--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the study of ideas, it is necessary to…" description: "\"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 ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/alfred-north-whitehead-836_clarity_in-the-study-of-ideas-it-is-necessary-to_3045057.png" --- # In the study of ideas, it is necessary to remember that… ![“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…” quote by Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/alfred-north-whitehead-836_clarity_in-the-study-of-ideas-it-is-necessary-to_3045057.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/alfred-north-whitehead-836_clarity_in-the-study-of-ideas-it-is-necessary-to_3045057.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/alfred-north-whitehead-836_clarity_in-the-study-of-ideas-it-is-necessary-to_3045057.png) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our pursuit of absolute clarity often stems from emotional bias, leading to shaky reasoning and fragile conclusions. **In simple terms:** Clarity can be clouded by feelings, weakening logic. Key Takeaway Question assumptions behind your clarity. Themes philosophy epistemology critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - academic research - policy making - daily decision making Key Concepts bias logic uncertainty Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs do you hold that might cloud your judgment? - How can you balance emotional insight with logical rigor? A Different Perspective Clarity without emotional awareness can be misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Clarity Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity-issues-2746388/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Deductions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deductions/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Floats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/floats/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Headed Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/headed-clarity-2746387/) [Human intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-intelligence/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Insistence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insistence/) [Insistence Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insistence-clarity-2746386/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Mist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mist/) [Perplexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perplexity/) [Premises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/premises/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) [Reasonings Grasp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasonings-grasp-4277516/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Sentimental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentimental/) [Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheer/) [Straws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straws/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) ## Related quotes > [“In the study of ideas, it is necessary to remember that insistence on hard-headed clarity issues from sentimental feeling, as if it were a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/in-the-study-of-ideas-it-is-necessary-to-remember-that-insistence-on/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Our reasonings grasp at straws for premises and float on gossamers for deductions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/our-reasonings-grasp-at-straws-for-premises-and-float-on-gossamers/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [There is a tradition of opposition between adherents of induction and of deduction. In my view it would be just as sensible for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/there-is-a-tradition-of-opposition-between-adherents-of-induction-and/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Then these moments of perplexity began to recur oftener and oftener, and always in the same form. They were always expressed by the questions:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/then-these-moments-of-perplexity-began-to-recur-oftener-and-oftener/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/god-has-created-me-to-do-him-some-definite-service-he-has-committed/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [“A young girl's mother is her natural refuge in every perplexity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/a-young-girl-s-mother-is-her-natural-refuge-in-every-perplexity/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [When I have a difficult subject before me - when I find the road narrow, and can see no other way of teaching a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/when-i-have-a-difficult-subject-before-me-when-i-find-the-road-narrow/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [“But the recurrent ambiguity of the American tale of the supernatural reveals both a fascination with the possibility of numinous experience and a perplexity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-kerr/but-the-recurrent-ambiguity-of-the-american-tale-of-the-supernatural/) [Howard Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-kerr/) > [The origin of thinking is some perplexity, confusion or doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-origin-of-thinking-is-some-perplexity-confusion-or-doubt/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“The mind that puts everything in question reaches, after a thousand interrogations, an almost total inertia, a situation which the inert, in fact, knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/the-mind-that-puts-everything-in-question-reaches-after-a-thousand/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [As soon as we try to write the simplest sentence about God, we find ourselves in anxious perplexities, but when we stop trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/as-soon-as-we-try-to-write-the-simplest-sentence-about-god-we-find/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [When I had satisfied myself that no star of that kind had ever shone before, I was led into such perplexity by the unbelievability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tycho-brahe/when-i-had-satisfied-myself-that-no-star-of-that-kind-had-ever-shone/) [Tycho Brahe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tycho-brahe/) > [I am in the utmost perplexity, yand have wished a hundred times, that if there is a A God, nature would manifest him without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/i-am-in-the-utmost-perplexity-yand-have-wished-a-hundred-times-that/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The success of this Government, and thus the success of our Nation, depends in the last analysis upon the quality.of our career services. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-success-of-this-government-and-thus-the-success-of-our-nation/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [So if God should place me in serious perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in places of great difficulty, much grace; in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-taylor/so-if-god-should-place-me-in-serious-perplexity-must-he-not-give-me/) [Hudson Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-taylor/) ## More by Alfred North Whitehead > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/on-the-ostensible-exactitude-of-certain-branches-of-human-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/it-is-this-union-of-passionate-interest-in-the-detailed-facts-with/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of infinitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/our-minds-are-finite-and-yet-even-in-these-circumstances-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The many become one and are increased by one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-many-become-one-and-are-increased-by-one/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/art-is-the-imposing-of-a-pattern-on-experience-and-our-aesthetic/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-rise-above-the-confines-of-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Common sense is genius in homespun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/common-sense-is-genius-in-homespun/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Everyone is a philosopher. Not everyone is good at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/everyone-is-a-philosopher-not-everyone-is-good-at-it/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Do not teach too many subjects and what you teach, teach thoroughly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/do-not-teach-too-many-subjects-and-what-you-teach-teach-thoroughly/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are cavalry charges in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/civilization-advances-by-extending-the-number-of-important-operations/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) [Explore all 356 Alfred North Whitehead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## More Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It comes a moment that someone says something really small, but fits so perfect into your heart that everything start to make sense!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/it-comes-a-moment-that-someone-says-something-really-small-but-fits/) [Laylablack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laylablack/) > [“Replaying the past in your mind won't change the present; it only steals the clarity needed to shape what comes next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-meyering-sr/replaying-the-past-in-your-mind-won-t-change-the-present-it-only/) [Joseph Meyering Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-meyering-sr/) > [Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 12. I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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. 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