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Perplexity Quotes

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Perplexity Quotes

“I’m strangely comforted when I hear from scientists that human beings are the most complex creatures we know of in the universe, still, by far. Black holes are in their way explicable; the simplest living being is not. I lean a bit more confidently into the experience that life is so endlessly perplexing. I love that word. Spiritual life is a way of dwelling with perplexity—taking it seriously, searching for its purpose as well as its perils, its beauty as well as its ravages.”

SoulScienceSpiritFaithHumanityUniverseNatureSpaceBeautyArt Of LivingPerplexityOn Being
Book:Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
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“[Isaiah] Berlin was aware that when people feel lost in the complicated labyrinth of life, with its unsolvable tensions and paradoxes, they attempt to save themselves by trying to simplify and reduce reality to a few manageable patterns and clear ideas. Yet, they can never change the fact that life is a mixture of complexity and perplexity, and the more possibilities we are confronted with, the more perplexed and challenged we are likely to be.”

SimplicityComplexityParadoxPerplexityOversimplification
Book:Faces of Moderation: The Art of Balance in an Age of Extremes
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“From My Life's Work by Cardinal Newman God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next...I shall do good. I shall do His work if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling. Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain.”

PerplexityLife MissionJob HuntingCardinal Newman
Author:John Henry Newman
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“Socrates, I certainly used to hear, even before meeting you, that you never do anything else than exist in a state of perplexity yourself and put others in a state of perplexity. And now you seem to me to be bewitching me and drugging me and simply subduing me with incantations, so that I come to be full of perplexity. And you seem to me, if it is even appropriate to make something of a joke, to be altogether, both in looks and in other respects, like the flat torpedo fish of the sea. For, indeed, it always makes anyone who approaches and touches it grow numb, and you seem to me now to have done that very sort of thing to me, making me numb. For truly, both in soul and in mouth, I am numb and have nothing with which I can answer you. And yet thousands of times I have made a great many speeches about virtue, and before many people, and done very well, in my own opinion anyway; yet now I’m altogether unable to say what it is.”

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Book:Meno
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“Did the gods once mingle with humankind, or is Homer a visionary madman, or, what is worse, a mere poet, a maker-up of beautiful falsities, an elegant liar? I shall grapple with that perplexity, only to emerge as I went in, in a cloud of unknowing, if perhaps a little the wiser.”

IfsLittlesBeautifulPoetMereCloudsLiarsMakersHumankindWiserElegantVisionariesMadmenPerplexityFalsityUnknowing
Book:Homeric Moments: Clues to Delight in Reading the Odyssey and the Iliad
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“When in these fresh mornings I go into my garden before anyone is awake, I go for the time being into perfect happiness. In this hour divinely fresh and still, the fair face of every flower salutes me with a silent joy. . . . All the cares, perplexities, and griefs of existence, all the burdens of life slip from my shoulders and leave me with the heart of a little child that asks nothing beyond the present moment of innocent bliss.”

HeartChildrenLittlesStillsMomentsCareFacesJoyAsksHoursPerfectGriefExistenceMorningFlowerFairsGardenSilentBurdenShouldersInnocentBlissAwakePresent MomentSlipsLeaving MeSalutePerplexityPerfect HappinessBurdens Of Life
Author:Celia Thaxter
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“There are greater depths and obscurities, greater intricacies and perplexities, in an elaborate and well-written piece of nonsense, than in the most abstruse and profound tract of school divinity.”

WellsSchoolGreaterPiecesWrittenProfoundDepthDivinityNonsenseObscurityWell WrittenPerplexityIntricacy
Book:The works of Joseph Addison: including the whole contents of Bp. Hurd's edition, with letters and other pieces not found in any previous collection; and Macaulay's essay on his life and works
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“Men love to trust God (as they profess) for what they have in their hands, in possession, or what lies in an easy view; place their desires afar off, carry their accomplishment behind the clouds out of their sight, interpose difficulties and perplexities -- their hearts are instantly sick. They cannot wait for God; they do not trust Him, nor ever did. Would you have the presence of God with you? Learn to wait quietly for the salvation you expect from Him.”

