"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception"

Aldous Huxley draws a vivid boundary between the realms of familiarity and mystery, highlighting that human experience is framed by our capacity to perceive. The “things known” represent the sum of what we have learned, understood, or accepted as reality, essentially, our subjective world shaped by direct experience, cultural inheritance, and rational inquiry. In contrast, the “things unknown” encompass all that lies outside our grasp: the unfathomable, the yet-to-be discovered, and the infinite potential beyond current comprehension.

The heart of Huxley’s idea lies in the space “in between”, the “doors of perception.” These doors operate as gateways or filters through which sensory data, intuition, and consciousness are processed. The mind, thus, becomes the intermediary: a dynamic zone where the external world meets our inner interpretation. Perception is not a passive reception of data but an active process of selection, emphasis, and sometimes distortion. Through these “doors,” we translate the stimuli beyond our bodies into experience, meaning, and belief.

Huxley suggests that refining, widening, or even temporarily altering our perception gives us access to a broader reality. He hints that our knowledge is not just limited by what exists, but by how we are able, or willing, to perceive it. Historical moments of scientific discovery, artistic inspiration, or mystical insight often occur when individuals manage to “open” these doors, seeing beyond social conventions or habitual thought patterns.

Furthermore, the metaphor invites reflection on how perception can be clouded or narrowed by prejudice, habit, or fear, closing the doors and reinforcing ignorance. Conversely, curiosity, openness, and imagination act as keys that loosen the hinges, allowing new understanding to flood in. Thus, Huxley invites us to question the limits of our awareness and to seek experiences and states of mind that might broaden the passage between the known and the unknown.