I have seen myself backward.
Philip K. Dick
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In Philip K. Dick's novel "A Scanner Darkly," the phrase "I have seen myself backward" reflects the protagonist's struggle with identity and perception. The story delves into the complexities of self-awareness and the impact of drug use on one's reality. As the character grapples with their altered state, this quote captures the essence of looking back at one’s life and choices, suggesting a profound introspection about the past and its influence on the present.

This quote illustrates a theme common in Dick’s work: the fluidity of identity and the search for truth amidst deception. As the narrative unfolds, the protagonist confronts the consequences of their actions, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of themselves. The idea of seeing oneself backward evokes the notion that understanding one’s past is crucial for navigating the present and the future.

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realization
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A Scanner Darkly
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Philip K. Dick
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Other quotes in A Scanner Darkly

Is your name Patty by any chance? Barris asked her, signaling to Charles Freck that everything was under control. No. She pointed to the name written on the badge pinned to her right breast. Beth. I wonder what the left tit is called, thought Charles Freck.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
Is your name Patty by any chance? Barris asked her, signaling to Charles Freck that everything was under control. No. She pointed to the name written on the badge pinned to her right breast. Beth. I wonder what the left tit is called, thought Charles Freck.
It's like asking, what's an impostor look like? Arctor said. I talked one time to a big hash dealer who'd been busted with ten pounds of hash in his possession. I asked him what the nark who busted him looked like. You know, the -- what do they call them? -- buying agent that came out and posed as a friend of a friend and got him to sell him some hash.Looked, Barris said, winding string, just like us.More so, Arctor said. The hash-dealer dude -- he'd already been sentenced and was going in the following day -- he told me, 'They have longer hair than we do.' So I guess the moral of that is, Stay away from guys looking the same as us.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
It's like asking, what's an impostor look like? Arctor said. I talked one time to a big hash dealer who'd been busted with ten pounds of hash in his possession. I asked him what the nark who busted him looked like. You know, the -- what do they call them? -- buying agent that came out and posed as a friend of a friend and got him to sell him some hash.Looked, Barris said, winding string, just like us.More so, Arctor said. The hash-dealer dude -- he'd already been sentenced and was going in the following day -- he told me, 'They have longer hair than we do.' So I guess the moral of that is, Stay away from guys looking the same as us.
If the front door is opened, Barris said, during our absence, my cassette tape recorder starts recording. It's under the couch. It has a two-hour tape. I placed three omnidirectional Sony mikes at three different-- You should have told me, Arctor said. What if they come in through the windows? Luckman said. Or the back door? To increase the chances of their making their entry via the front door, Barris continued, rather than in other less usual ways, I providentially left the front door unlocked. After a pause, Luckman began to snigger. Suppose they don't know it's unlocked? Arctor said. I put a note on it, Barris said.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
If the front door is opened, Barris said, during our absence, my cassette tape recorder starts recording. It's under the couch. It has a two-hour tape. I placed three omnidirectional Sony mikes at three different-- You should have told me, Arctor said. What if they come in through the windows? Luckman said. Or the back door? To increase the chances of their making their entry via the front door, Barris continued, rather than in other less usual ways, I providentially left the front door unlocked. After a pause, Luckman began to snigger. Suppose they don't know it's unlocked? Arctor said. I put a note on it, Barris said.
The guilty, he reflected as he drove amid the heavy late-afternoon traffic as carefully as possible, may flee when no one pursues-he
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
The guilty, he reflected as he drove amid the heavy late-afternoon traffic as carefully as possible, may flee when no one pursues-he
Having nothing else to do or think about, he began to work out theoretically the life cycle of the bugs, and, with the aid of the Britannica, try to determine specifically which bugs they were.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
Having nothing else to do or think about, he began to work out theoretically the life cycle of the bugs, and, with the aid of the Britannica, try to determine specifically which bugs they were.
One more in a long line, a dreary entity among many others like him, an almost endless number of brain-damaged retards. Biological life goes on, he thought. But the soul, the mind-everything else is dead. A reflex machine. Like some insect. Repeating doomed patterns, a single pattern, over and over now. Appropriate or not.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
One more in a long line, a dreary entity among many others like him, an almost endless number of brain-damaged retards. Biological life goes on, he thought. But the soul, the mind-everything else is dead. A reflex machine. Like some insect. Repeating doomed patterns, a single pattern, over and over now. Appropriate or not.
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Other quotes in realization

He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.
Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.
Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
Iris Murdoch Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature
Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
I have seen myself backward.
Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly
I have seen myself backward.
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