How we cite our quotes:
Quote #7
The difference between them was, that my uncle Toby drew his whole knowledge of projectils from Nicholas Tartaglia—My father spun his, every thread of it, out of his own brain,—or reeled and cross-twisted what all other spinners and spinsters had spun before him, that 'twas pretty near the same torture to him. (5.16.1)
If sensory info isn't working for you, you can pick up a book or just plop down in your armchair and philosophize. Yeah, that's working out well for Toby and Walter. Really, Tristram doesn't leave us with much of a feeling that there's any point in trying to learn anything.
Quote #8
"It is with Love as with Cuckoldom--the suffering party is at least the third, but generally the last in the house who knows any thing about the matter: (8.4.1)
Even knowledge about love has to be found out from someone else—senses aren't good enough on their own, especially when it comes to figuring out if that guy in Calculus actually likes your or just wants to copy your homework.
Quote #9
A daughter of Eve, for such was Widow Wadman, and 'tis all the character I intend to give of her— —"That she was a perfect woman," (8.8.3-4)
Of all the unknowable things in Tristram Shandy, women are perhaps the most mysterious. There's no understanding them, and there's no characterizing them. They're just … women. (Maybe you should just talk to them like normal people, Tristram.)