A8 quotes Saint-Exupery:
"The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves but in our attitude
towards them."
The line has its virtues depending on our "understanding" of it. I myself
would prefer the word 'response" over 'attitude'. 'Attitude' suggests something
that is arrived at after reflection. The "reflection" can be all but
instanteous and the attitude that results will be an amalgamation with earlier
attitudes. If a black man achieves something, a white man may bring a bigotry
to his
reflection, resulting in an attitude toward the achievement that is one of
disdain: "He only did it because of that affirmative action program that gives
blacks an advantage over whites."
It's only a matter of connotation, but "response" includes one's initial raw
impression PLUS the results of reflection. When thinking about the achievement
later, the bigot's final attitude may dominate his notion, but he will also
recall the raw reaction to the accomplishment.
So I'd get into the line something that conveys there are as many "meanings"
as there are responders. The phrase "the" meaning should be qualified. Perhaps
something like: "The meaning of a thing will vary from one observer to
another. It does not lie in the thing itself, but in our varying responses.
Its
meaning for you may not be its meaning for me."
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