--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I…" description: "\"You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I distrust your cleverness. You make a wonderful pattern, everything is in its place, it looks convincingly clea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/anais-nin-288_clarity_you-are-so-terribly-nimble-so-clever-i-d_2098267.jpg" --- # You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I distrust your… ![“You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I distrust your cleverness. You make a wonderful pattern, everything is in its place, it looks convincingly clear, too clear. And meanwhile, where are you? Not on the clear surface of your ideas, but you have already sunk deeper, into darker regions, so that…” quote by Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/anais-nin-288_clarity_you-are-so-terribly-nimble-so-clever-i-d_2098267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/anais-nin-288_clarity_you-are-so-terribly-nimble-so-clever-i-d_2098267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/anais-nin-288_clarity_you-are-so-terribly-nimble-so-clever-i-d_2098267.jpg) > “You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I distrust your cleverness. You make a wonderful pattern, everything is in its place, it looks convincingly clear, too clear. And meanwhile, where are you? Not on the clear surface of your ideas, but you have already sunk deeper, into darker regions, so that one only thinks one has been given all your thoughts, one only imagines you have emptied yourself in that clarity. But there are layers and layers -- you're bottomless, unfathomable. Your clearness is deceptive. You are the thinker who arouses most confusion in me, most doubt, most disturbance.” [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cleverness can mask depth; surface clarity may hide complex, darker layers, leading to confusion and doubt about true intentions. **In simple terms:** Clear appearances can conceal deeper complexity. Key Takeaway Look beyond surface clarity. Themes perception deception depth confusion identity Mood introspective inquisitive Type analytical thoughtful When to use this quote - Personal relationships - art critique - self‑reflection Key Concepts Psychology of self‑presentation layers of meaning Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern depth beyond polished presentation? - When has clarity misled you? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on cleverness may erode trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Clearness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clearness/) [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Clever Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-distrust-4180584/) [Cleverness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cleverness/) [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Deceptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceptive/) [Deceptive Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceptive-thinker-4180582/) [Deeper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper/) [Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) [Distrust Cleverness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust-cleverness-4180581/) [Disturbance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disturbance/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Emptied Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptied-clarity-4180583/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Layers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/layers/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Nimble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nimble/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Surface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surface/) [Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Unfathomable Clearness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfathomable-clearness-4180585/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [He was not only, I soon discovered, a water drinker, but a strict vegetarian, to which, perhaps, he owed a great deal of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/he-was-not-only-i-soon-discovered-a-water-drinker-but-a-strict/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [The observance of one commandment, however clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of another which is enjoined with equal clearness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/the-observance-of-one-commandment-however-clearly-and-forcibly/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [Eutrapelia . "A happy and gracious flexibility," Pericles calls this quality of the Athenians...lucidity of thought, clearness and propriety of language, freedom from prejudice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/eutrapelia-a-happy-and-gracious-flexibility-pericles-calls-this/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/some-people-hear-their-own-inner-voices-with-great-clearness-and-they/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [It is not enough that a man has clearness of vision, and reliance on sincerity, he must also have the art of expression, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/it-is-not-enough-that-a-man-has-clearness-of-vision-and-reliance-on/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [“Purity is defined by the clearness of the stars”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-biondi/purity-is-defined-by-the-clearness-of-the-stars/) [Michael Biondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-biondi/) > [The finer the nature, the more flaws it will show through the clearness of it; and it is a law of this universe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-finer-the-nature-the-more-flaws-it-will-show-through-the/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clearness-and-nothing/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [I believe there are techniques of the human mind whereby, in its dark deep, problems are examined, rejected or accepted. Such activities sometimes concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-believe-there-are-techniques-of-the-human-mind-whereby-in-its-dark/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [What I mean by the Muse is that unimpeded clearness of the intuitive powers, which a perfectly truthful adherence to every admonition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/what-i-mean-by-the-muse-is-that-unimpeded-clearness-of-the-intuitive/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clarity/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/lord-enlighten-thou-our-enemies-sharpen-their-wits-give-acuteness-to/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [...one can speak with the utmost clearness, and yet not be heard by anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-speak-with-the-utmost-clearness-and-yet-not-be-heard-by-anyone/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [We wound our modesty and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-wound-our-modesty-and-make-foul-the-clearness-of-our-deservings/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Anais Nin > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“…For love it is never the same. What goes on inside is never the same just like this music which changes every instant. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/for-love-it-is-never-the-same-what-goes-on-inside-is-never-the-same/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I have so strong a sense of creation, of tomorrow, that I cannot get drunk, knowing I will be less alive, less well, less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-have-so-strong-a-sense-of-creation-of-tomorrow-that-i-cannot-get/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [We don't have a language for the senses. Feelings are images, sensations are like musical sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/we-don-t-have-a-language-for-the-senses-feelings-are-images/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Strange, isn't it, that no chemical will give a human being the iridescence that illusions have given them? Give me your hat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/strange-isn-t-it-that-no-chemical-will-give-a-human-being-the/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The personal, if it is deep enough, becomes universal, mythical, symbolic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-personal-if-it-is-deep-enough-becomes-universal-mythical-symbolic/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Introspection is a devouring monster. You have to feed it with much material, much experience, many people, many places, many loves, many creations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/introspection-is-a-devouring-monster-you-have-to-feed-it-with-much/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [In each studio there is a human being dressed in the full regalia of his myth fearing to expore a vulnerable opening, spreading not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-each-studio-there-is-a-human-being-dressed-in-the-full-regalia-of/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I don't mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-don-t-mind-working-holding-my-ground-intellectually-artistically/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“Laughter and tears are not separate experiences, with intervals of rest: they rush out together and it is like walking with a sword between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/laughter-and-tears-are-not-separate-experiences-with-intervals-of/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The basis of insincerity is the idealized image we hold of ourselves and wish to impose on others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-basis-of-insincerity-is-the-idealized-image-we-hold-of-ourselves/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I write emotional algebra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-write-emotional-algebra/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-role-of-the-writer-is-not-to-say-what-we-can-all-say-but-what-we/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I say quotations are literary. They are good only when dealing with ideas, not with experience. Experience should be pure, unique.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-say-quotations-are-literary-they-are-good-only-when-dealing-with/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) [Explore all 715 Anais Nin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## 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": "You are so terribly nimble, so clever. I distrust your cleverness. You make a wonderful pattern, everything is in its place, it looks convincingly clear, too clear. And meanwhile, where are you? 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