MenHeartHandsLyingDesireEasyWaitingViewsBehindsSickSightDifficultySalvationCloudsPossessionAccomplishmentTrust In GodPresence Of GodAfarPerplexity
Author:Owen Wilson
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“Do you not think that sometimes when matters are at the worst with us, when we appear to have done all which we ourselves can do, yet all has been unavailing, and we have only shown we cannot, not we will not, help ourselves; that often just then something comes, almost as if supernaturally, to settle for us, as if our guardian angel took pity on our perplexities, and then at last obtained leave to help us? And if it be so, then what might only be a coincidence becomes a call of Providence, a voice from Heaven, a command.”

IfsThinkingHas BeensSometimesMatterDoneHelpingMightLastsHeavenVoiceCan DoWorstAngelPityCommandSettlingProvidenceCoincidenceGuardianGuardian AngelPerplexity
Book:The Nemesis of Faith
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“If physics is too difficult for the physicists, the nonphysicist may wonder whether he should try at all to grasp its complexities and ambiguities. It is undeniably an effort, but probably one worth making, for the basic questions are important and the new experimental results are often fascinating. And if the layman runs into serious perplexities, he can be consoled with the thought that the points which baffle him are more than likely the ones for which the professionals have not found satisfactory answers.”

IfsShouldTryingMayImportantRunningFoundDifficultAnswersResultsEffortWonderSeriousPhysicsComplexityFascinatingPhysicistAmbiguityPerplexityLayman
Author:Edward Condon
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“This it is that gives a majesty so pure and touching to the historic figure of Christ; self-abandonment to God, uttermost surrender, without reserve or stipulation, to the guidance of the Holy Spirit from the Soul of souls; pause in no darkness; hesitation in no perplexity, recoil in no extremity of anguish, but a gentle unfaltering hold of the invisible Hand, of the Only Holy and All Good--these are the features that have made Jesus of Nazareth the dearest and most sacred image to the heart of so many ages.”

GivingHeartMadeSoulSelfHandsAgeSpiritJesusChristDarknessFiguresHolyPureSacredSurrenderInvisibleGentleFeaturesGuidanceHoly SpiritTouchingReservesPausesAnguishHistoricMajestyAbandonmentHesitationExtremityPerplexityRecoilNazarethInvisible HandStipulations
Book:A Martineau year book: Extracts from sermons
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“The best antidote against evils of all kinds, against the evil thoughts that haunt the soul, against the needless perplexities which distract the conscience, is to keep hold of the good we have. Impure thoughts will not stand against pure words and prayers and deeds. Little doubts will not avail against great certainties. Fix your affections on things above, and then you will less and less be troubled by the cares, the temptations, the troubles of things on earth.”

KindLittlesSoulCareEarthEvilPrayerDoubtTroublePureConscienceAffectionDeedsAll KindsTemptationCertaintyAntidotePerplexityEvil ThoughtsImpure Thoughts
Author:Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
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“So if God should place me in serious perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in places of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? No fear that HIs resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.”

IfsGivingShouldGraceMinesSeriousCircumstancesProveResourcesGive MeDifficultyPressureTrialsGuidanceNo FearEmergenciesPerplexity
Author:Hudson Taylor
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“I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place. I soon get lost in a labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.”

FeelsMayOrderLostJusticeDemocracyFateDifficultyPerseveranceAriseConfusionOur TimeRighteousnessStabilityAnxiousMonarchyLabyrinthPerplexityPatience And Perseverance
Book:The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784
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“When I have a difficult subject before me - when I find the road narrow, and can see no other way of teaching a well established truth except by pleasing one intelligent man and displeasing ten thousand fools - I prefer to address myself to the one man, and to take no notice whatever of the condemnation of the multitude; I prefer to extricate that intelligent man from his embarrassment and show him the cause of his perplexity, so that he may attain perfection and be at peace.”

