--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a mistake to confound strangeness…" description: "\"It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.\" — Arthur Conan Doyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg" --- # It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. ![“It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.” quote by Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg) > “It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.” [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Confusing oddness with mystery is an error; not all strange things are unknowable. **In simple terms:** Strangeness isn’t always mystery. Key Takeaway Distinguish curiosity from confusion. Themes logic analysis curiosity Mood inquisitive analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - scientific research - problem solving - creative brainstorming Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When do you treat oddness as a mystery? - How can you test if something is truly mysterious? A Different Perspective Some mysteries are inherently unsolvable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confound Strangeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confound-strangeness-3482774/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Mistake Confound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake-confound-3482776/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Strangeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangeness/) [Strangeness Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangeness-mystery-3482775/) ## Related quotes > [It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious because it presents no new or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness-with-mystery-the-most/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/life-is-infinitely-stranger-than-anything-which-the-mind-of-man-could/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [We also maintain - again with perfect truth - that mystery is more than half of beauty, the element of strangeness that stirs the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-le-gallienne/we-also-maintain-again-with-perfect-truth-that-mystery-is-more-than/) [Richard Le Gallienne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-le-gallienne/) > [“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-he-said-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“There is this strangeness of a life story having no shape—or more accurately, nothing but its present—until it has its ending; and then suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/there-is-this-strangeness-of-a-life-story-having-no-shape-or-more/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [We love women in proportion to their degree of strangeness to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/we-love-women-in-proportion-to-their-degree-of-strangeness-to-us/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“He was pale as only one state on Bhast dictated—not lacking color necessarily or vitality, certainly. Fey white was more comparable to a pearl;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-miles-2/he-was-pale-as-only-one-state-on-bhast-dictated-not-lacking-color/) [T.A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-miles-2/) > [“...only think a moment that we are here now, and that that was then, and it has come to this, and how odd, odd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/only-think-a-moment-that-we-are-here-now-and-that-that-was-then-and/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > […he is unlike the other customers. They sense it too, and look at him with hard eyes, eyes like little metal studs pinned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-is-unlike-the-other-customers-they-sense-it-too-and-look-at-him/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The great adventures of life, the surprise of strangers, of strangeness, of the electric and eclectic moments of happenstance, and also of extreme ambition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/the-great-adventures-of-life-the-surprise-of-strangers-of-strangeness/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“I was attracted to the strangeness of his mind as a psychiatrist might have been drawn to an interesting case. he wanted a resident…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-harrower/i-was-attracted-to-the-strangeness-of-his-mind-as-a-psychiatrist/) [Elizabeth Harrower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-harrower/) > [It is the addition of strangeness to beauty that constitutes the romantic character in art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-hagen/it-is-the-addition-of-strangeness-to-beauty-that-constitutes-the/) [Walter Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-hagen/) > [It is the property of things seen for the first time, or for the first time after long, like the flowers in spring, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/it-is-the-property-of-things-seen-for-the-first-time-or-for-the-first/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [“Oh, stop it, I tell myself. Stop looking for links and meaning and explanations. What did De Chirico say? The world is a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsty-eagar/oh-stop-it-i-tell-myself-stop-looking-for-links-and-meaning-and/) [Kirsty Eagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsty-eagar/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More by Arthur Conan Doyle > [“shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/shattered-the-bone-and-grazed-the-subclavian-artery-i/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“A study in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a little art jargon. There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-study-in-scarlet-eh-why-shouldn-t-we-use-a-little-art-jargon-there/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/mediocrity-knows-nothing-higher-than-itself-but-talent-instantly/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Holy men? Holy cabbages! Holy bean-pods! What do they do but live and suck in sustenance and grow fat? If that be holiness, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/holy-men-holy-cabbages-holy-bean-pods-what-do-they-do-but-live-and/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Wonderful!" I ejaculated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/wonderful-i-ejaculated/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity... is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/ex-professor-moriarty-of-mathematical-celebrity-is-the-napoleon-of/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/how-small-we-feel-with-our-petty-ambitions-and-strivings-in-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [You wish to put me in the dark. I tell you that I will never be put in the dark. You wish to beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/you-wish-to-put-me-in-the-dark-i-tell-you-that-i-will-never-be-put-in/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-he-said-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections but no actual money in his pocket, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-hard-luck-on-a-young-fellow-to-have-expensive-tastes-great/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/in-the-year-1878-i-took-my-degree-of-doctor-of-medicine-of-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) [Explore all 740 Arthur Conan Doyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Conan Doyle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness-with-mystery/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness-with-mystery/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/arthur-conan-doyle-273_failure_it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness_1183883.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.” — Arthur Conan Doyle", "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": "Arthur Conan Doyle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is a mistake to confound...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness-with-mystery/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-mistake-to-confound-strangeness-with-mystery/#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 } } ] } ```