“The moment the focus is reached the object is epiphanised.” A compact formulation of Joyce’s idea of revelation through concentrated perception. · Aesthetic discussion in Stephen Hero Beauty Discovery Perception
“Imagine my glimpses at that clock as the gropings of a spiritual eye which seeks to adjust its vision to an exact focus.” Joyce describes perception as an active search for the precise moment of recognition. · Aesthetic discussion in Stephen Hero Attention Discovery Perception
“They themselves are the most delicate and evanescent of moments.” A concise expression of Joyce’s fascination with fleeting perception and memory. · Stephen Hero, discussion of epiphany Memory Perception Time
“By an epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself.” Joyce defines the sudden revelations that became central to his conception of literary perception. · Stephen Hero, discussion of epiphany Consciousness Discovery Perception
“The apprehensive faculty must be scrutinised in action.” Joyce turns attention from inherited theory towards the actual experience of perceiving art. · Aesthetic discussion in Stephen Hero Art Attention Perception
“It speaks of what seems fantastic and unreal to those who have lost the simple intuitions which are the test of reality.” Joyce argues that imaginative perception can reveal realities conventional thinking overlooks. · Lecture, James Clarence Mangan, 1902 Perception Poetry Reality
