--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This, then, is the ultimate paradox of…" description: "\"This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.\" — Anonymous" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg" --- # This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to… ![“This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg) > “This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind seeks knowledge beyond its own capacity, creating a paradox of unanswerable inquiry. **In simple terms:** Thought tries to grasp the ungraspable. Key Takeaway Embrace humility in intellectual pursuits. Themes philosophy paradox knowledge limits Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic research - personal reflection - creative problem solving Key Concepts epistemology metacognition cognitive boundaries Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from unknowns? - How to balance curiosity and acceptance? A Different Perspective Human cognition has limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Paradox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [“The supreme paradox of all thought is the attempt to discover something that thought cannot think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/the-supreme-paradox-of-all-thought-is-the-attempt-to-discover/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [If we have dwelled on Godel's work at some length, is it because we see it in the mathematical analogy of what we would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watzlawick/if-we-have-dwelled-on-godel-s-work-at-some-length-is-it-because-we/) [Paul Watzlawick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watzlawick/) > [''Life is the ultimate paradox.''](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/life-is-the-ultimate-paradox/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [“Unless you admit it to yourself, that you don’t know what is going on, will you experience what is going on. The ultimate paradox…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-hochberg/unless-you-admit-it-to-yourself-that-you-don-t-know-what-is-going-on/) [Art Hochberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-hochberg/) > [“Women were such a strange but captivating paradox he thought, you wanted to love them and make them happy yet somehow, sometimes in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-thrussell/women-were-such-a-strange-but-captivating-paradox-he-thought-you/) [Jill Thrussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-thrussell/) > [“The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/the-time-traveller-for-so-it-will-be-convenient-to-speak-of-him-was-2/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“You know how powerful it can be when you discover that you can do something you never thought you could? It changes everything… and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-graham/you-know-how-powerful-it-can-be-when-you-discover-that-you-can-do/) [Ashley Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-graham/) > [Some day, the world will discover that, without thought, there can be no love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/some-day-the-world-will-discover-that-without-thought-there-can-be-no/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought. That's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-trick-is-to-keep-exploring-and-not-bail-out-even-when-we-find-out-2/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The existence of God is the ultimate paradox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/the-existence-of-god-is-the-ultimate-paradox/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sadly, the things that we have set out as being worth striving for are not ultimately the things that satisfy human longings. And why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/sadly-the-things-that-we-have-set-out-as-being-worth-striving-for-are/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [''The answer to life is the ultimate paradox.''](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/the-answer-to-life-is-the-ultimate-paradox/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [Love is a gift, a miracle, a mystery. You are led to its threshold by your affinities, by your inclinations, and by the yearnings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenda-green/love-is-a-gift-a-miracle-a-mystery-you-are-led-to-its-threshold-by/) [Glenda Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenda-green/) > [If you don't risk anything, you gain nothing. When you gain nothing, you risk even more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-don-t-risk-anything-you-gain-nothing-when-you-gain-nothing-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-paradox-of-courage-is-that-a-man-must-be-a-little-careless-of-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Paradox quotes > [“I never use paradox. The statements I make are wearisome and obvious common sense. I have even been driven to the tedium of reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/i-never-use-paradox-the-statements-i-make-are-wearisome-and-obvious/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [The great paradox of the civil rights revolution is that instead of enforcing and expanding equality before the law, the revolution created differential rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-craig-roberts/the-great-paradox-of-the-civil-rights-revolution-is-that-instead-of/) [Paul Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-craig-roberts/) > [:)So Micayla didn't quite understand the meaning of the word paradox, so like most things I struggle to understand or make sense of I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micayla-ludick-basson/so-micayla-didn-t-quite-understand-the-meaning-of-the-word-paradox-so/) [Micayla Ludick Basson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micayla-ludick-basson/) > [When you're in a room with twenty people who've all got the True Theory of the universe, it's difficult to know what to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/when-you-re-in-a-room-with-twenty-people-who-ve-all-got-the-true/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/the-paradox-of-vengefulness-is-that-it-makes-men-dependent-upon-those/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [The locus of the modern struggle with its enemy of death is clearly the body (not mind, society, or the afterworld). The body is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-m-lock/the-locus-of-the-modern-struggle-with-its-enemy-of-death-is-clearly/) [Margaret M. Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-m-lock/) > [I think writing kind of burns out the flaming question. Sometimes it might feel like when you're living with certain paradoxes and they're unarticulated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-think-writing-kind-of-burns-out-the-flaming-question-sometimes-it/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [In the hero stories, the call to go on a journey takes the form of a loss, an error, a wound, an unexplainable longing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-richo/in-the-hero-stories-the-call-to-go-on-a-journey-takes-the-form-of-a/) [David Richo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-richo/) > [The best reaction to a paradox is to invent a genuinely new and deep idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hacking/the-best-reaction-to-a-paradox-is-to-invent-a-genuinely-new-and-deep/) [Ian Hacking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hacking/) > [Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/most-marriages-recognize-this-paradox-passion-destroys-passion-we/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The proposition of Mr. Ricardo, which states that a rise in the price of labour lowers the price of a large class of commodities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-proposition-of-mr-ricardo-which-states-that-a-rise-in-the-price/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [“And while we may never be able to wrap our minds around the thing itself, it is by the power of a story that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-fisher/and-while-we-may-never-be-able-to-wrap-our-minds-around-the-thing/) [Casey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-fisher/) > [“Oh, just some crap about the essential paradox of man: How we refuse to juxtapose the absolute to the relative, and some other some-such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-adly-guirgis/oh-just-some-crap-about-the-essential-paradox-of-man-how-we-refuse-to/) [Stephen Adly Guirgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-adly-guirgis/) [Browse all 1,142 Paradox quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-thought-to-want-to-discover/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Paradox" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-thought-to-want-to-discover/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/anonymous-1_paradox_this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-tho_1558284.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot…” — Anonymous", "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": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This, then, is the ultimate paradox...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-thought-to-want-to-discover/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-then-is-the-ultimate-paradox-of-thought-to-want-to-discover/#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 } } ] } ```