--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The...act of surrender—or devotion, as…" description: "\"“The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may be—was, to him, a kind of lifeline for those who sought a quick answer and didn’t want to stick ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/ashim-shanker-13588_blind-faith_the-act-of-surrender-or-devotion-as-the_419941.jpg" --- # The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may… ![“The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may be—was, to him, a kind of lifeline for those who sought a quick answer and didn’t want to stick around long enough to see their doubt through to its ultimate conclusion. A conclusion, which, of itself, was a bittersweet paradox—for how could…” quote by Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/ashim-shanker-13588_blind-faith_the-act-of-surrender-or-devotion-as-the_419941.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/ashim-shanker-13588_blind-faith_the-act-of-surrender-or-devotion-as-the_419941.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/ashim-shanker-13588_blind-faith_the-act-of-surrender-or-devotion-as-the_419941.jpg) > ““The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may be—was, to him, a kind of lifeline for those who sought a quick answer and didn’t want to stick around long enough to see their doubt through to its ultimate conclusion. A conclusion, which, of itself, was a bittersweet paradox—for how could doubt simply cease to exist by any stretch of the imagination? Doubt was, nonetheless—from his own perspective—the only inclusive insight into the nature of a Truth exclusive of conditions.”” [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Doubt, when embraced, becomes a vital insight that drives the search for truth, despite its paradoxical nature. **In simple terms:** Doubt can guide truth‑seeking. Key Takeaway Embrace doubt as a guide. Themes philosophy spirituality truth seeking Mood thoughtful contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - academic research - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts paradox existential inquiry Questions to Reflect On - When has doubt helped you grow? - How do you balance doubt and belief? A Different Perspective Doubt can lead to paralysis if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/) [Cease to exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease-to-exist/) [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Easy answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-answers/) [Epistemology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epistemology/) [Paradox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Self delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-delusion/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“Intent of complete surrender (devotion) is worship itself. Complete surrender with (full understanding and real) knowledge is a very high level of worship. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/intent-of-complete-surrender-devotion-is-worship-itself-complete/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [I can doubt everything, except one thing, and that is the very fact that I doubt. Simply put - I think, therefore I am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/i-can-doubt-everything-except-one-thing-and-that-is-the-very-fact/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“It is not our place to render a verdict on the state of another person's soul, and we will be far more effective (and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-q-mason/it-is-not-our-place-to-render-a-verdict-on-the-state-of-another/) [Patrick Q. Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-q-mason/) > [“To think you cannot fight fate is only an act of surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-duigan/to-think-you-cannot-fight-fate-is-only-an-act-of-surrender/) John Duigan > [“But if I hope to understand in order to accept things - the act of surrender will never happen. I must take the plunge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/but-if-i-hope-to-understand-in-order-to-accept-things-the-act-of/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Because the act of surrender means: "I trust you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/because-the-act-of-surrender-means-i-trust-you/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“You will not mock me—and you will let me finish. I have owned and lost a kingdom, and I have battled death. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/you-will-not-mock-me-and-you-will-let-me-finish-i-have-owned-and-lost/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Listening to something is an act of surrender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/listening-to-something-is-an-act-of-surrender/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [“I sometimes wonder whether the act of surrender is not one of the greatest of all - the highest. It is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-sometimes-wonder-whether-the-act-of-surrender-is-not-one-of-the/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [“Sometimes we can't fix what has been broken. The act of surrender is accepting that truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz-jr/sometimes-we-can-t-fix-what-has-been-broken-the-act-of-surrender-is/) [Miguel Ruiz Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz-jr/) > [Why do any of us act the way we do? Is it our beliefs or our biology that shapes us? Lauren Grodstein considers this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-lavalle/why-do-any-of-us-act-the-way-we-do-is-it-our-beliefs-or-our-biology/) [Victor LaValle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-lavalle/) > [“And what was the point of an easy answer like that. Where did it lead. Nowhere good, in his experience. Easy answers got to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacia-kane/and-what-was-the-point-of-an-easy-answer-like-that-where-did-it-lead/) [Stacia Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacia-kane/) > [We are living in complex, difficult times and I wanted Syriana to reflect this complexity in a visceral way, to embrace it narratively. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-gaghan/we-are-living-in-complex-difficult-times-and-i-wanted-syriana-to/) [Stephen Gaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-gaghan/) > [“Politicians are people with easy answers for hard problems.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/politicians-are-people-with-easy-answers-for-hard-problems/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [The way I challenge myself is by writing something that really engages me, that doesn't have an easy answer, and isn't always an easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/the-way-i-challenge-myself-is-by-writing-something-that-really/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) ## More by Ashim Shanker > [“Never miss an opportunity to be truly and deeply humiliated! The shame will carve you down to an individual of exquisite layering, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/never-miss-an-opportunity-to-be-truly-and-deeply-humiliated-the-shame/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“The fundamental basis by which the court’s decision might be made is, in itself, imperfect and subject to contradictions. There is very little consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-fundamental-basis-by-which-the-court-s-decision-might-be-made-is/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“In my mind, I could sense their roots under the soil, creeping in helical tangles of ever-increasing complexity outward and in all directions—out beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/in-my-mind-i-could-sense-their-roots-under-the-soil-creeping-in/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“These facilities were relatively rustic