--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know, sir, this operation is not, in…" description: "\"“You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a hundred percent predictable?\" \"Well, I'm an optimist.\" \"I didn't know there were any more such a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png" --- # You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a… ![“You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a hundred percent predictable?" "Well, I'm an optimist." "I didn't know there were any more such animals," said Dr. Courtland. "Never think you've seen the last of anything,” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png) > ““You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a hundred percent predictable?" "Well, I'm an optimist." "I didn't know there were any more such animals," said Dr. Courtland. "Never think you've seen the last of anything,”” [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unpredictability is inherent; optimism persists despite uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Life is unpredictable; stay optimistic. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty with optimism. Themes uncertainty optimism adaptation Mood hopeful cautious Type advice reflective When to use this quote - business planning - personal resilience - creative projects Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance optimism and caution? - When is optimism harmful? A Different Perspective Optimism may ignore real risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist/) ## Related quotes > [“He was, in his heart, an optimist, and he didn’t try to hide it. And I admired him for it. I was too sarcastic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-forrest/he-was-in-his-heart-an-optimist-and-he-didn-t-try-to-hide-it-and-i/) [Bella Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-forrest/) > [Pessimist: The optimist who didn't arrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/pessimist-the-optimist-who-didn-t-arrive/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Dizziness?" "No." "Nausea? Vomiting? Diarrhea?" "No, no, and yuck," I said. "Dr. G, can I please be excused?" "Not yet. How many fingers am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-white/dizziness-no-nausea-vomiting-diarrhea-no-no-and-yuck-i-said-dr-g-can/) [Cecily White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-white/) > [The others can’t see me,” said the little ghost. “I know,” I said. “My name’s Gwyneth. What’s yours?” “Dr. White to you,” said Dr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerstin-gier/the-others-can-t-see-me-said-the-little-ghost-i-know-i-said-my-name-s/) [Kerstin Gier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerstin-gier/) > [“And sometimes, even though Dad said Dr. Snow was the best psychologist in the city and a very famous man, Jess thought there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-clarke/and-sometimes-even-though-dad-said-dr-snow-was-the-best-psychologist/) Judith Clarke > [“I made my voice firm and warm and gentle, and said, “Dr. Volescu, it’s gonna be fine, okay? But you need to get up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-wells/i-made-my-voice-firm-and-warm-and-gentle-and-said-dr-volescu-it-s/) [Martha Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-wells/) > [“What's all this about sin, eh?' 'That,' I said, very sick. 'Using Ludwig van like that. He did no harm to anyone. Beethoven just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/what-s-all-this-about-sin-eh-that-i-said-very-sick-using-ludwig-van/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“Boo-hoo," said Dr Abbey. "Let me know when you people want to grow a pair and join the scientific community. We're looking for answers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/boo-hoo-said-dr-abbey-let-me-know-when-you-people-want-to-grow-a-pair/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Dr. Blockhead's mocking face was solemn for once. 'Modern science is wiping out deviant strains of the human form,' he said. 'In the twenty-first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-martin/dr-blockhead-s-mocking-face-was-solemn-for-once-modern-science-is/) [Les Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-martin/) > [“Paul shrugged. “Then she said a good ruler has to learn his world’s language, that it’s different for every world. And I thought she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/paul-shrugged-then-she-said-a-good-ruler-has-to-learn-his-world-s/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Angel is right,"said Dr. G-H quickly. "This is my clumsy way of demonstrating." "Demonstrating what?" I was barely able to keep a snarl out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/angel-is-right-said-dr-g-h-quickly-this-is-my-clumsy-way-of/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“Dr. Hoenikker used to say that any scientist who couldn't explain to an eight-year-old what he was doing was a charlatan. - Said by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/dr-hoenikker-used-to-say-that-any-scientist-who-couldn-t-explain-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Dr. Harrison,” Said Dr. Miller. “To claim the right to operate genetic changes in living creatures supposes the possession of the wisdom and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdelouahab-hammoudi/dr-harrison-said-dr-miller-to-claim-the-right-to-operate-genetic/) Abdelouahab Hammoudi > [“Not everything we do in life can be studied in a randomized trial powered to find a scientifically valid answer one way or another,’’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/not-everything-we-do-in-life-can-be-studied-in-a-randomized-trial/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But what should I do?' Varun was saying. 'I'm not good for anything.' 'Write a book! Pull a rickshaw! Live! Don't make excuses,' said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-seth/but-what-should-i-do-varun-was-saying-i-m-not-good-for-anything-write/) [Vikram Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-seth/) ## More by Eudora Welty > [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) [Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a hundred percent predictable?\" \"Well, I'm an optimist.\" \"I didn't know there were any more such animals,\" said Dr. Courtland. \"Never think you've seen the last of anything,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eudora Welty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-any-hands-a-hundred-percent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-any-hands-a-hundred-percent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/eudora-welty-1564_animals_you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-an_2843370.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You know, sir, this operation is not, in any hands, a hundred percent predictable?\" \"Well, I'm an optimist.\"…” — Eudora Welty", "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": "Eudora Welty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You know, sir, this operation is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-any-hands-a-hundred-percent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/you-know-sir-this-operation-is-not-in-any-hands-a-hundred-percent/#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 } } ] } ```