--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't know who explained this rule to…" description: "\"“I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was the product of my own speculations and fantasies. That would have been typical: I was always ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/c-sar-aira-16173_creativity_i-don-t-know-who-explained-this-rule-to_1510032.png" --- # I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was… ![“I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was the product of my own speculations and fantasies. That would have been typical: I was always inventing stories and machinations to make sense of things I didn't understand, and I understood almost nothing.” quote by Cesar Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/c-sar-aira-16173_creativity_i-don-t-know-who-explained-this-rule-to_1510032.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/c-sar-aira-16173_creativity_i-don-t-know-who-explained-this-rule-to_1510032.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/c-sar-aira-16173_creativity_i-don-t-know-who-explained-this-rule-to_1510032.png) > ““I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was the product of my own speculations and fantasies. That would have been typical: I was always inventing stories and machinations to make sense of things I didn't understand, and I understood almost nothing.”” [Cesar Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker admits that their understanding may be self‑generated fantasies, speculation, than external instruction, highlighting a habit of constructing narratives to fill gaps in knowledge. **In simple terms:** I often make up explanations myself. Key Takeaway Recognize when you’re inventing explanations. Themes self‑awareness knowledge imagination Mood reflective curious Type philosophical introspective When to use this quote - learning new concepts - research - critical thinking Key Concepts cognitive bias storytelling epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How often do you fill knowledge gaps with stories? - What evidence could replace your speculation? A Different Perspective Reliance on personal speculation can lead to misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [For me, the pleasure of writing comes with inventing stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/for-me-the-pleasure-of-writing-comes-with-inventing-stories/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [It is a skill we learn early, the art of inventing stories to explain away the fearful scared strangeness of the world. Storytelling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kittredge/it-is-a-skill-we-learn-early-the-art-of-inventing-stories-to-explain/) [William Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kittredge/) > [She liked books more than anything else, and was, in fact, always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hodgson-burnett/she-liked-books-more-than-anything-else-and-was-in-fact-always/) [Frances Hodgson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hodgson-burnett/) > [People didn't know who I was or why I was there, so they started inventing stories about me. I was a registered sex offender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/people-didn-t-know-who-i-was-or-why-i-was-there-so-they-started/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I criticize the media for inventing stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-van-gaal/i-criticize-the-media-for-inventing-stories/) [Louis van Gaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-van-gaal/) > [You cannot hinder someone's free will, that's the first law of the Universe, no matter what the decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-cannot-hinder-someone-s-free-will-that-s-the-first-law-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“...you’d be amazed at the grand tales the human brain will throw up to make sense of something nonsensical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianna-hardy/you-d-be-amazed-at-the-grand-tales-the-human-brain-will-throw-up-to/) [Dianna Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianna-hardy/) > [“Discovering the threads that constitute actual interactions is an essential means of making sense of the world. But perception of overall patterns of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-borden/discovering-the-threads-that-constitute-actual-interactions-is-an/) [Richard J. Borden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-borden/) > [“Sometimes life just did things, he felt, and they didn't have to make sense. It helped when they did, and often the sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-p-knave/sometimes-life-just-did-things-he-felt-and-they-didn-t-have-to-make/) [Adam P. Knave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-p-knave/) > [“I'm only a kind of book doctor. I can give books new bindings, rejuvenate them a little, stop the bookworms from eating them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/i-m-only-a-kind-of-book-doctor-i-can-give-books-new-bindings/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [ \[Richard Feynman\] truly believed that if you couldn't explain something simply, you didn't understand it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/richard-feynman-truly-believed-that-if-you-couldn-t-explain-something/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [“When I was young I didn't understand, but now, I know, how absence can be present, like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/when-i-was-young-i-didn-t-understand-but-now-i-know-how-absence-can/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [I went through some tough times because if you're used to having a voice in contemporary culture and all of sudden, you don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-ford/i-went-through-some-tough-times-because-if-you-re-used-to-having-a/) [Tom Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-ford/) > [Even though my parents were famous actors, I honestly felt most of the time that I didn't understand what was going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-astin/even-though-my-parents-were-famous-actors-i-honestly-felt-most-of-the/) [Sean Astin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-astin/) > [I visualized a lot of things happening to me, because I was a lonely kid because I didn't understand anything about school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/i-visualized-a-lot-of-things-happening-to-me-because-i-was-a-lonely/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) ## More by Cesar Aira > [“Each of us is the ultimate expert on the gentleness and understanding we deserve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/each-of-us-is-the-ultimate-expert-on-the-gentleness-and-understanding/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“It is not that I am a genius or exceptionally gifted, not by any means. Quite the contrary. What Happened (I shall try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/it-is-not-that-i-am-a-genius-or-exceptionally-gifted-not-by-any-means/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“A reader of mine is a deluxe reader, not because I’m so great but because in order to get to me you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/a-reader-of-mine-is-a-deluxe-reader-not-because-i-m-so-great-but/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“Each instant was different and new and unrepeatable. That was the very nature of time, ceaselessly realizing itself, in every life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/each-instant-was-different-and-new-and-unrepeatable-that-was-the-very/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“Forgetting is like a great alchemy free of secrets, limpid, transforming everything to the present. In the end it makes our lives into this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/forgetting-is-like-a-great-alchemy-free-of-secrets-limpid/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [Changing the subject is one of the most difficult arts to master, the key to almost all the others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/changing-the-subject-is-one-of-the-most-difficult-arts-to-master-the/) [Cesar Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“Why is it that drama always starts late? Whereas comedy always seems to have started already.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/why-is-it-that-drama-always-starts-late-whereas-comedy-always-seems/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“Were the “pampas,” perhaps, flatter than the land they were crossing? He doubted it; what could be flatter than a horizontal plane?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/were-the-pampas-perhaps-flatter-than-the-land-they-were-crossing-he/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“En suma: si decía que estaba solo, no era más que porque no tenía con quién hablar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/en-suma-si-dec-a-que-estaba-solo-no-era-m-s-que-porque-no-ten-a-con/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“After thirty years working as a commercial fiction translator, I've reached to the conclussion that, on average, the more pages a book has, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/after-thirty-years-working-as-a-commercial-fiction-translator-i-ve/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“Literature is the queen of the arts —the greatest of them all, because it embraces them all. When you write, you are making music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/literature-is-the-queen-of-the-arts-the-greatest-of-them-all-because/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“So familiar that it didn't even register in the conversation; but it did reappear when I laid it out on the table of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/so-familiar-that-it-didn-t-even-register-in-the-conversation-but-it/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“A bird flashed across the empty sky. A cart immobile on the horizon, like a midday star. How could a plain like this be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/a-bird-flashed-across-the-empty-sky-a-cart-immobile-on-the-horizon/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“He couldn’t believe that sleep had robbed him of this spectacle night after night. Such are the writer’s privileges, he thought, nostalgic already for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/he-couldn-t-believe-that-sleep-had-robbed-him-of-this-spectacle-night/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) > [“The true vanguardist is unnaceptable, infamous and illegible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/the-true-vanguardist-is-unnaceptable-infamous-and-illegible/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) [Explore all 31 Cesar Aira quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) ## More Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) Andrei Amalrik > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) Christoph Niemann > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was the product of my own speculations and fantasies. 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