--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why is it so impossible to believe: that…" description: "\"“Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many hearted as angels?”\" — Andrew Sean Greer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png" --- # Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many… ![“Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many hearted as angels?” quote by Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png) > ““Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many hearted as angels?”” [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature contains both monstrous and divine aspects, reflecting complex moral dualities. **In simple terms:** People are both good and bad. Key Takeaway Recognize the duality within yourself. Themes morality duality human nature Mood introspective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - conflict resolution - creative writing Key Concepts ethical complexity psychology Questions to Reflect On - What parts of yourself feel contradictory? - How do you integrate opposing traits? A Different Perspective Balancing light and dark sides can cause inner conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armed Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armed-gods-4887854/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Headed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-headed-4887853/) [Impossible Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-believe-708071/) [Monsters Armed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters-armed-4887855/) ## Related quotes > [“It is impossible to believe anything in a world that has ceased to regard man as man, that repeatedly proves that one is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/it-is-impossible-to-believe-anything-in-a-world-that-has-ceased-to/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-caesar/in-the-end-it-is-impossible-not-to-become-what-others-believe-you-are/) [Julius Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-caesar/) > [When you work really hard for something for a long time it's almost impossible to believe that it's coming true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crippen/when-you-work-really-hard-for-something-for-a-long-time-it-s-almost/) [Robert Crippen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crippen/) > [In this sense, science, as physicist Steven Weinberg has emphasized, does not make it impossible to believe in God, but rather makes it possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/in-this-sense-science-as-physicist-steven-weinberg-has-emphasized/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) > [“It was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-stoker/it-was-almost-impossible-to-believe-that-the-things-which-we-had-seen/) [Bram Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-stoker/) > [“To be an atheist you must accept the impossible, believe the ridiculous, and trust the absurd.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-kumar/to-be-an-atheist-you-must-accept-the-impossible-believe-the/) [Steve Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-kumar/) > [As far as where I go when I die, the concept that I am simple going to flick out, like a light bulb, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/as-far-as-where-i-go-when-i-die-the-concept-that-i-am-simple-going-to/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [And I wish that I was made of stone So that I would not have to see A beauty impossible to define A beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/and-i-wish-that-i-was-made-of-stone-so-that-i-would-not-have-to-see-a/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [In this age of the rule of brute force, it is almost impossible for anyone to believe that any one else could possibly reject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-this-age-of-the-rule-of-brute-force-it-is-almost-impossible-for/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Because sometimes it's better to believe in the impossible. To believe you are a secret agent or a private detective or a superhero and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-david-anderson/because-sometimes-it-s-better-to-believe-in-the-impossible-to-believe/) [John David Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-david-anderson/) > [“It seems impossible to believe that a girl not yet in her teens could fall in love, but I remember so vividly the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucinda-riley/it-seems-impossible-to-believe-that-a-girl-not-yet-in-her-teens-could/) [Lucinda Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucinda-riley/) > [When we filter everything through past hurts, rejections, and experiences, we find it impossible to believe God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bevere/when-we-filter-everything-through-past-hurts-rejections-and/) [John Bevere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bevere/) > [It is impossible to believe that the same God who permitted His own son to die a bachelor regards celibacy as an actual sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-impossible-to-believe-that-the-same-god-who-permitted-his-own/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“When you loved someone, it was impossible to believe they were hopeless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-p-ching/when-you-loved-someone-it-was-impossible-to-believe-they-were-hopeless/) [G.P. Ching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-p-ching/) > [I dare say you believe I'm going to die. I bet you don't believe you're going to die. You know it, but you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lore-segal/i-dare-say-you-believe-i-m-going-to-die-i-bet-you-don-t-believe-you/) [Lore Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lore-segal/) ## More by Andrew Sean Greer > [It takes too much imagination to see the sorrows of people we take for happy. Their real battles take place, like those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/it-takes-too-much-imagination-to-see-the-sorrows-of-people-we-take/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [They say you hit your stride as a writer at about 50. I'm hoping to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/they-say-you-hit-your-stride-as-a-writer-at-about-50-i-m-hoping-to-do/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“Then I traveled. Quite a bit, in fact. You have to stockpile a few beautiful vistas in your memory, Pearlie. In case we're rationed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/then-i-traveled-quite-a-bit-in-fact-you-have-to-stockpile-a-few/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Writing fiction is an act of imaginative empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/writing-fiction-is-an-act-of-imaginative-empathy/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“To give up a marriage - someone unmarried might imagine it's like giving up a seat in a theater, or sacrificing a trick in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/to-give-up-a-marriage-someone-unmarried-might-imagine-it-s-like/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“Standing on the deck of a San Francisco ferryboat, in a gray suit so precisely the same colour as the fog that he seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/standing-on-the-deck-of-a-san-francisco-ferryboat-in-a-gray-suit-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“We're too old to think we'll meet again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/we-re-too-old-to-think-we-ll-meet-again/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“A rosewater smell from the box summoned, instantly, a dictatorial woman with a tight bun, hectoring him with questions. The cut, the buttons, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/a-rosewater-smell-from-the-box-summoned-instantly-a-dictatorial-woman/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Does love always form, like a pearl, around the hardened bits of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/does-love-always-form-like-a-pearl-around-the-hardened-bits-of-life/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [I was raised Unitarian, and my mother said she took us to church so that we wouldn't get religious later in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/i-was-raised-unitarian-and-my-mother-said-she-took-us-to-church-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [A downside to being a successful novelist? Wow - I can't imagine one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/a-downside-to-being-a-successful-novelist-wow-i-can-t-imagine-one/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [My country is nothing if not diverse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/my-country-is-nothing-if-not-diverse/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Any gay man in America redeals a deck at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/any-gay-man-in-america-redeals-a-deck-at-some-point/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“We kept each other's stare a long time, for we had each done a startling thing, dodged time for an instant - which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/we-kept-each-other-s-stare-a-long-time-for-we-had-each-done-a/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [My grandmother was not a great storyteller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/my-grandmother-was-not-a-great-storyteller/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) [Explore all 154 Andrew Sean Greer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) [Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many hearted as angels?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Sean Greer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that-we-are-as-many-headed-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Believe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that-we-are-as-many-headed-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c5/andrew-sean-greer-2689_believe_why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that_2209628.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why is it so impossible to believe: that we are as many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many…” — Andrew Sean Greer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrew Sean Greer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Why is it so impossible to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that-we-are-as-many-headed-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/why-is-it-so-impossible-to-believe-that-we-are-as-many-headed-as/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```