--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the essence of things is unknowable…" description: "\"“If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man cannot be fathomed.”\" — Herman Bavinck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png" --- # If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man… ![“If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man cannot be fathomed.” quote by Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png) > ““If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man cannot be fathomed.”” [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If reality's core is unknowable, human suffering is beyond full understanding. **In simple terms:** Mystery deepens suffering. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty. Themes theology existential suffering Mood thoughtful somber Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - philosophical inquiry - faith practice - mental health Key Concepts epistemology human condition Questions to Reflect On - Can we find meaning despite mystery? - What role does faith play? A Different Perspective Some find comfort in seeking answers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Misery Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery-man-781624/) [Things Unknowable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-unknowable-2166641/) [Unknowable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknowable/) [Unknowable Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknowable-misery-3246408/) ## Related quotes > [If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/if-the-highest-things-are-unknowable-then-the-highest-capacity-or/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [“The Unknown is not the Unknowable; it need not remain the unknown for us, unless we choose ignorance or persist in our first limitations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/the-unknown-is-not-the-unknowable-it-need-not-remain-the-unknown-for/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-misery-of-man-proceeds-not-from-any-single-crush-of-overwhelming/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Logic only tells us what's there; it can't really address what isn't. Even the most devoted empiricist must admit that we have no hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-chance/logic-only-tells-us-what-s-there-it-can-t-really-address-what-isn-t/) [Megan Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-chance/) > [Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, and don't have any kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/man-hands-on-misery-to-man-it-deepens-like-a-coastal-shelf-get-out-as/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“In fact, he who has only beheld the misery of man has seen nothing; the misery of woman is what he must see; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-fact-he-who-has-only-beheld-the-misery-of-man-has-seen-nothing-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [We may convert every house in the country into a charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-may-convert-every-house-in-the-country-into-a-charity-asylum-we/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“He who has seen the misery of man only has seen nothing, he must see the misery of woman; he who has seen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-who-has-seen-the-misery-of-man-only-has-seen-nothing-he-must-see/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I am about to be married, and am of course in all the misery of a man in pursuit of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/i-am-about-to-be-married-and-am-of-course-in-all-the-misery-of-a-man/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [For Fate has wove the thread of life with pain, And twins ev'n from the birth are Misery and Man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/for-fate-has-wove-the-thread-of-life-with-pain-and-twins-ev-n-from/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/a-victor-only-breeds-hatred-while-a-defeated-man-lives-in-misery-but/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/they-fuck-you-up-your-mum-and-dad-they-may-not-mean-to-but-they-do/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [It is misery, you know, unspeakable misery for the man who lives alone and who detests sordid, casual affairs; not old enough to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/it-is-misery-you-know-unspeakable-misery-for-the-man-who-lives-alone/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [As I had once done thus in my breaking away from my Parents, so I could not be content now, but I must go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-defoe/as-i-had-once-done-thus-in-my-breaking-away-from-my-parents-so-i/) [Daniel Defoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-defoe/) > [“Our lives were limitless and unknowable, not perfect, but ours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenna-yovanoff/our-lives-were-limitless-and-unknowable-not-perfect-but-ours/) [Brenna Yovanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenna-yovanoff/) ## More by Herman Bavinck > [“Christ is not the founder of Christianity, nor the first confessor of it, nor the first Christian. But he is Christianity itself, in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/christ-is-not-the-founder-of-christianity-nor-the-first-confessor-of/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“Man can as little make propitiation for his sin as he can forgive it himself. But God can do both, atone and forgive; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/man-can-as-little-make-propitiation-for-his-sin-as-he-can-forgive-it/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [Faith and repentance are as much benefits of the covenant of grace as justification . . . . faith and repentance themselves . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/faith-and-repentance-are-as-much-benefits-of-the-covenant-of-grace-as/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“revelation always supposes that man is able to receive impressions or thoughts or inclinations from another than this phenomenal world, and in a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/revelation-always-supposes-that-man-is-able-to-receive-impressions-or/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“the plan of salvation in the Christian religion determines the method of Christian theology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/the-plan-of-salvation-in-the-christian-religion-determines-the-method/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“science, which can make known only the interrelations of things, but never their origin, essence and end, will never be able to satisfy the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/science-which-can-make-known-only-the-interrelations-of-things-but/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“All culture, whatever significance it may have, just as all education, civilization, development, is absolutely powerless to renew the inner man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/all-culture-whatever-significance-it-may-have-just-as-all-education/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“Without revelation religion sinks back into a pernicious superstition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/without-revelation-religion-sinks-back-into-a-pernicious-superstition/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“The truth and value of Christianity do not depend on the fruits which it has borne for civilization and culture: it has its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/the-truth-and-value-of-christianity-do-not-depend-on-the-fruits-which/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“if sin bears an ethical character, then redemption is possible, and conversion is in principle the conquest of sin, the death of the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/if-sin-bears-an-ethical-character-then-redemption-is-possible-and/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“To separate between religion and metaphysics, however often it may have been attempted, is impossible”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/to-separate-between-religion-and-metaphysics-however-often-it-may/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“205The segregation and the election of Israel served the sole purpose of maintaining, unmixed and unadulterated, continuing and perfecting, the original revelation, which threatened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/205the-segregation-and-the-election-of-israel-served-the-sole-purpose/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“No psychology of religion can teach us what conversion is and ought to be; the Scriptures alone can tell us that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/no-psychology-of-religion-can-teach-us-what-conversion-is-and-ought/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“Formerly men said that life was thought, but now we are told that life is will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/formerly-men-said-that-life-was-thought-but-now-we-are-told-that-life/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [“it is impossible to begin investigation without assumptions, for they all are founded on ideas and canons which have their basis in the rational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/it-is-impossible-to-begin-investigation-without-assumptions-for-they/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) [Explore all 105 Herman Bavinck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) ## More Misery quotes > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“Where there is doubt (shanka), there is misery. The moment one begins to doubt the knowledge that, 'I am Chandubhai,' misery arises. 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But it sure makes misery easier to live with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/money-can-t-buy-happiness-but-it-sure-makes-misery-easier-to-live-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The vast majority of people are born, grow up, struggle and go through life in misery and failure, not realizing that it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-vast-majority-of-people-are-born-grow-up-struggle-and-go-through/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > ["Spirituality" wrongly understood or pursued is a major source of human misery and rebellion against God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/spirituality-wrongly-understood-or-pursued-is-a-major-source-of-human/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Get away from me misery, get away from me loneliness, get away from me fake bitches I can't take the phoniness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/get-away-from-me-misery-get-away-from-me-loneliness-get-away-from-me/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [You see misery, you see misfortune, you see pain, you see suffering. It's all part of the fatalistic way of looking at life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/you-see-misery-you-see-misfortune-you-see-pain-you-see-suffering-it-s/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Another step had her backed up against the wall, and he braced his arms on both sides of her. 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This body of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/all-our-misery-comes-from-wanting-at-all-costs-to-go-on-being-tom/) [Louis-Ferdinand Celine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) [Browse all 2,835 Misery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man cannot be fathomed.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herman Bavinck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-the-misery-of-man-cannot-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Misery" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-the-misery-of-man-cannot-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/herman-bavinck-4872_misery_if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-t_351700.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If the essence of things is unknowable, the misery of man cannot be fathomed.” — Herman Bavinck", "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": "Herman Bavinck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If the essence of things is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-the-misery-of-man-cannot-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/if-the-essence-of-things-is-unknowable-the-misery-of-man-cannot-be/#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 } } ] } ```