This quote is very interesting and quite believable, so I thought I’d share some of my research with others. The exact origin of this expression is unclear. One definition is ... “Looking into a person’s eyes can tell you what the person thinks and feels.” According to scientists, patterns in the iris (color) can give an indication of whether we are warm and trusting or neurotic and impulsive, etc. ...
It’s often easier to access someone’s heart than their mind. We can nearly effortlessly pick up on our partner’s mood or sense that a friend dismisses our plans, without them even speaking a word. But how do we know what is going on in their heads? How do we get this special access to the most private of domains – the human mind?
The phrases “the eyes are the window to the soul” and “I can see it in your eyes” certainly sound poetic. It turns out that the eyes really might be the windows to the soul. Even if people don’t want you to know how they feel, the great thing about eyes is that they can’t change how their eyes behave, i.e., the eyes can convey whether we are lying or telling the truth.
Our eyes can also serve as a good detector for what people like. To accomplish this, it is necessary to look at pupil size (black hole) in combination with where someone is looking. Think back to a recent restaurant visit where you had to decide what to eat. These decisions can be simple, for example, if you know straight away what you want. But at other times, such decisions can denote difficult trade-offs, for example when choosing between what you should eat (a salad) and what you want to eat (a burger). When the decision is difficult, your eyes are likely to switch back and forth between the different options you are considering, and our last gaze tends to be at the option we end up choosing. And so, by observing where someone is looking, we can infer which options they consider.
It might not be possible to read people’s exact thoughts from just looking at their eyes, but the eyes do communicate various emotions and tell us much more than we sometimes assume. Not being able to read exact thoughts, however, assures that the privacy of thoughts is maintained. Our eyes, unlike our mouths, cannot lie.
Wide-open eyes communicate fear, while a squint of the eyes communicates anger or disgust. Dreamy eyes are said to communicate love and affection. In his Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught his disciples that “the eye is the light of the soul.”
Other quotes are:
“The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter.” – Cicero
“The eyes shout what the lips fear to say.” – William Henry
“Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal.” – Samuel Richardson
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