--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the…" description: "\"Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the uncritical mind for what it imagines to be certainty or finality impels it to feast upon shadows in the preva..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/eric-temple-bell-26465_certainty_nevertheless-the-consuming-hunger-of-the_2441654.png" --- # Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the uncritical mind… ![“Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the uncritical mind for what it imagines to be certainty or finality impels it to feast upon shadows in the prevailing famine of substance.” quote by Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/eric-temple-bell-26465_certainty_nevertheless-the-consuming-hunger-of-the_2441654.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/eric-temple-bell-26465_certainty_nevertheless-the-consuming-hunger-of-the_2441654.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/eric-temple-bell-26465_certainty_nevertheless-the-consuming-hunger-of-the_2441654.png) > “Nevertheless, the consuming hunger of the uncritical mind for what it imagines to be certainty or finality impels it to feast upon shadows in the prevailing famine of substance.” [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind craves certainty, so it clings to empty ideas when true substance is lacking. **In simple terms:** People seek certainty and grasp at emptiness. Key Takeaway Question assumptions and seek evidence. Themes certainty mindset knowledge illusion Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic research - personal decision making - media consumption - political debate Key Concepts epistemology psychology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs do you hold without evidence? - How can you tolerate uncertainty? A Different Perspective The desire for certainty can also motivate rigorous inquiry when balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Consuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consuming/) [Consuming Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consuming-hunger-492704/) [Famine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/famine/) [Finality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finality/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Hunger Uncritical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger-uncritical-492705/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nevertheless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nevertheless/) [Prevailing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevailing/) [Prevailing Famine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevailing-famine-492706/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Substance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance/) ## Related quotes > [We are here among you as seekers of refuge from our present-your future-a time of worldwide famine, exhausted fuel supplies, terminal poverty-the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/we-are-here-among-you-as-seekers-of-refuge-from-our-present-your/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“I ask you again / You who watch / How can there ever be any ending but this? 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Meditating on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/that-which-rises-and-sinks-is-made-up-of-what-it-rises-from-the/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-nearer-a-conception-comes-towards-finality-the-nearer-does-the/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Science is not a system of certain, or -established, statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances towards a state of finality... And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) ## More by Eric Temple Bell > [The full impact of the Lobachevskian method of challenging axioms has probably yet to be felt. It is no exaggeration to call Lobachevsky the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/the-full-impact-of-the-lobachevskian-method-of-challenging-axioms-has/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [Wherever groups disclosed themselves, or could be introduced, simplicity crystallized out of comparative chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/wherever-groups-disclosed-themselves-or-could-be-introduced/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [Even stranger things have happened; and perhaps the strangest of all is the marvel that mathematics should be possible to a race akin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/even-stranger-things-have-happened-and-perhaps-the-strangest-of-all/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [ \[As a young teenager\] Galois read \[Legendre's\] geometry from cover to cover as easily as other boys read a pirate yarn. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/as-a-young-teenager-galois-read-legendre-s-geometry-from-cover-to/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [ Poincaré \[was\] the last man to take practically all mathematics, pure and applied, as his province. ... 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We have in mind business and commerce, war,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/a-number-of-aspects-of-mathematics-are-not-much-talked-about-in/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [The only royal road to elementary geometry is ingenuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/the-only-royal-road-to-elementary-geometry-is-ingenuity/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [The Handmaiden of the Sciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/the-handmaiden-of-the-sciences/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) [Explore all 21 Eric Temple Bell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) ## More Certainty quotes > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As a businessman, I know that businesses need certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/as-a-businessman-i-know-that-businesses-need-certainty/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-is-suggested-that-in-domestic-violence-at-least-the-presence-or/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [Every single person who is a member of our party deserves to have certainty. They deserve to know that my attention and focus is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annamie-paul/every-single-person-who-is-a-member-of-our-party-deserves-to-have/) [Annamie Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annamie-paul/) > [The significance and volume of repairs that are needed across the country demand that we give state and local governments the long-term certainty they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-graves/the-significance-and-volume-of-repairs-that-are-needed-across-the/) [Sam Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-graves/) > [“Death is the one great certainty in life. That’s what my dad used to say. Nothing else is certain. Not love. Not happiness. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mila-gray/death-is-the-one-great-certainty-in-life-that-s-what-my-dad-used-to/) [Mila Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mila-gray/) > [ \[I\]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-at-certainty-without-doubt-and/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the formation of expectations. 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