--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once, probably, I used to think that…" description: "\"“Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of consciousness, and maybe when I started to read ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg" --- # Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a… ![“Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of consciousness, and maybe when I started to read mathematics and science back in the mid-70s I found an unexpected lyricism in the necessarily precise language that scientists tend to use My…” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg) > ““Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of consciousness, and maybe when I started to read mathematics and science back in the mid-70s I found an unexpected lyricism in the necessarily precise language that scientists tend to use My instinct, my superstition is that the closer I see a thing and the more accurately I describe it, the better my chances of arriving at a certain sensuality of expression.”” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He discovers that precise scientific language can be as lyrical as poetry, and that detailed description enhances sensual expression **In simple terms:** Precision can be poetic; detail deepens feeling Key Takeaway Embrace precise description to enrich expression Themes language science poetry expression Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - research - artistic creation - academic study Key Concepts precision lyricism consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How does exactness affect your creative process? - Can detail coexist with mystery? A Different Perspective Precision may limit imaginative freedom or emotional spontaneity ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lyricism Necessarily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lyricism-necessarily-3476414/) [Mathematics and science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics-and-science/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Think Vagueness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-vagueness-3476413/) [Unexpected Lyricism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unexpected-lyricism-3476415/) [Vagueness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagueness/) [Vagueness Loftier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagueness-loftier-3476412/) ## Related quotes > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Mathematics - the unshaken Foundation of Sciences, and the plentiful Fountain of Advantage to human affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/mathematics-the-unshaken-foundation-of-sciences-and-the-plentiful/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/a-mathematician-is-a-blind-man-in-a-dark-room-looking-for-a-black-cat/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and-express-it-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [In mathematics alone each generations adds a new story to the old structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hankel/in-mathematics-alone-each-generations-adds-a-new-story-to-the-old/) [Hermann Hankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hankel/) > [“Non-Euclidean' became a byword for non-absolute knowledge. It also served to illustrate most vividly the gap between mathematics and the natural world. Mathematics was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/non-euclidean-became-a-byword-for-non-absolute-knowledge-it-also/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/mathematics-is-the-only-good-metaphysics/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [In mathematics and science we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy things are not so simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/in-mathematics-and-science-we-solve-our-problems-as-well-as-create/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I am too good for philosophy and not good enough for physics. Mathematics is in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-polya/i-am-too-good-for-philosophy-and-not-good-enough-for-physics/) [George Polya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-polya/) > [Theorems are fun especially when you are the prover, but then the pleasure fades. What keeps us going are the unsolved problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-pomerance/theorems-are-fun-especially-when-you-are-the-prover-but-then-the/) [Carl Pomerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-pomerance/) > [In mathematics and science definition are simple, but bare-bones. Until you get to a problem which you understand it takes hundreds and hundreds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/in-mathematics-and-science-definition-are-simple-but-bare-bones-until/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Where there is matter, there is geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/where-there-is-matter-there-is-geometry/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [My high school, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, showed me that anything is possible and that you're never too young to think big.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-shih/my-high-school-the-illinois-mathematics-and-science-academy-showed-me/) [Clara Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-shih/) > [Geometry is the science of correct reasoning on incorrect figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-polya/geometry-is-the-science-of-correct-reasoning-on-incorrect-figures/) [George Polya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-polya/) ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Explore all 699 Don DeLillo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More Mathematics and science quotes > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [My high school, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, showed me that anything is possible and that you're never too young to think big.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-shih/my-high-school-the-illinois-mathematics-and-science-academy-showed-me/) [Clara Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-shih/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Where there is matter, there is geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/where-there-is-matter-there-is-geometry/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [In mathematics and science definition are simple, but bare-bones. Until you get to a problem which you understand it takes hundreds and hundreds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/in-mathematics-and-science-definition-are-simple-but-bare-bones-until/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Theorems are fun especially when you are the prover, but then the pleasure fades. What keeps us going are the unsolved problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-pomerance/theorems-are-fun-especially-when-you-are-the-prover-but-then-the/) [Carl Pomerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-pomerance/) > [I am too good for philosophy and not good enough for physics. Mathematics is in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-polya/i-am-too-good-for-philosophy-and-not-good-enough-for-physics/) [George Polya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-polya/) > [In mathematics and science we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy things are not so simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/in-mathematics-and-science-we-solve-our-problems-as-well-as-create/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/mathematics-is-the-only-good-metaphysics/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [“Non-Euclidean' became a byword for non-absolute knowledge. It also served to illustrate most vividly the gap between mathematics and the natural world. Mathematics was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/non-euclidean-became-a-byword-for-non-absolute-knowledge-it-also/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [In mathematics alone each generations adds a new story to the old structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hankel/in-mathematics-alone-each-generations-adds-a-new-story-to-the-old/) [Hermann Hankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hankel/) > [When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and-express-it-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/a-mathematician-is-a-blind-man-in-a-dark-room-looking-for-a-black-cat/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Mathematics - the unshaken Foundation of Sciences, and the plentiful Fountain of Advantage to human affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-barrow/mathematics-the-unshaken-foundation-of-sciences-and-the-plentiful/) [Isaac Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-barrow/) > [Geometry is the science of correct reasoning on incorrect figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-polya/geometry-is-the-science-of-correct-reasoning-on-incorrect-figures/) [George Polya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-polya/) [Browse all 56 Mathematics and science quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics-and-science/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of consciousness, and maybe when I started to read mathematics and science back in the mid-70s I found an unexpected lyricism in the necessarily precise language that scientists tend to use My instinct, my superstition is that the closer I see a thing and the more accurately I describe it, the better my chances of arriving at a certain sensuality of expression.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vagueness-was-a-loftier-kind-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mathematics and science" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vagueness-was-a-loftier-kind-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/don-delillo-294_mathematics-and-scie_once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vague_383748.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once, probably, I used to think that vagueness was a loftier kind of poetry, truer to the depths of…” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Don DeLillo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Once, probably, I used to think...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vagueness-was-a-loftier-kind-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-probably-i-used-to-think-that-vagueness-was-a-loftier-kind-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```