--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It occurred to me that I was suffering…" description: "\"“It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness of contradictions: the only pleasure that remains once you've decided you know better than t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/chris-kraus-11419_quote_it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-suffering-f_1056373.jpg" --- # It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness… ![“It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness of contradictions: the only pleasure that remains once you've decided you know better than the world. Accepting contradictions means not believing any more in the primacy of "true feeling." Everything is true and simultaneously. It's why I…” quote by Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/chris-kraus-11419_quote_it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-suffering-f_1056373.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/chris-kraus-11419_quote_it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-suffering-f_1056373.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/chris-kraus-11419_quote_it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-suffering-f_1056373.jpg) > ““It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness of contradictions: the only pleasure that remains once you've decided you know better than the world. Accepting contradictions means not believing any more in the primacy of "true feeling." Everything is true and simultaneously. It's why I hate Sam Shepard and all your True West stuff - it's like analysis, as if the riddle could be solved by digging up the buried child.”” [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explores how embracing paradoxes dissolves the need for a single, authoritative truth, revealing that multiple, conflicting truths can coexist simultaneously. **In simple terms:** Accepting contradictions shows many truths can exist at once. Key Takeaway Embrace ambiguity; avoid seeking single truth. Themes paradox truth contradiction literature self‑reflection Mood conflicted introspective critical Type philosophical literary reflective When to use this quote - creative writing - critical analysis - personal growth - art criticism Key Concepts postmodernism existentialism relativism Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate choices when multiple truths conflict? - Can embracing ambiguity improve creativity? A Different Perspective The insight may lead to paralysis when too many possibilities overwhelm decision‑making. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting Contradictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting-contradictions-2555422/) [Contradictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictions/) [Contradictions Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictions-means-2555423/) [Contradictions Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictions-pleasure-2555425/) [Dizziness Contradictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dizziness-contradictions-2555424/) ## Related quotes > [:)So Micayla didn't quite understand the meaning of the word paradox, so like most things I struggle to understand or make sense of I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micayla-ludick-basson/so-micayla-didn-t-quite-understand-the-meaning-of-the-word-paradox-so/) [Micayla Ludick Basson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micayla-ludick-basson/) > [“One of the things about Ike that makes him so indisputably a hero is that he doesn't leave his own contradictions to the effete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/one-of-the-things-about-ike-that-makes-him-so-indisputably-a-hero-is/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [Songwriters such as Alanis Morissette write about the constant balance of contradictions, and that's something I adhere to in my life and work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-bird/songwriters-such-as-alanis-morissette-write-about-the-constant/) [Jade Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-bird/) > [“A true god surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-true-god-surely-cannot-have-been-born-of-a-girl-nor-died-on-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [There is, in short, no 'spatial fix' that can contain the contradictions of capitalism in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/there-is-in-short-no-spatial-fix-that-can-contain-the-contradictions/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“ If "If freckles were lovely, and day was night, And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie, Life would be delight,--…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/if-if-freckles-were-lovely-and-day-was-night-and-measles-were-nice/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [We crave support in vanity, as we do in religion, and never forgive contradictions in that sphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-crave-support-in-vanity-as-we-do-in-religion-and-never-forgive/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-spend-a-great-deal-of-time-on-research-on-finding-all-the-available/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [We both wondered whether these contradictions that one can't avoid if one begins to think of time and space may not really be proofs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-machen/we-both-wondered-whether-these-contradictions-that-one-can-t-avoid-if/) [Arthur Machen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-machen/) > [“Seemed she should learn to smile when she was unhappy, to stop laughing, to speak up, to never speak to strangers, to share guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/seemed-she-should-learn-to-smile-when-she-was-unhappy-to-stop/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [I've realized that life is indeed full of contradictions. Sometimes its crazy to be sane.You need to fall to fly. People suffer because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-realized-that-life-is-indeed-full-of-contradictions-sometimes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When an individual does not become conscious of their inner contradictions, the world acts out the conflict and is torn in opposite halves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/when-an-individual-does-not-become-conscious-of-their-inner/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## More by Chris Kraus > [Why does everybody think that women are debasing themselves when we expose the conditions of our debasement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-does-everybody-think-that-women-are-debasing-themselves-when-we/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Because I'm moved in writing to be irrepressible. Writing to you seems like some holy cause, cause there's not enough female irrepressibility written down.