Quotes About Uncertainty

What have we done?' he asked, but there was no one to answer him.

I used to think I knew all the answers. Then I thought I knew maybe a few of the answers. Now I'm not even sure I understand the questions. Nobody knows anything.

The fall of Venice was just a change in its historical identity. We cannot say that it was a disgrace or triumph, because we do not know who in the end is triumphant and who is disgraced.

Statesmen may plot and plan. Learned men may calculate and conclude. Diplomats may debate and prevaricate. But chance rules the immediate affairs of humankind.

The peace to come gives the present no peace.

I remember so many things [. . .] The problem is, only half of them are true . . . and the half which is true keeps changing places with the half which is false.

but offered him nothing beyond that. Dodger, for his part, would remove

Well, there are times when we know where people are, yes? This would not be one of those times.

I'm not supposed to be here, Xy.

a decision without an alternative is a desperate gambler's throw

Above all, disagreement is needed to stimulate the imagination. One may not need imagination to find the one right solution to a problem. But then this is of value only in mathematics. In all matters of true uncertainty such as the executive deals with—whether his sphere be political, economic, social, or military—one needs creative solutions which create a new situation. And this means that one needs imagination—a new and different way of perceiving and understanding.

The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.

Both sides are too strong for a finish yet. God knows how long it will be at this rate. None of us will ever see its end and children still at school will have to take over.27

You're shrinking Gilbert, you're shrinking! Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking!

I can go at any time now. -Arnie tells Becky

I could go at any time now.

And I said nothing about how in the child's fear I had seen reflection of all the difficulties that I had ever encountered in Fuling, the people's uncertainty about things new and strange. It was a natural, helpless, human response - an instinct as blameless as a child's. It took time and effort to deal with that, as well as patience, and now I realized how much work had been done on the other side.

There is hope in such a superstition; there is the illusion of control.

A dusty calendar was marked with the slogan TOMORROW WILL BE EVEN BETTER. It seemed ominous that the calendar was three years old.

I'd just had a review lesson in what I'd already learned over and over in a year and a half of exploring these Gulf of Mexico waters. These waters, the skies over the Gulf, the winds--they all did whatever, whenever they wanted. And we humans basically have two choices when it comes to the sea. We can either stay away from it all. Or we can be ready for anything.

When you're in a burning building looking out of the twentieth story window down to the street and all you see is clouds of billowing smoke, you have to choose to believe the firemen below who tell you they have a safety net and it's safe to jump. When the clouds of smoke disappear, you don't have to believe any more: you see it. In this world, it's a leap in the dark; in the next world, it's a leap in the light.

other little wooden fences can come down too. How? When? God only knows.

Game theory says that the true source of uncertainty lies in the intentions of others.

Time matters most when decisions are irreversible. And yet many irreversible decisions must be made on the basis of incomplete information.