We see people and things not as they are, but as we are. That is why when two people look at something or someone, you get two different reactions. We see things and people not as they are, but as we are.
J. Francis Stroud • Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
I would have to say no, we do not experience the same thing that anyone else has experienced. Everything comes through filters and we see an image that we ourselves have created. It is very rare that we perceive something just as it is.
Brother Phap Hai • Nothing To It: Ten Ways to Be at Home with Yourself
See things not as they are, but as you see them.
Robert Henri • The Art Spirit
Anaïs Nin is famously quoted as saying, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” That is, the truth is not as objective as we would like to believe. The truth is culturally mediated and socially negotiated and constructed based on our communal view of reality—our beliefs.