--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is... easy to be certain. One has only…" description: "\"It is... easy to be certain. One has only to be sufficiently vague.\" — Charles Sanders Peirce" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/246/charles-sanders-peirce-5105_certain_it-is-easy-to-be-certain-one-has-only-to_1389291.png" --- # It is... easy to be certain. One has only to be… ![“It is... easy to be certain. One has only to be sufficiently vague.” quote by Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/246/charles-sanders-peirce-5105_certain_it-is-easy-to-be-certain-one-has-only-to_1389291.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/246/charles-sanders-peirce-5105_certain_it-is-easy-to-be-certain-one-has-only-to_1389291.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/246/charles-sanders-peirce-5105_certain_it-is-easy-to-be-certain-one-has-only-to_1389291.png) > “It is... easy to be certain. One has only to be sufficiently vague.” [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Certainty is easy when one remains vague; true knowledge requires precise, clear concepts. **In simple terms:** Vagueness leads to false certainty. Key Takeaway Seek clarity over comfort. Themes certainty clarity philosophy logic Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - academic debate - decision making - scientific research Key Concepts epistemology critical thinking conceptual analysis Questions to Reflect On - When is ambiguity acceptable? - How do you test certainty? A Different Perspective Vagueness can be a useful heuristic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Certain Sufficiently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-sufficiently-4836556/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Easy Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-certain-1726049/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Sufficiently Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufficiently-vague-1069388/) [Uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertain/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) ## Related quotes > [There's also really no way of knowing what Donald Trump is going to do - he's been sufficiently vague in his policy positions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-parker/there-s-also-really-no-way-of-knowing-what-donald-trump-is-going-to/) [Willie Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-parker/) > [I think it can be easy at a certain point to take it for granted that you can kind of perform whatever you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-holmes/i-think-it-can-be-easy-at-a-certain-point-to-take-it-for-granted-that/) [Pete Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-holmes/) > [Most people are searching for a path to success that is both easy and certain. Most paths are neither.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/most-people-are-searching-for-a-path-to-success-that-is-both-easy-and/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Problems are often stated in vague terms... because it is quite uncertain what the problems really are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-von-neumann/problems-are-often-stated-in-vague-terms-because-it-is-quite/) [John von Neumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-von-neumann/) > [Worry is different from fear. If fear is like a raging fever, worry is a low-grade temperature. It nags at us, simmers in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-lawson-sittser/worry-is-different-from-fear-if-fear-is-like-a-raging-fever-worry-is/) [Gerald Lawson Sittser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-lawson-sittser/) > [Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/since-death-is-certain-and-the-time-of-death-is-uncertain-what-is-the/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Remember, life is always uncertain. Everything dead is certain, life is always uncertain. Everything dead is solid, fixed - its nature cannot be changed;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-life-is-always-uncertain-everything-dead-is-certain-life-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The love of God is not something vague or generic; the love of God has a name and a face: Jesus Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-love-of-god-is-not-something-vague-or-generic-the-love-of-god-has/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The camera has an interest in turning history into spectacle, but none in reversing the process. 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It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-am-far-from-any-intention-to-limit-curiosity-or-confine-the-labours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Spiritual activity, education, civilization, culture, the idea are all vague, indefinite concepts, under the banner of which it is quite convenient to use words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/spiritual-activity-education-civilization-culture-the-idea-are-all/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I had a vague memory of the intensity of teenage female relationships; more of a passion than a normal friendship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-moyes/i-had-a-vague-memory-of-the-intensity-of-teenage-female-relationships/) [Jojo Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-moyes/) > [Many early-stage entrepreneurs make one simple mistake: Describing this 'big picture' in vague concepts and words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunil-nagaraj/many-early-stage-entrepreneurs-make-one-simple-mistake-describing/) [Sunil Nagaraj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunil-nagaraj/) ## More by Charles Sanders Peirce > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [It will sometimes strike a scientific man that the philosophers have been less intent on finding out what the facts are, than on inquiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/it-will-sometimes-strike-a-scientific-man-that-the-philosophers-have/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [One will meet, for example, the virtual assumption that what is relative to thought cannot be real. 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I do not see that; though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/looking-out-of-my-window-this-lovely-spring-morning-i-see-an-azalea/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Fate then is that necessity by which a certain result will surely be brought to pass according to the natural course of events however…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/fate-then-is-that-necessity-by-which-a-certain-result-will-surely-be/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [If man were immortal he could be perfectly sure of seeing the day when everything in which he had trusted should betray his trust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-man-were-immortal-he-could-be-perfectly-sure-of-seeing-the-day/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Some think to avoid the influence of metaphysical errors, by paying no attention to metaphysics; but experience shows that these men beyond all others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/some-think-to-avoid-the-influence-of-metaphysical-errors-by-paying-no/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [The percept is the reality. 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It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) [T. H. 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