even for this area of the world. Other inns at least had indoor plumbing and electricity. Most even had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/these-facilities-were-relatively-rustic-even-for-this-area-of-the/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“Perhaps, there is no such person who can be called truly free, but only those who can be deemed so by comparison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/perhaps-there-is-no-such-person-who-can-be-called-truly-free-but-only/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“The arrow of time obscures memory of both past and future circumstance with innumerable fallacies, the least trivial of which is perception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-arrow-of-time-obscures-memory-of-both-past-and-future/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“Innumerable arcs intersect and scatter into a vast indefinite sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/innumerable-arcs-intersect-and-scatter-into-a-vast-indefinite-sea/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“It is amazing how dispiriting it can be to enter a learning environment and to be made immediately to suppress your own exploratory inclinations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/it-is-amazing-how-dispiriting-it-can-be-to-enter-a-learning/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“All events of the past withered to mere skeletons, veined and fleshed of fancy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/all-events-of-the-past-withered-to-mere-skeletons-veined-and-fleshed/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“It seemed a ruse that fear of death should be the sole motivation for living and, yet, to quell this fear made the prospect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/it-seemed-a-ruse-that-fear-of-death-should-be-the-sole-motivation-for/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“The temporal heart resonates at whispers From a Truth overarching Of whose countenance Timeless Intellect yearns vainly to fathom”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-temporal-heart-resonates-at-whispers-from-a-truth-overarching-of/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“Was it possible to feel nostalgic about something that had never happened to him, possible for nostalgia to be taken in by the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/was-it-possible-to-feel-nostalgic-about-something-that-had-never/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“Naturally there was the notion of private property as a pragmatic concept, for individuals or groups have a proclivity to tend to their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/naturally-there-was-the-notion-of-private-property-as-a-pragmatic/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“What are the units of ontology really that I should be a part of a whole, but not be, in all my awareness, chiefly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/what-are-the-units-of-ontology-really-that-i-should-be-a-part-of-a/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“I feel as though dispossessed from the semblances of some crystalline reality to which I’d grown accustomed, and to some degree, had engaged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/i-feel-as-though-dispossessed-from-the-semblances-of-some-crystalline/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) [Explore all 50 Ashim Shanker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) ## More Blind faith quotes > [“Richard Dawkins regards faith as an evil to be eliminated; he takes all religious faith to be blind faith. (Dawkins says) ‘Scientific belief is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennox/richard-dawkins-regards-faith-as-an-evil-to-be-eliminated-he-takes/) [John Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennox/) > [Love, like a chicken salad or restaurant hash, must be taken with blind faith or it loses its flavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/love-like-a-chicken-salad-or-restaurant-hash-must-be-taken-with-blind/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) > [“Blind faith is just another word for slavery”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-cogman/blind-faith-is-just-another-word-for-slavery/) [Genevieve Cogman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-cogman/) > [I was brought up in the kind of Catholic situation up until I was about eleven years old, which was that God is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/i-was-brought-up-in-the-kind-of-catholic-situation-up-until-i-was/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [“Pilgrim's Regress (Sonnet 2324) Mirage mistaken as message, when ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam. Dogma decreed as divine, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-s-regress-sonnet-2324-mirage-mistaken-as-message-when-ethnic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Your blind faith a person has been, it provides the opportunity to take unfair advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/your-blind-faith-a-person-has-been-it-provides-the-opportunity-to/) Mak\_786 > [“When you leave reasoning & start believing than nothing is reasonable & everything is believable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imran-bughio/when-you-leave-reasoning-start-believing-than-nothing-is-reasonable/) Imran Bughio > [Dad was a difference maker. He reached out to people. He took them by the awe and wonder we feel over the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-sagan/dad-was-a-difference-maker-he-reached-out-to-people-he-took-them-by/) [Nick Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-sagan/) > [“When ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-ethnic-cleansing-feels-enlightened-sinai-becomes-septic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Religion is based upon blind faith supported by no evidence. Science is based upon confidence that results from evidence - and that confidence can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/religion-is-based-upon-blind-faith-supported-by-no-evidence-science/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [“Why is it that, for one religion to be true, all other religions have to be false!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/why-is-it-that-for-one-religion-to-be-true-all-other-religions-have/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I rarely accept things on blind faith, especially the orthodoxy of any given practice, or any given practicum. I'm like, "Oh come on. Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucas-neff/i-rarely-accept-things-on-blind-faith-especially-the-orthodoxy-of-any/) [Lucas Neff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucas-neff/) > [“Blind faith isn't always a good thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-graham/blind-faith-isn-t-always-a-good-thing/) [Heather Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-graham/) > [I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-adler/i-suspect-that-most-of-the-individuals-who-have-religious-faith-are/) [Mortimer Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-adler/) > [As scientists you must keep your minds open. There is no use having blind faith in Me, in Sahaja Yoga, in anything because blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-scientists-you-must-keep-your-minds-open-there-is-no-use-having/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) [Browse all 203 Blind faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may be—was, to him, a kind of lifeline for those who sought a quick answer and didn’t want to stick around long enough to see their doubt through to its ultimate conclusion. A conclusion, which, of itself, was a bittersweet paradox—for how could doubt simply cease to exist by any stretch of the imagination? 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