--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we were to judge nature by its common…" description: "\"“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg" --- # If we were to judge nature by its common sense or… ![“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in trade. The whole creation is one lunatic fringe…No claims of any and all revelations could be so far-fetched as a single giraffe.” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg) > ““If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in trade. The whole creation is one lunatic fringe…No claims of any and all revelations could be so far-fetched as a single giraffe.”” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that reality is fundamentally improbable and defies ordinary expectations, implying that what we consider 'common sense' cannot explain existence. **In simple terms:** Reality is wildly improbable. Key Takeaway Common sense fails to capture true nature. Themes philosophy of science existentialism probability nature skepticism Mood wonder awe skepticism Type aphorism philosophical observation When to use this quote - contemplating the cosmos - questioning scientific assumptions - exploring paradoxes Key Concepts probability reality perception limitations of intuition Practical Applications - philosophical essays - science communication Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to accept improbability as a basis for existence? - How does this view challenge conventional scientific reasoning? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Nature seems to exult in abounding radicality, extremism, anarchy. If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nature-seems-to-exult-in-abounding-radicality-extremism-anarchy-if-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in trade. The whole creation is one lunatic fringe. If creation had been left up to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/in-nature-improbabilities-are-the-one-stock-in-trade-the-whole/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [If we were to judge nature by common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-common-sense-or-likelihood-we-wouldn-t/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Each man is everything to himself, for with his death everything is dead for him. That is why each of us thinks he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/each-man-is-everything-to-himself-for-with-his-death-everything-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Nobody has any conscience about adding to the improbabilities of a marvelous tale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/nobody-has-any-conscience-about-adding-to-the-improbabilities-of-a/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“If I could believe in myself, why not give other improbabilities the benefit of the doubt?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/if-i-could-believe-in-myself-why-not-give-other-improbabilities-the/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [We are the accidental result of an unplanned process ... the fragile result of an enormous concatenation of improbabilities, not the predictable product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-are-the-accidental-result-of-an-unplanned-process-the-fragile/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [“It's common sense: when you move in, you try to learn the neighborhood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-s-common-sense-when-you-move-in-you-try-to-learn-the-neighborhood/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [How is it that labels like 'centrist' and 'moderate,' which common sense tells us should reflect the views of a majority of Americans, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehdi-hasan/how-is-it-that-labels-like-centrist-and-moderate-which-common-sense/) [Mehdi Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehdi-hasan/) > [I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness - nay, I have never found common sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/i-have-never-seen-either-a-drop-of-piety-or-a-grain-of-truth-or/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley/below-the-40th-latitude-there-is-no-law-below-the-50th-no-god-below/) [Kim Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-often-think-of-the-set-pieces-of-liturgy-as-certain-words-which/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Common sense quotes > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley/below-the-40th-latitude-there-is-no-law-below-the-50th-no-god-below/) [Kim Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley/) > [I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness - nay, I have never found common sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/i-have-never-seen-either-a-drop-of-piety-or-a-grain-of-truth-or/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [How is it that labels like 'centrist' and 'moderate,' which common sense tells us should reflect the views of a majority of Americans, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehdi-hasan/how-is-it-that-labels-like-centrist-and-moderate-which-common-sense/) [Mehdi Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehdi-hasan/) > [“It was true that common sense wasn’t her forte. It wasn’t that she was silly or stupid, but she heard so many more voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/it-was-true-that-common-sense-wasn-t-her-forte-it-wasn-t-that-she-was/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) > [“The accident in your rearview mirror already happened. The one in front of you is still preventable. Pay attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nakia-r-laushaul/the-accident-in-your-rearview-mirror-already-happened-the-one-in/) [Nakia R. Laushaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nakia-r-laushaul/) > [In Raleigh, partisan battles, power struggles and lawsuits might grab the headlines, but we have to work together where we can. To look beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/in-raleigh-partisan-battles-power-struggles-and-lawsuits-might-grab/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) > [“Listen: Common sense doesn't mean what it used to mean." -Matthias Chalmers, STAIRWAY2 HEAVEN”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-thompson/listen-common-sense-doesn-t-mean-what-it-used-to-mean-matthias/) Chaz Thompson > [“when people’s brains are in defensive mode, it becomes harder to see common sense. Small disagreements can end up holding back progress beyond reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-webb/when-people-s-brains-are-in-defensive-mode-it-becomes-harder-to-see/) [Caroline Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-webb/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [ As we have seen after every other \[Donald\] Trump controversy, this one only increased their enthusiasm for him. His supporters thought the idea of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-inskeep/as-we-have-seen-after-every-other-donald-trump-controversy-this-one/) [Steve Inskeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-inskeep/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Browse all 1,942 Common sense quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in trade. The whole creation is one lunatic fringe…No claims of any and all revelations could be so far-fetched as a single giraffe.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Annie Dillard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common sense" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/annie-dillard-509_common-sense_if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common_65547.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In…” — Annie Dillard", "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": "Annie Dillard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If we were to judge nature...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/#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 } } ] } ```