MenWayWellsMayShowsCausesDifficultTeachingSubjectsFoolThousandTenPerfectionIntelligentAddressesOne ManMultitudesEmbarrassmentCondemnationIntelligent ManPerplexityDifficult Subjects
Book:The Guide for the Perplexed
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“It is a common error, and the greater and more mischievous for being so common, to believe that repentance best becomes and most concerns dying men. Indeed, what is necessary every hour of our life is necessary in the hour of death too, and as long as one lives he will have need of repentance, and therefore it is necessary in the hour of death too; but he who hath constantly exercised himself in it in his health and vigor, will do it with less pain in his sickness and weakness; and he who hath practiced it all his life, will do it with more ease and less perplexity in the hour of his death.”

MenNeedsBelieveLongPainLife IsHoursCommonGreaterOur LivesDyingWeaknessConcernErrorsEaseSicknessRepentanceVigorMischievousPerplexity
Author:Samuel Johnson
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“All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”

WantAmericaNatureMoneyVirtueIgnoranceHonorCapitalismConstitutionCreditAriseConfusionPatrioticFoundersDistressDefectsCoinsFoundingBankingBankersOur Founding FathersCirculationUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers Of AmericaEconomic FreedomPerplexityCentral BankingConfederationFlipping A Coin
Author:John Adams
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“All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness; and though he had seen many spectres in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely pre-ambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passed a pleasent life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was - a woman.”

IfsMenMindEndsWholeTogetherNightEvilCausesWalksRaceDarknessPathShapesDevilLonelyMereTerrorGhostDespiteMortalsSatanWitchDaylightPhantomsPerplexityGoblinSpectre
Author:Washington Irving
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“Nature is a hanging judge," goes an old saying. Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable arrangements of matter, with many ways for things to go wrong and only a few ways for things to go right. We are certain to die, and smart enough to know it. Our minds are adapted to a world that no longer exists, prone to misunderstandings correctable only by arduous education, and condemned to perplexity about the deepest questions we can ascertain.”

KnowsWorldWayMindMatterEnoughBodyCertainDiesJudgingSmartTragedyMakeupArrangementsMisunderstandingAdaptedCognitiveImprobableOld SayingPerplexity
Author:Steven Pinker
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“After a time I found that I could almost listen to the silence, which had a dimension all of its own. I started to attend to its strange and beautiful texture, which of course, it was impossible to express in words. I discovered that I felt at home and alive in the silence, which compelled me to enter my interior world and around there. Without the distraction of constant conversation, the words on the page began to speak directly to my inner self. They were no long expressing ideas that were simply interesting intellectually, but were talking directly to my own yearning and perplexity.”

WorldLongIdeasSelfHomeBeautifulCoursesFoundSpeakFeltMy OwnInterestingSilenceTalkingAliveImpossibleStrangeConversationPagesConstantDimensionsDistractionYearningInteriorsCompelledInner SelfTexturePerplexityExpressing Ideas
Author:Karen Armstrong
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“The Master said, At fifteen I set my heart upon learning. At thirty, I had planted my feet firm upon the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities. At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven. At sixty, I heard them with docile ear. At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of righ.”

HeartSaidHeavenMy OwnHeardFeetMastersMy HeartEarsBoundariesFirmThirtyFiftyFortySixtyFifteenSeventiesBiddingPerplexityDocile
Book:The Analects of Confucius
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“What distressed me most - more even than my own folly - was the perplexing question - How can beauty and ugliness dwell so near? Even with her altered complexion and face of dislike; disenchanted of the belief that clung around her; known for a living, walking sepulcher, faithless, deluding, traitorous; I felt, notwithstanding all this, that she was beautiful. Upon this I pondered with undiminished perplexity.”

BeautifulFacesBeliefFeltMy OwnKnownWalkingFollyDislikeUglinessAlteredComplexionPerplexityFaithlessDisenchanted
Book:The Complete Works of George MacDonald: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, Theological Writings & Essays (Illustrated): The Princess and the Goblin, Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind, Lilith, England’s Antiphon, David Elginbrod, Malcolm, The Light Princess, The Golden Key and many more
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