--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have in fact only two certainties in…" description: "\"We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that we are not everything and that we will die.\" — Georges Bataille" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg" --- # We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that… ![“We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that we are not everything and that we will die.” quote by Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg) > “We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that we are not everything and that we will die.” [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence is defined by two certainties: our incompleteness and inevitable mortality, urging humility and focus on meaning. **In simple terms:** We are not everything and we will die. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and purposeful living. Themes philosophy existentialism mortality Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual practice - ethical decision‑making Key Concepts human condition meaning of life Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging mortality shape your choices? - What gives your life meaning? A Different Perspective Focusing on certainty can overlook life's uncertainties. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainties/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I shall not mingle conjectures with certainties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-shall-not-mingle-conjectures-with-certainties/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [We want to have certainties and no doubts- results and no experiments- without even seeing that certainties can arise only through doubt and results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/we-want-to-have-certainties-and-no-doubts-results-and-no-experiments/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-g-epstein/if-we-stop-breathing-we-ll-die-if-we-stop-fighting-our-enemies-the/) Philip G. Epstein > [For all the world to die away from the public eye is not necessarily my view, if you agree!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/for-all-the-world-to-die-away-from-the-public-eye-is-not-necessarily/) Mak\_786 > [You're all the world to me. Whenever i can't see you... I die a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/you-re-all-the-world-to-me-whenever-i-can-t-see-you-i-die-a-little/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [We must create our own world or we will die from inaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/we-must-create-our-own-world-or-we-will-die-from-inaction/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“We'll all go out together when we go Yes, we'll all go out together when we go Oh, how the world will die In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/we-ll-all-go-out-together-when-we-go-yes-we-ll-all-go-out-together/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“Maybe it's ALWAYS the end of the world. Maybe you're alive for a while, and then you realize you're going to die, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/maybe-it-s-always-the-end-of-the-world-maybe-you-re-alive-for-a-while/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [“Every year, Kansas watches the world die. Civilizations of wheat grow tall and green; they grow old and golden, and then men shaped from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/every-year-kansas-watches-the-world-die-civilizations-of-wheat-grow/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [If the logic of capitalism is "expand or die," then either it has to die or the world has to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/if-the-logic-of-capitalism-is-expand-or-die-then-either-it-has-to-die/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There will be no end of world,when you die your world ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sumesh-nair/there-will-be-no-end-of-world-when-you-die-your-world-ends/) [Sumesh Nair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sumesh-nair/) > [Im white but if theres no black people in this world, I would rather die than living in this world with no beautiful colorful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sr/im-white-but-if-theres-no-black-people-in-this-world-i-would-rather/) SR > [Survival of the world depends on our sharing what we have, and working together. If we don't the whole world will die. First the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-fools-crow/survival-of-the-world-depends-on-our-sharing-what-we-have-and-working/) [Frank Fools Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-fools-crow/) > [Hollywood is one place in the world where you can die of encouragement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/hollywood-is-one-place-in-the-world-where-you-can-die-of-encouragement/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/it-happened-fast-thirty-two-minutes-for-one-world-to-die-another-to/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) ## More by Georges Bataille > [I think that knowledge enslaves us, that at the base of all knowledge there is a servility, the acceptation of a way of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-think-that-knowledge-enslaves-us-that-at-the-base-of-all-knowledge/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“The absent and inert girl hanging dreamless from my arms is no more foreign to me than the door or window through which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-absent-and-inert-girl-hanging-dreamless-from-my-arms-is-no-more/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pleasure-only-starts-once-the-worm-has-got-into-the-fruit-to-become/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [If I want to realize totality in my consciousness, I have to relate myself to an immense, ludicrous, and painful convulsion of all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/if-i-want-to-realize-totality-in-my-consciousness-i-have-to-relate/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“Our only real pleasure is to squander our resources to no purpose, just as if a wound were bleeding away inside us; we always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/our-only-real-pleasure-is-to-squander-our-resources-to-no-purpose/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [ \[F\]or academic men to be happy, the universe would have to take shape. All of philosophy has no other goal: it is a matter… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/f-or-academic-men-to-be-happy-the-universe-would-have-to-take-shape/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I remain in intolerable non-knowledge, which has no other way out than ecstasy itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-remain-in-intolerable-non-knowledge-which-has-no-other-way-out-than/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [ \[Zarathustra\] never abandoned the watchword of not having any end, not serving a cause, because, as he knew, causes pluck off the wings we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/zarathustra-never-abandoned-the-watchword-of-not-having-any-end-not/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“Pathetic creatures on their knees... Tirelessly, naively repeating, "Don't take our word for it! Alas, we're not all that logical. We say God–though in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/pathetic-creatures-on-their-knees-tirelessly-naively-repeating-don-t/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [The sovereign being is burdened with a servitude that crushes him, and the condition of free men is deliberate servility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-sovereign-being-is-burdened-with-a-servitude-that-crushes-him-and/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [The total person is first disclosed ... in areas of life that are lived frivolously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/the-total-person-is-first-disclosed-in-areas-of-life-that-are-lived/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Thought does not ennoble us and neither does it differentiate humans from other animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/thought-does-not-ennoble-us-and-neither-does-it-differentiate-humans/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I enjoyed the innocence of unhappiness and of helplessness; could I blame myself for a sin which attracted me, which flooded me with pleasure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-enjoyed-the-innocence-of-unhappiness-and-of-helplessness-could-i/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [I believe that truth has only one face: that of a violent contradiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/i-believe-that-truth-has-only-one-face-that-of-a-violent-contradiction/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [Literature ... is the rediscovery of childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/literature-is-the-rediscovery-of-childhood/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) [Explore all 117 Georges Bataille quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) ## More Certainties quotes > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Certainties are arrived at only on foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/certainties-are-arrived-at-only-on-foot/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [I shall not mingle conjectures with certainties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-shall-not-mingle-conjectures-with-certainties/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [“The first step is always identifying both the certainties and uncertainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-first-step-is-always-identifying-both-the-certainties-and/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [We want to have certainties and no doubts- results and no experiments- without even seeing that certainties can arise only through doubt and results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/we-want-to-have-certainties-and-no-doubts-results-and-no-experiments/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Even wen hope seems lost, certainties cannot b broken. thy define who we are n who we can become...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-wen-hope-seems-lost-certainties-cannot-b-broken-thy-define-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Customers loves certainty, make sure you give it to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/customers-loves-certainty-make-sure-you-give-it-to-them/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [He seemed so certain about everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainties was worth one hair of a woman's head. He wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/he-seemed-so-certain-about-everything-didn-t-he-and-yet-none-of-his/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The thing the Buddhists and the Sufis have in common is a belief that religious certainties are destructive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-rhinehart/the-thing-the-buddhists-and-the-sufis-have-in-common-is-a-belief-that/) [Luke Rhinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-rhinehart/) > [“A certain way to have financial security in life is not enough savings, but enough ability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/a-certain-way-to-have-financial-security-in-life-is-not-enough/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/there-are-no-absolute-certainties-in-this-universe-a-man-must-try-to/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“Creativity could be described as letting go of certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/creativity-could-be-described-as-letting-go-of-certainties/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I am not a mathematician, but I was aware that for centuries, mathematics was considered the queen of the sciences because it claimed certainty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-am-not-a-mathematician-but-i-was-aware-that-for-centuries/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Among the many certainties whose lack he complained of, one alone is present, and it is that all things appear to us as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/among-the-many-certainties-whose-lack-he-complained-of-one-alone-is/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Browse all 44 Certainties quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainties/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that we are not everything and that we will die.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Georges Bataille" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in-this-world-that-we-are-not-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Certainties" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in-this-world-that-we-are-not-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/927/georges-bataille-3741_certainty_we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in_1892049.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We have in fact only two certainties in this world - that we are not everything and that we will die.” — Georges Bataille", "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": "Georges Bataille", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We have in fact only two...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in-this-world-that-we-are-not-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/we-have-in-fact-only-two-certainties-in-this-world-that-we-are-not-2/#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 } } ] } ```