--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A problem thoroughly understood is always…" description: "\"A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple. Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true.\" — Ch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/charles-kettering-5294_facts_a-problem-thoroughly-understood-is-alway_2591091.png" --- # A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple… ![“A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple. Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true.” quote by Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/charles-kettering-5294_facts_a-problem-thoroughly-understood-is-alway_2591091.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/charles-kettering-5294_facts_a-problem-thoroughly-understood-is-alway_2591091.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/charles-kettering-5294_facts_a-problem-thoroughly-understood-is-alway_2591091.png) > “A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple. Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true.” [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding a problem fully simplifies its solution; base opinions on facts rather than biases. **In simple terms:** Clear understanding leads to simple solutions. Key Takeaway Seek factual clarity before acting. Themes logic problem solving critical thinking Mood analytical pragmatic Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - research methodology - decision making - scientific inquiry Key Concepts bias awareness fact checking Questions to Reflect On - What facts do you need? - How do you guard against bias? A Different Perspective Complex problems may resist simple fixes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [I have no race prejudices, and I think I have no color prejudices or caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. Indeed I know it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-no-race-prejudices-and-i-think-i-have-no-color-prejudices-or/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Reputations are shaped not by facts but by prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mertz/reputations-are-shaped-not-by-facts-but-by-prejudices/) [Barbara Mertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mertz/) > [“The last major risk to getting good facts is our own prejudices. While we may not always test a solution based on our opinions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-greene/the-last-major-risk-to-getting-good-facts-is-our-own-prejudices-while/) [Nat Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-greene/) > [“At first, I always make it a point to give in to the prejudices of society. That is how I have always been so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrs-oliphant/at-first-i-always-make-it-a-point-to-give-in-to-the-prejudices-of/) [Mrs. Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrs-oliphant/) > [Every day we all make mistakes ourselves, but, and we all sometimes have some...harbor some prejudices and all, but we have to know in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-simmons/every-day-we-all-make-mistakes-ourselves-but-and-we-all-sometimes/) [Russell Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-simmons/) > [“I am quite sure ... I have no race prejudice, and I think I have no color prejudices, nor caste prejudices. Indeed, I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-quite-sure-i-have-no-race-prejudice-and-i-think-i-have-no-color/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Most things are beyond me," Block said. "I ain't found anything yet that I thoroughly understood,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/most-things-are-beyond-me-block-said-i-ain-t-found-anything-yet-that/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everybody had to be thoroughly understood before being accepted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/everybody-had-to-be-thoroughly-understood-before-being-accepted/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [A multitude of aspects of the natural world that were considered miraculous only a few generations ago are now thoroughly understood in terms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-multitude-of-aspects-of-the-natural-world-that-were-considered/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [It must be thoroughly understood that war is a necessity, and that the more readily we accept it,the less will be the ardor of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-must-be-thoroughly-understood-that-war-is-a-necessity-and-that-the/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [We nearly always make ourselves masters of those whom we know well, because he who is thoroughly understood is in some sense subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-de-souvre-marquise-de-sable/we-nearly-always-make-ourselves-masters-of-those-whom-we-know-well/) [Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-de-souvre-marquise-de-sable/) > [“We are His children, and if we ever got that through our heads thoroughly, understood that completely, we would never do a small thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-pay-hinckley/we-are-his-children-and-if-we-ever-got-that-through-our-heads/) [Marjorie Pay Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-pay-hinckley/) > [One cannot refute what one has not thoroughly understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/one-cannot-refute-what-one-has-not-thoroughly-understood/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [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/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) ## More by Charles Kettering > [Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/research-is-an-organized-method-of-trying-to-find-out-what-you-are/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [The sure ways to create new ventures of discovery are to keep an open mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/the-sure-ways-to-create-new-ventures-of-discovery-are-to-keep-an-open/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If a fellow wants to be nobody in the business world, let him neglect sending the mailman to somebody on his behalf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-a-fellow-wants-to-be-nobody-in-the-business-world-let-him-neglect/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/every-time-you-tear-a-leaf-off-a-calendar-you-present-a-new-place-for/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Great steps in human progress are made by things that don't work the way philosophy thought they should. If things always worked the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/great-steps-in-human-progress-are-made-by-things-that-don-t-work-the/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Education is man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/education-is-man-s-going-forward-from-cocksure-ignorance-to/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [you must take the problem as it is, and let it be what it wants to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/you-must-take-the-problem-as-it-is-and-let-it-be-what-it-wants-to-be/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [It is man's destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a byproduct of his wonderment, to create a new life on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/it-is-man-s-destiny-to-ponder-on-the-riddle-of-existence-and-as-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [We must look forward to the future as that is where most of us will be spending the rest of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/we-must-look-forward-to-the-future-as-that-is-where-most-of-us-will/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-is-a-great-difference-between-knowing-and-understanding-you-can/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If I want to stop a research program I can always do it by getting a few experts to sit in on the subject,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-i-want-to-stop-a-research-program-i-can-always-do-it-by-getting-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There will always be a frontier where there is an open mind and a willing hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-will-always-be-a-frontier-where-there-is-an-open-mind-and-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Obsolescence is a factor which says that the new thing I bring you is worth more than the unused value of the old thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/obsolescence-is-a-factor-which-says-that-the-new-thing-i-bring-you-is/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/nothing-ever-built-arose-to-touch-the-skies-unless-some-man-dreamed/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [What I believe is that, by proper effort, we make the future almost anything we want to make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/what-i-believe-is-that-by-proper-effort-we-make-the-future-almost/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) [Explore all 102 Charles Kettering quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## More Facts quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [He bombarded me with words, of all things, apparently clueless to the fact that the predawn hours rendered me incapable of coherent thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/he-bombarded-me-with-words-of-all-things-apparently-clueless-to-the/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [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/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. You can save face but you won't ever save your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/because-the-truth-is-that-gossip-is-as-good-as-gospel-in-this-town/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [We did an episode where she goes out to get a job and she gets fired because she's not good. They hire a babysitter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-heaton/we-did-an-episode-where-she-goes-out-to-get-a-job-and-she-gets-fired/) [Patricia Heaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-heaton/) > [Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. The biologist passes, the frog remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/le-biologiste-passe-la-grenouille-reste-the-biologist-passes-the-frog/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) [Browse all 19,906 Facts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A problem thoroughly understood is always fairly simple. 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