--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Truth is merely common sense, say the…" description: "\"Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist. Really? Then where, precisely, is the location of--a rainbow? In the air? In the eye? In between? ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png" --- # Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist… ![“Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist. Really? Then where, precisely, is the location of--a rainbow? In the air? In the eye? In between? Or somewhere else?” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png) > “Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist. Really? Then where, precisely, is the location of--a rainbow? In the air? In the eye? In between? Or somewhere else?” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Common sense is insufficient to explain phenomena that defy ordinary perception. **In simple terms:** Common sense fails for mysteries. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty. Themes truth common sense perception Mood curious reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - scientific inquiry - artistic creation - personal belief Key Concepts philosophy epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What does the rainbow symbolize for you? - How do you handle ambiguous truths? A Different Perspective Overreliance on common sense may limit curiosity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbow/) [Rainbows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbows/) [Realist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realist/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [A writer who says that there are no truths, or that all truth is ‘merely relative,’ is asking you not to believe him. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/a-writer-who-says-that-there-are-no-truths-or-that-all-truth-is/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“When we are asked to swear in American courts of law—that we will tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”—we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-we-are-asked-to-swear-in-american-courts-of-law-that-we-will/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. Nor is truth necessarily to be regarded with suspicion because it is ancient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/truth-is-not-truth-merely-because-it-is-ancient-nor-is-truth/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Do not seek after truth. Merely cease to hold opinions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/do-not-seek-after-truth-merely-cease-to-hold-opinions/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [It is not our task to secure the triumph of truth, but merely to fight on its behalf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/it-is-not-our-task-to-secure-the-triumph-of-truth-but-merely-to-fight/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/a-truth-that-is-merely-handed-on-without-being-thought-anew-from-its/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The will to truth is merely the longing for a stable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-will-to-truth-is-merely-the-longing-for-a-stable-world/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If you want the truth rather than merely something to say, you will have a good deal less to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/if-you-want-the-truth-rather-than-merely-something-to-say-you-will/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Truth is not merely what we are thinking, but also why, to whom and under what circumstances we say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/truth-is-not-merely-what-we-are-thinking-but-also-why-to-whom-and/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“If you try to talk about a truth that’s merely moral, people always think it’s merely metaphorical. A real live man with two legs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton-2/if-you-try-to-talk-about-a-truth-that-s-merely-moral-people-always/) [G. K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton-2/) > [An optimist is neither naive, nor blind to the facts, nor in denial of grim reality. An optimist believes in the optimal usage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/an-optimist-is-neither-naive-nor-blind-to-the-facts-nor-in-denial-of/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-intelligent-investor-is-a-realist-who-sells-to-optimists-and-buys/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Being a moral realist I see normative ethics as a search of the truth about our obligations and a search of explanation; the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/being-a-moral-realist-i-see-normative-ethics-as-a-search-of-the-truth/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [It always felt like I had to be a realist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-tatum/it-always-felt-like-i-had-to-be-a-realist/) [Jack Tatum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-tatum/) > [Golf is not, on the whole, a game for realists. By its exactitudes of measurements it invites the attention of perfectionists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heywood-hale-broun/golf-is-not-on-the-whole-a-game-for-realists-by-its-exactitudes-of/) Heywood Hale Broun ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [There was a little nook on Air Force Two that contained the vice presidential seal, and I would sort of wedge myself in there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/there-was-a-little-nook-on-air-force-two-that-contained-the-vice/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/) [Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist. Really? Then where, precisely, is the location of--a rainbow? In the air? In the eye? In between? Or somewhere else?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-naive-realist-really-then-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Air" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-naive-realist-really-then-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/edward-abbey-254_air_truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-nai_1507827.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Truth is merely common sense, say the naive realist. Really? Then where, precisely, is the location of--a…” — Edward Abbey", "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": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Truth is merely common sense, say...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-naive-realist-really-then-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/truth-is-merely-common-sense-say-the-naive-realist-really-then-where/#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 } } ] } ```