#CERTAINTY

[philosophybits]

Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?

Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy

[pratchettquotes]

A thought in her head said No. It was overruled. She'd made up her mind.

Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

[thirdity]

Just as it is impossible to predict with complete accuracy the path of a single electron, so too you cannot know with certainty the future behavior of a single potato. Thus far observations show that man has mashed potatoes millions of times, but it is not inconceivable that one time in a billion the situation could reverse itself, that a potato could mash a man.

Stanisław Lem, The Star Diaries

[rchetypal]

"To be in doubt is a more normal condition than certainty. To confess that you doubt, to admit that you never know for certain, is the supremely human condition; for to be able to suffer the doubt, to carry the doubt, means that one is able to carry the other side."

— C.G. Jung

[philosophybitmaps]

[stoicmike]

Uncertainty is the only certainty. -- Michael Lipsey

[dk-thrive]

I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I am distressed, depressed, rapturous. I am all these things at once, and cannot add up the sum. There is nothing I am quite sure about. I exist on the foundation of something I do not know.

— C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Knopf, January 26, 2011) (via Make Believe Boutique)

[apoemaday]

Certainty

by Octavio Paz

If the white light of this lamp is real, and the hand that writes is real, then are the eyes that observe what I write also real?

From one word to another what I say evaporates. I know that I am alive between two parentheses.

[random-xpressions]

My certainty is greater than my hope...

Random Xpressions

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Lord Will Come to Us like Spring Rain

Let us acknowledge the LORD. Let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, The LORD will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth. — Hosea 6:3 | New Heart English Bible (NHEB) The New Heart English Bible is in the public domain Cross References: Job 29:23; Psalm 19:6; Psalm 63:8; Psalm 72:6; Isaiah 2:3; Hosea 10:12; Joel 2:23

Read full chapter

Hosea 6:3 Reminds Us That God Is Always Faithful

[moonlight00318]

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream

[philosophybits]

Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind is also rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.

Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy

[pratchettquotes]

I'VE NEVER BEEN VERY SURE ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT, said Bill Door. I AM NOT SURE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS RIGHT. OR WRONG. JUST PLACES TO STAND.

"No, right's right and wrong's wrong," said Miss Flitworth. "I was brought up to tell the difference."

BY A CONTRABANDISTOR.

"A what?"

A MOVER OF CONTRABAND.

"There's nothing wrong with smuggling!"

I MERELY POINT OUT THAT SOME PEOPLE THINK OTHERWISE.

"They don't count!"

Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

[heartofmuse]

I never doubt what you are,

The truth of your heart, 

The sincerity that is your core, 

How much you love,

I have peace and certainty in my heart, 

So freedom blossoms as a beautiful flower in our entwined hands.

e.v.e. 

[rchetypal]

"To be in doubt is a more normal condition than certainty. To confess that you doubt, to admit that you never know for certain, is the supremely human condition; for to be able to suffer the doubt, to carry the doubt, means that one is able to carry the other side." — C.G. Jung

[philosophybitmaps]