Certainty Quote by Charles D'Ambrosio
“I suppose I like certainty as much as anyone else, but I also feel that the hidden costs are high, that we pay a heavy price for our convictions. This is a human issue as well as a writing issue - at least in the personal essay as I practice it. Any real essayist knows that certainty is an editorial decision, arrived at not through conviction but through suppression, the denial of a whole range of possibilities, of alternatives that we jettison, sometimes necessarily, in order to steady the ship.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: "On Certainty", 2018
Certainty is a deliberate editorial choice, suppressing alternatives, and carries hidden costs.
In simple terms: Choosing certainty hides other possibilities and costs.
Key Takeaway
Balance conviction with openness.
Themes
certainty
writing
decision‑making
Mood
analytical
thoughtful
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- academic writing
- policy drafting
- personal journaling
- creative planning
Key Concepts
editorial bias
cognitive rigidity
Questions to Reflect On
- When have you suppressed alternatives?
- What costs have you paid for certainty?
A Different Perspective
Over‑reliance on certainty can stifle innovation.
![“[I]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics, in so far as disposed through it we are able to reach certainty in other sciences and truth by the exclusion of error.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d13/roger-bacon-15067_able_i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-a_24209.jpg)