Certainty Quote by Anne Lamott
“I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me--that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Travelogue of Faith by Anne Lamott, 1995
Faith co uncertainty; certainty is not its opposite but a distraction from the messiness of belief.
In simple terms: Faith coexists with doubt and mess.
Key Takeaway
Accept uncertainty as part of faith.
Themes
faith
uncertainty
acceptance
Mood
contemplative
hopeful
Type
spiritual
philosophical
When to use this quote
- prayer
- counseling
- personal growth
- writing
Key Concepts
spirituality
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you sit with uncertainty?
- What messes teach you about belief?
A Different Perspective
Certainty can blind us to deeper truth.
![“In the nine years since [Robert] Harris’s novel [Conclave] was published our culture has, if anything, become more enamored with certainty, not less — which is really saying something. Ours is a culture, a society, that seems fantastically certain of certainty. Certainty rules our political…” quote by Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9f9/junot-diaz-531_absolutism_in-the-nine-years-since-robert-harris-s_856251.jpg)
![“[I]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics, in so far as disposed through it we are able to reach certainty in other sciences and truth by the exclusion of error.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d13/roger-bacon-15067_able_i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-a_24209.jpg)
