Full Idea
You can look into your mind until you burst and not discover neurons and synapses, and you can stare at someone's brain from dawn till dusk and not perceive the consciousness that is so apparent to the person whose brain it is.
Gist of Idea
Examining mind sees no brain; examining brain sees no mind
Source
Colin McGinn (The Mysterious Flame [1999], p.47)
Book Reference
McGinn,Colin: 'The Mysterious Flame' [Basic Books 1999], p.47
A Reaction
This is a striking symmetry of ignorance, though hardly enough to justify McGinn's pessimism about understanding the mind. 'When you are in the grass you can't see the whole of England; if you can see the whole of England, you won't see the grass'.