Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?

Yes — that quote is correctly attributed to M. C. Escher (Maurits Cornelis Escher, 1898–1972), the Dutch graphic artist renowned for his mathematically inspired, mind-bending artworks depicting impossible constructions, tessellations, and explorations of infinity.

“Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?”
— M. C. Escher

Context and Background

This line reflects Escher’s lifelong fascination with perception, perspective, and paradox. His art often challenged the viewer’s sense of spatial reality — blurring the boundaries between up and down, inside and outside, floor and ceiling. Works such as Relativity (1953) and House of Stairs (1951) visually embody this question: in Escher’s worlds, gravity and logic shift depending on where you stand.

Although not from a single formal essay, the quote has been cited in collections of Escher’s writings and interviews, capturing the philosophical curiosity that drove his art.

Interpretation

• “Are you really sure…” — invites the viewer to question assumptions about what is real or possible.

• “A floor can’t also be a ceiling” — symbolizes Escher’s challenge to rigid categories and fixed viewpoints; in his art, perspective depends entirely on where you stand.

Summary

This quote perfectly captures M. C. Escher’s artistic philosophy: reality is relative, perception is fluid, and boundaries exist largely in the mind. Through both his words and his imagery, Escher reminds us that the world is full of hidden symmetries and paradoxes — if only we are willing to look from a different angle.