We see what we expect to see

We don't see things as they are,
we see things as we are.
- Anaïs Nin

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

People only see what they are prepared to see.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your point of view sets you up well in advance
for how you view the events as they unfold.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

The world will persist in exhibiting before you
what you persist in affirming the world is.
- Emma Curtis Hopkins

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
- John Lubbock

We see what we expect to see.
If we believe the world to be violent and ugly,
we see violence and ugliness.
If we believe the world to be a gift,
we see rainbows, and butterflies, and smiles,
and hear babies cooing, and roosters greeting the dawn.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Attitude is Everything

When You Have Been Wronged

Zero-Based Gratitude

Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies

Thankful for Life's Many Blessings