Q0422
“We do not think real time. But we live it.” — Henri Bergson (Time and Free Will / Creative…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Time and Free Will / Creative Evolution (durée). Theme: time.
English
We do not think real time. But we live it.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Time and Free Will / Creative Evolution (durée) and files it under Process Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson (1859–1941), Nobel laureate in Literature (1927), developed a philosophy of duration, memory, and creative evolution opposing purely spatialized time.
How to read this passage
Is time a river, a dimension, or a structure of consciousness? Augustine, Bergson, and modern metaphysics offer rival pictures while ethics asks how finite time should be spent. This passage enters that discussion through time.
Concepts in this quote
- Time
- Philosophy of time asks what tense and duration are—and how memory, death, and history shape a human life.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Henri Bergson. (n.d.). We do not think real time. But we live it. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0422
MLA: Henri Bergson. “We do not think real time. But we….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0422.
Chicago: Henri Bergson. “We do not think real time. But we….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0422.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “We do not think real time. But we…”?
The passage is attributed to Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will / Creative Evolution (durée). The archive attributes this English wording to Time and Free Will / Creative Evolution (durée) and files it under Process Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Henri Bergson mean by time?
Is time a river, a dimension, or a structure of consciousness? Augustine, Bergson, and modern metaphysics offer rival pictures while ethics asks how finite time should be spent. This passage enters that discussion through time.