On Mirrors
Posted on July 19, 2009
Filed Under Aphorisms | 4 Comments
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 you can never argue with a mirror. It just throws your own words back at you.
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Shake a mirror and all the ghosts fall out.
Looking in the mirror is seeing what other people see.
Everyone sees only their own reflection in the mirror of thought.
You can’t argue with a man who insists that what he sees from where he stands is all there is to be seen. He could learn the Lesson of the Mirrors.
The more you look at the mirror, the less you see your faults.
A beautiful face falls in love with the mirror.
You can go boss-eyed looking into mirrors too often, you know…