--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I glanced at my watch - it was two…" description: "\"“I glanced at my watch - it was two minutes to eleven; just right for lunch when and if we ever got to the godforsaken lodge - and took some comfort fr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7c/bill-bryson-340_confusion_i-glanced-at-my-watch-it-was-two-minutes_1123952.jpg" --- # I glanced at my watch - it was two minutes to eleven; just… ![“I glanced at my watch - it was two minutes to eleven; just right for lunch when and if we ever got to the godforsaken lodge - and took some comfort from the thought that at least I still had my wits about me. Or at least I felt as if I did. Presumably, a confused person would be too addled to…” quote by Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7c/bill-bryson-340_confusion_i-glanced-at-my-watch-it-was-two-minutes_1123952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7c/bill-bryson-340_confusion_i-glanced-at-my-watch-it-was-two-minutes_1123952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7c/bill-bryson-340_confusion_i-glanced-at-my-watch-it-was-two-minutes_1123952.jpg) > ““I glanced at my watch - it was two minutes to eleven; just right for lunch when and if we ever got to the godforsaken lodge - and took some comfort from the thought that at least I still had my wits about me. Or at least I felt as if I did. Presumably, a confused person would be too addled to recognize that he was confused. Ergo, if you know that you are not confused then you are not confused. Unless, it suddenly occurred to me - and here was an arresting notion - unless persuading yourself that you are not confused is merely a cruel, early symptom of confusion. Or even an advanced symptom. Who could tell? For all I knew I could be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state characterized by the fear on the part of the sufferer that he may be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state. That's the trouble with losing your mind; by the time it's gone, it's too late to get it back.”” [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator doubts his own mental clarity, questioning whether self‑assurance is itself a sign of confusion. **In simple terms:** Self‑doubt can mask itself as confidence. Key Takeaway Question your certainty. Themes self‑awareness confidence confusion Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - decision making Key Concepts metacognition self‑deception Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever reassure yourself to avoid confronting uncertainty? - How can you tell genuine clarity from self‑delusion? A Different Perspective Confidence may be a symptom of the very problem it denies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [That's the trouble with losing your mind; by the time it's gone, it's too late to get it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/that-s-the-trouble-with-losing-your-mind-by-the-time-it-s-gone-it-s/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“See, the human mind is kind of like...a pinata. When it breaks open, there's a lot of surprises inside. Once you get the pinata…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wagner/see-the-human-mind-is-kind-of-like-a-pinata-when-it-breaks-open-there/) [Jane Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wagner/) > [“I'm losing my mind, trying to find the right line I'm running out of time how could you not know I care? I'm losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kruthika-swaminathan/i-m-losing-my-mind-trying-to-find-the-right-line-i-m-running-out-of/) [Kruthika Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kruthika-swaminathan/) > [“Friends and family came and went, sometimes helping her with her tears, other times making her laugh. But even in her laughter there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecilia-ahern/friends-and-family-came-and-went-sometimes-helping-her-with-her-tears/) [Cecilia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecilia-ahern/) > [I've been losing my mind and you don't even notice. You don't even care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn/i-ve-been-losing-my-mind-and-you-don-t-even-notice-you-don-t-even-care/) [Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn/) > [Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind. Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/papa-roach/cause-i-m-losing-my-sight-losing-my-mind-wish-somebody-would-tell-me/) [Papa Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/papa-roach/) > [“Does wanting to die equal losing your mind?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/does-wanting-to-die-equal-losing-your-mind/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [“He looks away. And he smiles. Its the kind of smile that makes me forget how to do everything but blink and blink and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/he-looks-away-and-he-smiles-its-the-kind-of-smile-that-makes-me/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [You gotta be rich to be insane, Hol. Losing your mind is not a luxury for the middle class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/you-gotta-be-rich-to-be-insane-hol-losing-your-mind-is-not-a-luxury/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [“He loved Jaime. He loved him so much sometimes he thought he must certainly be losing his mind. It was hard to believe his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-sexton/he-loved-jaime-he-loved-him-so-much-sometimes-he-thought-he-must/) [Marie Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-sexton/) > [“Are you losing your mind? You tell me. I can’t. Why? Because I am you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/are-you-losing-your-mind-you-tell-me-i-can-t-why-because-i-am-you/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“...either I’m losing my mind, or I saw mermaids." --Alec Costner, The Mermaid Coast”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-woolcott/either-i-m-losing-my-mind-or-i-saw-mermaids-alec-costner-the-mermaid/) Robert Woolcott > [If I'm in a city for too long, I feel like I'm losing my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benson-boone/if-i-m-in-a-city-for-too-long-i-feel-like-i-m-losing-my-mind/) [Benson Boone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benson-boone/) > [All that I remember is I'm still in love with you, and if I'm losing my mind, I hope you are too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-aldean/all-that-i-remember-is-i-m-still-in-love-with-you-and-if-i-m-losing/) [Jason Aldean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-aldean/) > [I wonder how long it would take him to realize I'm right as sin - it's the rest of the world that's wrong. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/i-wonder-how-long-it-would-take-him-to-realize-i-m-right-as-sin-it-s/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. 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For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Explore all 656 Bill Bryson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## More Confusion quotes > [The fog of illusion, the fog of confusion is hanging all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/the-fog-of-illusion-the-fog-of-confusion-is-hanging-all-over-the-world/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I believe confusion is good. Worldwide market leaders gain when there is confusion in the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhash-chandra/i-believe-confusion-is-good-worldwide-market-leaders-gain-when-there/) [Subhash Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhash-chandra/) > [Being actors we are dealing with the beauty and complexity of human confusion, no? And we are always trying to get answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/being-actors-we-are-dealing-with-the-beauty-and-complexity-of-human/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) > [“Wait, seriously, what's a piss pot?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-shand/wait-seriously-what-s-a-piss-pot/) [Pat Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-shand/) > [I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-there-s-confusion-around-what-the-point-of-social-networks-is/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/love-is-doing-what-will-enthrall-the-beloved-with-the-greatest-and/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [That feeling you get when you know you are forgetting something, but you don't know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-know-you-are-forgetting-something-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [But, when it comes to global warming, the public- at-large really doesn't know whom to believe anymore. And NASA has contributed to that confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cunningham/but-when-it-comes-to-global-warming-the-public-at-large-really-doesn/) [Walter Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cunningham/) > [You know your in LOVE,because,for once.. You know reality is better than your DREAMS..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-your-in-love-because-for-once-you-know-reality-is-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In these days of faith-cures, and hypnotism, and telepathy, and subliminalities – why, the simple old world grows very confusing. But rarely, very rarely novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/in-these-days-of-faith-cures-and-hypnotism-and-telepathy-and/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [“If you want nothing to do with god then why do you say his name all the time”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-reimer/if-you-want-nothing-to-do-with-god-then-why-do-you-say-his-name-all/) Emily Reimer [Browse all 1,822 Confusion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I glanced at my watch - it was two minutes to eleven; just right for lunch when and if we ever got to the godforsaken lodge - and took some comfort from the thought that at least I still had my wits about me. Or at least I felt as if I did. Presumably, a confused person would be too addled to recognize that he was confused. Ergo, if you know that you are not confused then you are not confused. Unless, it suddenly occurred to me - and here was an arresting notion - unless persuading yourself that you are not confused is merely a cruel, early symptom of confusion. Or even an advanced symptom. Who could tell? For all I knew I could be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state characterized by the fear on the part of the sufferer that he may be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state. 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