Uncertainty Quotes - Page 24

• I think as a consequence of that, there is also a fair amount of uncertainty about engaging in political activity that would be immediately suspect and seen as evidence as a sort of resurgent militancy.

  Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

  Thinking, Political, Would Be

  Source: www.sbs.com.au

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• As a writer I have persisted in my uncertainty, alternating between novels which could charitably be considered literature and world reporting which by another stretch of objective standards might be called history.

  James A. Michener

  Literature, World, Might

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• The only reason you do not do great things is because you timidly cling to small things.  Will you let loose of small things and bear the uncertainty of having nothing for a while?  Do this and eventually you will do great things.

  Vernon Howard

  Bears, Reason, Great Things

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• In practice, some come to see easily, some with difficulty. But whatever the case, never mind. Difficult or easy, the Buddha said not to be heedless. Just that--don't be heedless. Why? Because life is not certain. Wherever we start to think that things are certain, uncertainty is lurking right there. Heedlessness is just holding things as certain. It is grasping at certainty where there is no certainty and looking for truth in things that are not true. Be careful! They are likely to bite you sometime in the future!

  Ajahn Chah

  Thinking, Practice, Mind

  Ajahn Chah (2001). “Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings”, p.9, Shambhala Publications

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• Improvisation and new learning are not private processes; they are shared with others at every age. We are called to join in a dance whose steps must be learned along the way, so it is important to attend and respond. Even in uncertainty, we are responsible for our steps.

  Mary Catherine Bateson

  Important, Age, Way

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• Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  War, Four Elements, Climate

  Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.104, Princeton University Press

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• No decision-making system is going to guarantee corporate success. The strategic decisions that corporations have to make are of mind-numbing complexity. But we know that the more power you give a single individual in the face of complexity and uncertainty, the more likely it is that bad decisions will get made.

  James Surowiecki

  Giving, Decision, Mind

  James Surowiecki (2005). “The Wisdom of Crowds”, p.220, Anchor

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• Uncertainty would be the only certainty there's, and realizing how to stay with insecurity could be the only protection

  John Allen Paulos

  Insecurity, Would Be, Realizing

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• I do believe that there is a conflict between science and religion ... the spirit or attitude toward the facts is different in religion from what it is in science. The uncertainty that is necessary in order to appreciate nature is not easily correlated with the feeling of certainty in faith.

  Richard P. Feynman

  Attitude, Believe, Order

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• Over a very small number of rolls of the dice, the uncertainty principle is very important.

  Stephen Hawking

  Uncertainty Principle, Small Numbers, Important

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• I recently found myself going through a period of uncertainty about my future as a performer, my status as a personality, the believability of my Christian witness and the knowledge of God's will in my life. I felt a force bigger than myself saying, 'Lay back. Take it easy. Study hard. Read your bible. Think, write and keep your mouth shut for awhile.'

  Johnny Cash

  Christian, Writing, Thinking

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• The cliché of the 'Eureka!' moment easily obscures the doubt and uncertainty that are also part of the discovery process.

  Janet Maslin

  Discovery, Doubt, Moments

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• Embrace the wisdom of uncertainty.

  Deepak Chopra

  Embrace

  "What’s the Secret to a Happy Life?". Interview with Oprah, www.oprah.com. May 15, 2012.

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• War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  War, Fog, Three

  On War bk. 1, ch. 3 (1832 - 1834).

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• Animals learn death first at the moment of death;...man approaches death with the knowledge it is closer every hour, and this creates a feeling of uncertainty over his life, even for him who forgets in the business of life that annihilation is awaiting him. It is for this reason chiefly that we have philosophy and religion.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Philosophy, Animal, Men

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• Uncertainty causes more anxiety than perhaps any other single factor.

  Liz Miller

  Anxiety, Causes, Factors

  Liz Miller (2010). “Mood Mapping: Plot your way to emotional health and happiness”, p.140, Pan Macmillan

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• Education is man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.

  Charles Kettering

  Ignorance, Thoughtful, Men

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• When we face uncertainty, we encourage everyone to press forward and believe in the values of the product.

  Evan Spiegel

  Believe, Faces, Products

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• Expert estimates of probability are often off by factors of hundreds or
  thousands. [...] I used to be annoyed when the margin of error was high in
  a forecasting model that I might put together. Now I view it as perhaps the
  single most important piece of information that a forecaster provides. When
  we publish a forecast on FiveThirtyEight, I go to great lengths to document
  the uncertainty attached to it, even if the uncertainty is sufficiently
  large that the forecast won't make for punchy headlines.

  Nate Silver

  Views, Errors, Annoyed

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• Humans are wired to feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and contingency, and so we gravitate to a position after a short time even if we have no new information.

  Charles Hugh Smith

  Information, Uncomfortable, Feels

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• Risk is not inherent in an investment; it is always relative to the price paid. Uncertainty is not the same as risk. Indeed, when great uncertainty - such as in the fall of 2008 - drives securities prices to especially low levels, they often become less risky investments.

  Seth Klarman

  Fall, Risk, Levels

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• The idea that you try to time purchases based on what you think business is going to do in the next year or two, I think that's the greatest mistake that investors make because it's always uncertain. People say it's a time of uncertainty. It was uncertain on September 10th, 2001, people just didn't know it. It's uncertain every single day. So take uncertainty as part of being involved in investment at all. But uncertainty can be your friend. I mean, when people are scared, they pay less for things. We try to price. We don't try to time at all.

  Warren Buffett

  Mistake, Mean, Thinking

  "Warren Buffett's 'Stock Split' Interview". "Squawk Box" with Becky Quick, www.cnbc.com. January 10, 2010.

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• Other people's belief changes you. We all have insecurity, and uncertainty, and to have that glow cast over you by somebody that you respect, makes a gigantic difference.

  Jake Gyllenhaal

  Differences, People, Over You

  "10 Years After 'Brokeback,' Jake Gyllenhaal Remembers Heath Ledger: "Way Beyond His Years as a Human"". Interview with Stephen Galloway, www.hollywoodreporter.com. November 25, 2015.

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• Every year there's a few more things I'm not sure of. I've decided that a wide-ranging uncertainty is the mark of the true maturity of man.

  Lawrence Block

  Maturity, Men, Years

  Lawrence Block (2010). “Everybody Dies”, p.34, Hachette UK

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• In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities.

  L. Tom Perry

  Priorities, Important, World

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