Gracious heaven! cried my father, looking upwards, and clasping his two hands together,--there is a worth in thy honest ignorance, brother Toby,--'twere almost a pity to exchange it for a knowledge.--But I'll tell thee.--
To understand what time is aright, without which we never can comprehend infinity, insomuch as one is a portion of the other,--we ought seriously to sit down and consider what idea it is, we have of duration, so as to give a satisfactory account, how we came by it.--What is that to any body? quoth my uncle Toby. For if you will turn your eyes inwards upon your mind, continued my father, and observe attentively, you will perceive, brother, that whilst you and I are talking together, and thinking and smoaking our pipes: or whilst we receive successively ideas in our minds, we know that we do exist, and so we estimate the existence, or the continuation of the existence of ourselves, or any thing else commensurate to the succession of any ideas in our minds, the duration of ourselves, or any such other thing co existing with our thinking,--and so according to that preconceived--You puzzle me to death, cried my uncle Toby.--
--'Tis owing to this, replied my father, that in our computations of time, we are so used to minutes, hours, weeks, and months,----and of clocks (I wish there was not a clock in the kingdom) to measure out their several portions to us, and to those who belong to us,----that 'twill be well, if in time to come, the succession of our ideas be of any use or service to us at all.
(III.xviii, pp. 78-80)
To understand what time is aright, without which we never can comprehend infinity, insomuch as one is a portion of the other,--we ought seriously to sit down and consider what idea it is, we have of duration, so as to give a satisfactory account, how we came by it.--What is that to any body? quoth my uncle Toby. For if you will turn your eyes inwards upon your mind, continued my father, and observe attentively, you will perceive, brother, that whilst you and I are talking together, and thinking and smoaking our pipes: or whilst we receive successively ideas in our minds, we know that we do exist, and so we estimate the existence, or the continuation of the existence of ourselves, or any thing else commensurate to the succession of any ideas in our minds, the duration of ourselves, or any such other thing co existing with our thinking,--and so according to that preconceived--You puzzle me to death, cried my uncle Toby.--
--'Tis owing to this, replied my father, that in our computations of time, we are so used to minutes, hours, weeks, and months,----and of clocks (I wish there was not a clock in the kingdom) to measure out their several portions to us, and to those who belong to us,----that 'twill be well, if in time to come, the succession of our ideas be of any use or service to us at all.
(III.xviii, pp. 78-80)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose); found again searching "eye" and "mind"
Citation
At least 82 entries in ESTC (1759, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1786, 1788, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800). Complicated publication history: vols. 1 and 2 published in London January 1, 1760. Vols. 3, 4, 5, and 6 published in 1761. Vols. 7 and 8 published in 1765. Vol. 9 published in 1767.
See Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 9 vols. (London: Printed for D. Lynch, 1760-1767). <Link to ECCO><Link to 1759 York edition in ECCO>
First two volumes available in ECCO-TCP: <Vol. 1><Vol. 2>. Most text drawn from second (London) edition <Link to LION>.
For vols. 3-4, see ESTC T14705 <R. and J. Dodsley, 1761>. For vols. 5-6, see ESTC T14706 <T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, 1762>. For vols. 7-8, see ESTC T14820 <T. Becket and P. A. Dehont, 1765>. For vol. 9, <T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, 1767>.
Reading in Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism, Ed. Howard Anderson (New York: Norton, 1980).
See Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 9 vols. (London: Printed for D. Lynch, 1760-1767). <Link to ECCO><Link to 1759 York edition in ECCO>
First two volumes available in ECCO-TCP: <Vol. 1><Vol. 2>. Most text drawn from second (London) edition <Link to LION>.
For vols. 3-4, see ESTC T14705 <R. and J. Dodsley, 1761>. For vols. 5-6, see ESTC T14706 <T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, 1762>. For vols. 7-8, see ESTC T14820 <T. Becket and P. A. Dehont, 1765>. For vol. 9, <T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, 1767>.
Reading in Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism, Ed. Howard Anderson (New York: Norton, 1980).
Date of Entry
09/12/2005
Date of Review
10/07/2008