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/because-i-m-moved-in-writing-to-be-irrepressible-writing-to-you-seems/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Back to the 1st Person: I'd even made up art theories about my inability to use it. That I'd chosen film and theater, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/back-to-the-1st-person-i-d-even-made-up-art-theories-about-my/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“We're touched by the nostalgia, seeing Walter at the center of our extended European family but our smarter selves find greater satisfaction knowing history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/we-re-touched-by-the-nostalgia-seeing-walter-at-the-center-of-our/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Why do people think that we’re degraded when we’re examining positions of degradation, or examining the cycle of our own degradation?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-do-people-think-that-we-re-degraded-when-we-re-examining/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Jerome doesn't have a clue. He in fact avoids the poets, with their petty feuds and righteous poverty. 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Why do women always have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-does-everybody-think-that-women-are-debasing-themselves-when-we-2/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“What's the matter?" you asked, seizing an idea. "Did I burst your balloon - destroy the fantasy?" I struggled for a way to answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/what-s-the-matter-you-asked-seizing-an-idea-did-i-burst-your-balloon/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [No one...can live in this heightened state of reflective receptivity forever. Because this empathy's involuntary, there's terror here. Loss of control, a seepage. Becoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/no-one-can-live-in-this-heightened-state-of-reflective-receptivity/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Isn't the greatest freedom in the world the freedom to be wrong? What hooks me on our story is our different readings of it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/isn-t-the-greatest-freedom-in-the-world-the-freedom-to-be-wrong-what/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“But since Catt was more realist than fabulist, she understood her actual death at the hands of her killer would be something much slower.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/but-since-catt-was-more-realist-than-fabulist-she-understood-her/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Female monsters take things as personally as they really are. They study facts. Even if rejection makes them feel like the girl who's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/female-monsters-take-things-as-personally-as-they-really-are-they/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Desire isn't lack, it's surplus energy - a claustrophobia inside your skin -.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/desire-isn-t-lack-it-s-surplus-energy-a-claustrophobia-inside-your/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) [Explore all 60 Chris Kraus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) ## More Contradictions quotes > [:)So Micayla didn't quite understand the meaning of the word paradox, so like most things I struggle to understand or make sense of I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micayla-ludick-basson/so-micayla-didn-t-quite-understand-the-meaning-of-the-word-paradox-so/) [Micayla Ludick Basson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micayla-ludick-basson/) > [I've realized that life is indeed full of contradictions. Sometimes its crazy to be sane.You need to fall to fly. People suffer because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-realized-that-life-is-indeed-full-of-contradictions-sometimes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [“Seemed she should learn to smile when she was unhappy, to stop laughing, to speak up, to never speak to strangers, to share guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/seemed-she-should-learn-to-smile-when-she-was-unhappy-to-stop/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [We both wondered whether these contradictions that one can't avoid if one begins to think of time and space may not really be proofs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-machen/we-both-wondered-whether-these-contradictions-that-one-can-t-avoid-if/) [Arthur Machen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-machen/) > [I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-spend-a-great-deal-of-time-on-research-on-finding-all-the-available/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [We crave support in vanity, as we do in religion, and never forgive contradictions in that sphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-crave-support-in-vanity-as-we-do-in-religion-and-never-forgive/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“ If "If freckles were lovely, and day was night, And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie, Life would be delight,--…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/if-if-freckles-were-lovely-and-day-was-night-and-measles-were-nice/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [There is, in short, no 'spatial fix' that can contain the contradictions of capitalism in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/there-is-in-short-no-spatial-fix-that-can-contain-the-contradictions/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“A true god surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-true-god-surely-cannot-have-been-born-of-a-girl-nor-died-on-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Songwriters such as Alanis Morissette write about the constant balance of contradictions, and that's something I adhere to in my life and work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-bird/songwriters-such-as-alanis-morissette-write-about-the-constant/) [Jade Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-bird/) > [“One of the things about Ike that makes him so indisputably a hero is that he doesn't leave his own contradictions to the effete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/one-of-the-things-about-ike-that-makes-him-so-indisputably-a-hero-is/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [When an individual does not become conscious of their inner contradictions, the world acts out the conflict and is torn in opposite halves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/when-an-individual-does-not-become-conscious-of-their-inner/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 348 Contradictions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness of contradictions: the only pleasure that remains once you've decided you know better than the world. 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