Who said “The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges…”?

Verified

Jose Ortega Y Gasset. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceThe Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925), "Taboo and Metaphor"

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“The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.”
— Jose Ortega Y Gasset
VerifiedThe Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925), "Taboo and Metaphor" · evidenceMetaphor

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925), "Taboo and Metaphor".

APA

Gasset, J. O. Y. (n.d.). The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/29064-the-metaphor-is-perhaps-one-of-mans-most/

MLA

Gasset, Jose Ortega Y. “The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/29064-the-metaphor-is-perhaps-one-of-mans-most/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Gasset, Jose Ortega Y. “The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/29064-the-metaphor-is-perhaps-one-of-mans-most/.

More quotes by Gasset

“The characteristic of the hour is that the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be commonplace, has the assurance to proclaim the rights of the commonplace and to impose them wherever it will.”
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“Liberalism -- it is well to recall this today -- is the supreme form of generosity; it is the right which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded in this planet. It announces the determination to share existence with the enemy; more than that, with an enemy which is weak.”
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“An idea is a putting truth in check-mate.”
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