--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two famous labyrinths where our…" description: "\"There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above all in th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/gottfried-leibniz-3585_concern_there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-ou_21648.jpg" --- # There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very… ![“There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above all in the production and the origin of Evil. The other consists in the discussion of continuity, and of the indivisibles which appear to be the elements…” quote by Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/gottfried-leibniz-3585_concern_there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-ou_21648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/gottfried-leibniz-3585_concern_there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-ou_21648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/gottfried-leibniz-3585_concern_there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-ou_21648.jpg) > “There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above all in the production and the origin of Evil. The other consists in the discussion of continuity, and of the indivisibles which appear to be the elements thereof, and where the consideration of the infinite must enter in.” [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leibniz highlights two philosophical puzzles: the tension between freedom and necessity, especially regarding evil’s origin, and the paradox of continuity versus indivisible parts, which forces us to confront the infinite. **In simple terms:** Explores free will, determinism, continuity, and infinity. Key Takeaway Philosophical paradoxes demand deeper analysis. Themes Free will Determinism Evil Continuity Indivisibles Infinity Mood Contemplative Skeptical Type Philosophical Theoretical When to use this quote - Theological debate - Scientific modeling - Ethical reasoning - Mathematical foundations - Philosophical education Key Concepts Metaphysics Logic Theodicy Practical Applications - Developing nuanced ethical frameworks - Designing models that handle discrete and continuous data Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging necessity affect moral responsibility? - Can continuity be reconciled with discrete reality? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Continuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuity/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Labyrinth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labyrinth/) [Labyrinths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labyrinths/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [“I thought of a labyrinth of labyrinths, of one sinuous spreading labyrinth that would encompass the past and the future and in some way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-thought-of-a-labyrinth-of-labyrinths-of-one-sinuous-spreading/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“I think—the hero observes that nothing is so frightening as a labyrinth with no center.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-think-the-hero-observes-that-nothing-is-so-frightening-as-a/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The more elaborate his labyrinths, the further from the Sun his face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-naimy/the-more-elaborate-his-labyrinths-the-further-from-the-sun-his-face/) [Mikhail Naimy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-naimy/) > [If we learn to love the earth, we will find labyrinths, gardens, fountains and precious jewels! A whole new world will open itself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/if-we-learn-to-love-the-earth-we-will-find-labyrinths-gardens/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [Show not what has been done, but what can be. How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/show-not-what-has-been-done-but-what-can-be-how-beautiful-the-world/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“I imagined a labyrinth of labyrinths, a maze of mazes, a twisting, turning, ever-widening labyrinth that contained both past and future and somehow implied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-imagined-a-labyrinth-of-labyrinths-a-maze-of-mazes-a-twisting/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“what did you think you were doing, then, when you went up through one door and down through another, turning this way and that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/what-did-you-think-you-were-doing-then-when-you-went-up-through-one/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“Adelia began to get cross. Why was it women who were to blame for everything—everything, from the Fall of Man to these blasted hedges?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-franklin/adelia-began-to-get-cross-why-was-it-women-who-were-to-blame-for/) [Ariana Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-franklin/) > [“It was under English trees that I meditated on that lost labyrinth: I pictured it perfect and inviolate on the secret summit of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/it-was-under-english-trees-that-i-meditated-on-that-lost-labyrinth-i/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Desires, memories, fears, passions form labyrinths in which we lose and find and then lose ourselves again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/desires-memories-fears-passions-form-labyrinths-in-which-we-lose-and/) [Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/) > [I thought of a labyrinth of labyrinths, of one sinuous spreading labyrinth that would encompass the past and the future . . . I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-thought-of-a-labyrinth-of-labyrinths-of-one-sinuous-spreading-2/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“what think you of that, Nick, since you allwaies have your Head stuck in old Books? And I said nothing, for who can speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/what-think-you-of-that-nick-since-you-allwaies-have-your-head-stuck/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“I am not interested in climbing ladders, I am interested in walking in rich labyrinths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-grennan-wexler/i-am-not-interested-in-climbing-ladders-i-am-interested-in-walking-in/) Jacqueline Grennan Wexler > [“He wanted to journey through dark labyrinths and wrestle with the strangeness that lurked within; he wanted to crack open piety and expose hypocrisy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/he-wanted-to-journey-through-dark-labyrinths-and-wrestle-with-the/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [“How beautiful the world is, and how ugly labyrinths are,' I said, relieved. 'How beautiful the world would be if there was a procedure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/how-beautiful-the-world-is-and-how-ugly-labyrinths-are-i-said/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More by Gottfried Leibniz > [Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The present is saturated with the past and pregnant with the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-present-is-saturated-with-the-past-and-pregnant-with-the-future/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Make me the the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/make-me-the-the-master-of-education-and-i-will-undertake-to-change/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [All the different classes of beings which taken together make up the universe are, in the ideas of God who knows distinctly their essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/all-the-different-classes-of-beings-which-taken-together-make-up-the/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I hold that the mark of a genuine idea is that its possibility can be proved, either a priori by conceiving its cause or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-hold-that-the-mark-of-a-genuine-idea-is-that-its-possibility-can-be/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The monad, of which we shall speak here, is nothing but a simple substance which enters into compounds; simple, that is to say, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-monad-of-which-we-shall-speak-here-is-nothing-but-a-simple/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is no way in which a simple substance could begin in the course of nature, since it cannot be formed by means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-no-way-in-which-a-simple-substance-could-begin-in-the-course/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [In symbols one observes an advantage in discovery which is greatest when they express the exact nature of a thing briefly and, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/in-symbols-one-observes-an-advantage-in-discovery-which-is-greatest/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is nothing without reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-nothing-without-reason/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [God, possessing supreme and infinite wisdom, acts in the most perfect manner, not only metaphysically, but also morally speaking, and ... with respect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/god-possessing-supreme-and-infinite-wisdom-acts-in-the-most-perfect/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [It can have its effect only through the intervention of God, inasmuch as in the ideas of God a monad rightly demands that God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-can-have-its-effect-only-through-the-intervention-of-god-inasmuch/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-do-not-conceive-of-any-reality-at-all-as-without-genuine-unity/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The pleasure we obtain from music comes from counting, but counting unconsciously. Music is nothing but unconscious arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-pleasure-we-obtain-from-music-comes-from-counting-but-counting/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [If we were magically shrunk and put into someone's brain while she was thinking, we would see all the pumps, pistons, gears and levers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/if-we-were-magically-shrunk-and-put-into-someone-s-brain-while-she/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [God makes nothing without order, and everything that forms itself develops imperceptibly out of small parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/god-makes-nothing-without-order-and-everything-that-forms-itself/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) [Explore all 127 Gottfried Leibniz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## More Concern quotes > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. 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I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. 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