Perplexity Quotes - Page 4

• The perplexity of life arises from there being too many interesting things in it for us to be interested properly in any of them.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Science, Interesting, Decision

  16 Copy quote

• In the study of ideas, it is necessary to remember that insistence on hard-headed clarity issues from sentimental feeling, as it were a mist, cloaking the perplexities of fact. Insistence on clarity at all costs is based on sheer superstition as to the mode in which human intelligence functions. Our reasonings grasp at straws for premises and float on gossamers for deductions.

  Alfred North Whitehead

  Math, Ideas, Issues

  Alfred North Whitehead (1967). “Adventures of Ideas”, p.72, Simon and Schuster

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• I am in the utmost perplexity, yand have wished a hundred times, that if there is a A God, nature would manifest him without ambiguity, and that if there is not, every imaginary sign of his existence might vanish : in short, let nature speak distinctly, or be totally silent, and I shall know what course to take.

  Blaise Pascal

  Nature, Might, Speak

  4 Copy quote

• Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.

  Khalil Gibran

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Knowledge

  12 Copy quote

• In perplexities-when we cannot tell what to do, when we cannot understand what is going on around us, let us be calmed and steadied and made patient by the thought that what is hidden from us is not hidden from Him

  Frances Ridley Havergal

  Encouraging, God, Religious

  Frances Ridley Havergal (1887). “My King, Or, Daily Thoughts for the King's Children”

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• The two friends stood for a few moments on the windy street corner, not speaking a word, as two travelers, who have lost their way, sometimes stand and admit their perplexity in silence. (O Pioneers!)

  Willa Cather

  Two Friends, Silence, Pioneers

  Willa Cather (2009). “O Pioneers!: Easyread Large Bold Edition”, p.6, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• The tantalizing discomfort of perplexity is what inspires otherwise ordinary men and women to extraordinary feats of ingenuity and creativity; nothing quite focuses the mind like dissonant details awaiting harmonious resolution.

  Brian Greene

  Creativity, Men, Inspire

  58 Copy quote

• The way of the superior person is threefold; virtuous, they are free from anxieties; wise they are free from perplexities; and bold they are free from fear.

  Confucius

  Wise, Fear, Anxiety

  8 Copy quote

• This was not the old Chichikov. This was some wreckage of the old Chichikov. The inner state of his soul might be compared to a demolished building, which has been demolished so that from it a new one could be built; but the new one has not been started yet, because the infinitive plan has not yet come from the architect and the workers are left in perplexity.

  Nikolai Gogol

  Soul, Might, Wreckage

  Nikolai Gogol (2011). “Dead Souls: A Novel”, p.390, Vintage

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• It is through the tender austerity of our troubles that the Son of Man comes knocking. In every event He seeks an entrance to my heart, yes, even in my most helpless, futile, fruitless moments. The very cracks and empty crannies of my life, my perplexities and hurts and botched-up jobs, He wants to fill with Himself, His joy, His life...He urges me to learn of Him: 'I am gentle and humble in heart.

  Elisabeth Elliot

  Hurt, Jobs, Heart

  23 Copy quote

• We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death.

  A. B. Simpson

  Condolences, Overcoming, Looks

  A. B. Simpson (1984). “Days of Heaven on Earth: A Daily Devotional to Comfort and Inspire”, Moody Publishers

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• Round and round the questions flew, until finally I found myself standing at the open door of a bookshop. It’s natural in times of great perplexity, I think, to seek out the familiar, and the high shelves and long rows of neatly lined-up spines were immensely reassuring. Amid the smell of ink and binding, the dusty motes in beams of strained sunlight, the embrace of warm, tranquil air, I felt that I could breathe more easily.

  Kate Morton

  Thinking, Smell, Air

  Kate Morton (2011). “The Distant Hours: A Novel”, p.24, Simon and Schuster

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  In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.

  Robert E. Lee

  Strength, Bible, Failure

  245 Copy quote