Uncertainty Quotes - Page 32

• In the ideal State laws are few and simple, because they have been derived from certainties. In the corrupt State laws are many and confused, because they have been derived from uncertainties.

  Solon

  Confused, Simple, Law

  83 Copy quote

• An obsession with control generally seems to reflect a fear of uncertainty.

  Henry Mintzberg

  Obsession, Seems

  Henry Mintzberg (2000). “The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning”, p.202, Pearson Education

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• The tourist debauches the great monuments of antiquity, a comic figure, always inapt in his comments, incongruous in his appearance; ...avarice and deceit attack him at every step; the shops that he patronizes are full of forgeries... But we need feel no scruple or twinge of uncertainty; 'we' are travelers and cosmopolitans; the tourist is the other fellow.

  Evelyn Waugh

  Tourists, Deceit, Needs

  7 Copy quote

• For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it (life), whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to 'glorify God and enjoy him forever.'

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Forever, Devil

  Henry David Thoreau (1995). “Walden, Or, Life in the Woods”, p.59, Courier Corporation

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• We live between two dense clouds; the forgetting of what was and the uncertainty of what will be.

  Anatole France

  Clouds, Two, Forget

  5 Copy quote

• I don't think of myself as particularly earnest. I have long bouts of cynicism and skepticism. So much of my early life was full of uncertainties. It still is. My "Buddha book" expresses that. Perhaps that's what created this impression of earnestness.

  Pankaj Mishra

  Book, Thinking, Long

  Interview with Sarah Fay, staging.believermag.com. March 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• One thing you can rely on is that there will always be uncertainty.

  Ashleigh Brilliant

  Rely, One Thing

  20 Copy quote

• In collaborative cultures, failure and uncertainty are not protected but shared and discussed to gain support.

  Andy Hargreaves

  Leadership, Learning, Support

  4 Copy quote

• The experience of being in between-between the time we leave home and arrive at our destination; between the time we leave adolescence and arrive at adulthood; between the time we leave doubt and arrive at faith. It is like the time when a trapeze artist lets go the bars and hangs in midair, ready to catch another support: it is a time of danger, of expectation, of uncertainty, of excitement, or extraordinary aliveness.

  Paul Tournier

  Letting Go, Home, Artist

  44 Copy quote

• The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty.

  Oswald Chambers

  Spiritual, Life Is, Certain

  Oswald Chambers (2010). “My Utmost for His Highest”, p.258, Discovery House

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Uncertainty is intrinsic to the process of finding out what you don't know, not a weakness to avoid.

  Neil Gershenfeld

  Weakness, Process, Findings

  "We must learn to love uncertainty and failure, say leading thinkers" by Alok Jha, www.theguardian.com. January 15, 2011.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• The one who recognizes the uncertainty of phenomena is the Dharma within you.

  Ajahn Chah

  Dharma, Within You

  17 Copy quote

• When the lie and the truth are two trenchant weapons, they are at the risk of becoming downright uncertainties.

  Marieta Maglas

  Lying, Two, Risk

  6 Copy quote

• Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth. If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you don't run you've already lost.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Life Changing, Growth

  23 Copy quote

• I have no desire to prolong uncertainty.

  Clifton Webb

  Decision, Desire, Decision Making

  9 Copy quote

• The only certainty is uncertainty

  Pliny the Elder

  Decision, Decision Making, Certainty

  9 Copy quote

• The substantial uncertainty about the path of asset price movements going forward necessarily reduces the case for altering policy in advance of the move.

  Timothy Geithner

  Moving, Movement, Path

  7 Copy quote

• If it is widely assumed that the new President cannot move forward simply because of a narrow victory, there can easily develop a sense of unease and uncertainty, adversely affecting every sector of American society, our economy and the perception of other nations.

  Richard V. Allen

  Moving, Victory, Perception

  6 Copy quote

• I think seriousness is a mask of self-importance and self-importance in turn is a mask for self-pity. So if you're really going to pursue a spiritual way of living in the world, you must be lighthearted and carefree, have humor, be able to tolerate ambiguity and embrace uncertainty, and be forgiving of yourself and everybody else.

  Deepak Chopra

  Spiritual, Thinking, Self

  9 Copy quote

• I started out looking for the perfect love story, but what I found instead was something even more beautiful - a messy love, an imperfect love, a human love. In this time of uncertainty, can I continue to love, even if it breaks my heart?

  Velcrow Ripper

  Love, Beautiful, Heart

  6 Copy quote

• When energy prices go up, the difficulty of projecting demand also goes up - uncertainty goes up.

  Al Gore

  Energy, Demand, Difficulty

  7 Copy quote

• Pierre Bordieu was right: "The all powerful is he who does not wait but makes others wait. Absolute power is the power to make oneself unpredictable and deny other people any reasonable anticipation, to place them in total uncertainty by offering no scope for their capacity to predict."

  Michael Jackson

  Powerful, Offering, People

  Michael Jackson (2004). “In Sierra Leone”, p.135, Duke University Press

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Many people have the impression that there is significant scientific disagreement about global climate change. It's time to lay that misapprehension to rest. There is a scientific consensus on the fact that Earth's climate is heating up and human activities are part of the reason. We need to stop repeating nonsense about the uncertainty of global warming and start talking seriously about the right approach to address it.

  Naomi Oreskes

  Talking, People, Environmental

  "Undeniable Global Warming". www.washingtonpost.com. December 26, 2004.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• People are saying that they want be convinced [about global warming], perfectly. They want to know the climate science projections with 100 per cent certainty. Well, we know a great deal and even with that there is still uncertainty. But the trend line is very clear. We never have 100 per cent certainty. We never have it. If you wait till you have 100 per cent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield. That's something we know. You have to act with incomplete information. You have to act based on the trend line.

  Gordon R. Sullivan

  People, Waiting, Environmental

  8 Copy quote

• In this world that God (or Mother Nature) created, it is always hazard and novelty-hazard and novelty-which assert themselves, thereby rendering notions of fixity absurd. Incongruously enough, however, when we allow ourselves to fully accept uncertainty, to embrace and cultivate it even, then we actually can begin to feel within ourselves the presence of an Absolute. The person who cannot welcome ambiguity cannot welcome God.

  Tom Robbins

  Mother, Hazards, World

  4 Copy quote