Knowing the World 83Everything, then, depends upon determining the rela-
tionship between other beings and the being that we our-
selves are. This determination must be distinguished from
merely becoming aware of our self. The latter relies upon
perceiving, as does awareness of every other thing. Per-
ceiving myself reveals to me a number of qualities that I
combine into the whole of my personality, just as I com-
bine the qualities yellow, metallically gleaming, hard, etc.
into the unity “gold.” Self-perception does not lead me
outside the realm of what belongs to me. Such self-per-
ceiving must be distinguished from self-definition through
thinking. Just as, in thinking, I integrate a single percept
from the external world into the context of the world, so,
likewise through thinking, I also integrate the percepts of
myself into the world process. My self-perceiving enclos-
es me within certain limits; but my thinking has nothing to
do with those limits. In this sense, I am a twofold creature.
I am enclosed within the realm that I perceive as that of my
personality, but I am also the bearer of an activity that de-
termines my limited existence from a higher sphere. Our
thinking, unlike our sensing and feeling, is not individual.
It is universal. Only because it is related to the individual’s
feeling and sensing does it receive an individual stamp in
each separate human being. Human beings differentiate
themselves from one another through these particular col-
orations of universal thinking. There is only one concept
“triangle.” It makes no difference to the content of this
concept whether it is grasped by A or B—by this or that
human carrier of consciousness. But each bearer of con-
sciousness will grasp it in an individual way.