--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can’t understand it without an…" description: "\"If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.\" — Haruki Murakami" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg" --- # If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you… ![“If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg) > “If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding that cannot be explained is inherently elusive; explanation doesn’t guarantee comprehension. **In simple terms:** Some things stay mysterious. Key Takeaway Accept limits of explanation. Themes mystery knowledge communication Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - teaching complex topics - creative writing - scientific research Key Concepts philosophy of mind literary theory Questions to Reflect On - When is silence more honest than explanation? - How do we convey deep experiences? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on explanation can oversimplify. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“He knew what 'I love you' meant, and he knew it was good, but he didn't understand why it was an explanation for anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/he-knew-what-i-love-you-meant-and-he-knew-it-was-good-but-he-didn-t/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I was instructed long ago by a wise editor, "If you understand something you can explain it so that almost anyone can understand it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/i-was-instructed-long-ago-by-a-wise-editor-if-you-understand/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [For those who understand, no explanation is needed. Forthose who do not understand, no explanation is possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/for-those-who-understand-no-explanation-is-needed-forthose-who-do-not/) Hemantsmarty > [“For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/for-those-who-understand-no-explanation-is-needed-for-those-who-do/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [“I was instructed long ago by a wise editor, "If you understand something you can explain it so that almost anyone can understand it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/i-was-instructed-long-ago-by-a-wise-editor-if-you-understand-2/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it you can't understand it. And if you do, no explanation is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kira-nerys/that-s-the-thing-about-faith-if-you-don-t-have-it-you-can-t/) Kira Nerys > [“Failure to reach that bar is not something you can easily explain away. When it comes to other people, you can always come up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/failure-to-reach-that-bar-is-not-something-you-can-easily-explain/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [You don’t get it, do you?" I said. “It’s not a question of ‘what then’. Some people get a kick out of reading railroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-don-t-get-it-do-you-i-said-it-s-not-a-question-of-what-then-some/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I'm sure you think that I don't understand what you're going through, but I do. 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The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. 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Even yesterday's liberating insight is today's jail of stale explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-blanton/yesterday-s-truth-is-today-s-bullshit-even-yesterday-s-liberating/) [Brad Blanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-blanton/) > [Before I had kids, I thought you should never lie to a kid. But now I've had them, I realize you almost lie to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/before-i-had-kids-i-thought-you-should-never-lie-to-a-kid-but-now-i/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [To prevent discussion of any other explanations of human origins is hardly what I would expect from open-minded educators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/to-prevent-discussion-of-any-other-explanations-of-human-origins-is/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [What most needs explanation is not why some people are criminals, but why most people are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-q-wilson/what-most-needs-explanation-is-not-why-some-people-are-criminals-but/) [James Q. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-q-wilson/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/the-goal-of-faithfulness-is-not-that-we-will-do-work-for-god-but-that/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ \[Barack Obama\] will spend long periods of time explaining to people why he won't use it. At the end of the explanation, nobody knows… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/barack-obama-will-spend-long-periods-of-time-explaining-to-people-why/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Being a moral realist I see normative ethics as a search of the truth about our obligations and a search of explanation; the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/being-a-moral-realist-i-see-normative-ethics-as-a-search-of-the-truth/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [Take the story of Cain and Abel. Why were we given that story? 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When you fully accept that you do not know, you give up struggling to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-are-situations-when-all-answers-and-explanations-fade-when-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) Browse all 1,440 Explanation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-explanation-you-can-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Explanation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-explanation-you-can-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/haruki-murakami-21_explanation_if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-ex_1694905.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.” — Haruki Murakami", "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": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you can’t understand it without...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-explanation-you-can-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-can-t-understand-it-without-an-explanation-you-can-t/#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 } } ] } ```