--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks…" description: "\"Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of strange intelligence.\" — Gustave Flaubert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg" --- # Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of… ![“Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of strange intelligence.” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg) > “Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of strange intelligence.” [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complex abstractions can hinder understanding for those with unconventional thinking styles, emphasizing the need for clear communication. **In simple terms:** Abstractions can block unconventional thinkers. Key Takeaway Simplify concepts for diverse intelligences. Themes communication education intelligence abstraction inclusion Mood analytical thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - teaching methods - technical writing - multidisciplinary collaboration - inclusive design Key Concepts cognitive diversity epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance depth with clarity? - When should we tailor abstraction levels? A Different Perspective Over‑simplification may dilute nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstraction Provide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-provide-3569119/) [Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/block/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-intelligence-3569118/) [Stumbling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stumbling/) [Stumbling block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stumbling-block/) [Stumbling blocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stumbling-blocks/) ## Related quotes > [The difference between stepping stones and stumbling blocks is not in the event itself but how you think about it and what you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/the-difference-between-stepping-stones-and-stumbling-blocks-is-not-in/) [Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/) > [“Our stumbling blocks are transformed into building blocks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ava-cadell/our-stumbling-blocks-are-transformed-into-building-blocks/) [Ava Cadell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ava-cadell/) > [Its authors meant it to be... a stumbling block to those who in after times might seek to turn a free people back into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/its-authors-meant-it-to-be-a-stumbling-block-to-those-who-in-after/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Successful people see adversity as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-achor/successful-people-see-adversity-as-a-stepping-stone-rather-than-a/) [Shawn Achor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-achor/) > [Once you get the script, you then hope you can get the director that you want. Then you hope he can get the cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/once-you-get-the-script-you-then-hope-you-can-get-the-director-that/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [God gave a law ... called justice. But they have made a law for themselves that is terrible and intricate, and they cannot escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-sampter/god-gave-a-law-called-justice-but-they-have-made-a-law-for-themselves/) [Jessie Sampter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-sampter/) > [The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-bible-and-the-church-have-been-the-greatest-stumbling-blocks-in/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [“When stumbling blocks can become stepping stones, then these stones that the builders reject can equally become chief corner stones!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/when-stumbling-blocks-can-become-stepping-stones-then-these-stones/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [To be honest, making albums is really never easy. It's always a bit excruciating because there's always this fight to make it great, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-harris/to-be-honest-making-albums-is-really-never-easy-it-s-always-a-bit/) [Jesse Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-harris/) > [Women have ever been the stumbling block and betrayers of ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-desmond/women-have-ever-been-the-stumbling-block-and-betrayers-of-ambition/) [Arthur Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-desmond/) > [“One of the Secrets in Life is to Make Stepping Stones out of Stumbling Blocks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-penn/one-of-the-secrets-in-life-is-to-make-stepping-stones-out-of/) [Jack Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-penn/) > [“Life is going to throw you some blocks. You will decide if they are going to be your stumbling blocks or your building blocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saji-ijiyemi/life-is-going-to-throw-you-some-blocks-you-will-decide-if-they-are/) [Saji Ijiyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saji-ijiyemi/) > [Utopians...consider individual freedom as the stumbling block on which the grandiose idea of mankind's totalization may flounder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-steven-molnar/utopians-consider-individual-freedom-as-the-stumbling-block-on-which/) [Thomas Steven Molnar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-steven-molnar/) > [Obstacles are not opposing you, but merely and gently re-routing you. It is important not to view that which stands in your way as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/obstacles-are-not-opposing-you-but-merely-and-gently-re-routing-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Congenital naysayers are among the greatest stumbling blocks to thinking free. Rather than imagining how a new idea might possibly work, they instinctively think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-sample/congenital-naysayers-are-among-the-greatest-stumbling-blocks-to/) [Steven Sample](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-sample/) ## More by Gustave Flaubert > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/caught-up-in-life-you-see-it-badly-you-suffer-from-it-or-enjoy-it-too/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-one-does-something-one-must-do-it-wholly-and-well-those-bastard/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/love-is-a-springtime-plant-that-perfumes-everything-with-its-hope/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/travel-makes-one-modest-you-see-what-a-tiny-place-you-occupy-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/we-must-not-touch-our-idols-the-gilt-sticks-to-our-fingers/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-superhuman-will-is-needed-in-order-to-write-and-i-am-only-a-man/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-writer-must-wade-into-life-as-into-the-sea-but-only-up-to-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [COLD. Healthier than heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/cold-healthier-than-heat/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [And indeed, what is better than to sit by one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/and-indeed-what-is-better-than-to-sit-by-one-s-fireside-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) [Explore all 526 Gustave Flaubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of strange intelligence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustave Flaubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks-for-people-of-strange/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks-for-people-of-strange/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14d/gustave-flaubert-354_abstraction_abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks_2007882.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for people of strange intelligence.” — Gustave Flaubert", "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": "Gustave Flaubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Abstraction can provide stumbling blocks for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks-for-people-of-strange/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/abstraction-can-provide-stumbling-blocks-for-people-of-strange/#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 } } ] } ```