--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One might suppose that reality must be…" description: "\"One might suppose that reality must be held to at all costs. However, though that may be the moral thing to do, it is not necessarily the most useful t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/isaac-asimov-309_abstract_one-might-suppose-that-reality-must-be-h_2995764.jpg" --- # One might suppose that reality must be held to at all… ![“One might suppose that reality must be held to at all costs. However, though that may be the moral thing to do, it is not necessarily the most useful thing to do. The Greeks themselves chose the ideal over the real in their geometry and demonstrated very well that far more could be achieved by…” quote by Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/isaac-asimov-309_abstract_one-might-suppose-that-reality-must-be-h_2995764.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/isaac-asimov-309_abstract_one-might-suppose-that-reality-must-be-h_2995764.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e0/isaac-asimov-309_abstract_one-might-suppose-that-reality-must-be-h_2995764.jpg) > “One might suppose that reality must be held to at all costs. However, though that may be the moral thing to do, it is not necessarily the most useful thing to do. The Greeks themselves chose the ideal over the real in their geometry and demonstrated very well that far more could be achieved by consideration of abstract line and form than by a study of the real lines and forms of the world; the greater understanding achieved through abstraction could be applied most usefully to the very reality that was ignored in the process of gaining knowledge.” [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Abstract thinking can be more useful than clinging to literal reality, allowing deeper insight and practical application. **In simple terms:** Abstraction helps solve real problems better than strict realism. Key Takeaway Embrace abstraction to enhance problem solving. Themes philosophy science creativity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - scientific research - engineering design - artistic creation - policy development Key Concepts abstraction idealism pragmatism Questions to Reflect On - How can abstraction improve your work? - When might realism be preferable? A Different Perspective Relying solely on abstraction may ignore essential concrete details. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Gaining knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gaining-knowledge/) [Geometry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geometry/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Useful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useful-things/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I am coming more and more to the conviction that the necessity of our geometry cannot be demonstrated, at least neither by, nor for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-am-coming-more-and-more-to-the-conviction-that-the-necessity-of-our-2/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I am coming more and more to the conviction that the necessity of our geometry cannot be demonstrated, at least neither by, nor for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-am-coming-more-and-more-to-the-conviction-that-the-necessity-of-our/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Experimentation is the least arrogant method of gaining knowledge. The experimenter humbly asks a question of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/experimentation-is-the-least-arrogant-method-of-gaining-knowledge-the/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“A circle has no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-circle-has-no-end/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It seems to me that the moralist is the most useless and contemptible of creatures. He is useless in that he would expend his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-seems-to-me-that-the-moralist-is-the-most-useless-and-contemptible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Until very recently, most knowledge was inaccessible to people who couldn't read text. But this is changing. 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Being wise is learning from your mistakes and gaining knowledge, that turn into wisdom that makes good decisions!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/smart-is-being-intellectual-being-wise-is-learning-from-your-mistakes/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“Evans-Pritchard’s confession reveals the way the power advantage of the subject whose definition of a situation prevails in the larger social context (in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/istv-n-aranyosi/evans-pritchard-s-confession-reveals-the-way-the-power-advantage-of/) [István Aranyosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/istv-n-aranyosi/) > [“The very essence of Australia is our lack of sophistication–our refusal to conform to pretension and superficiality. 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The importance of creativity is immense among all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhairab-it-zone/freelancing-and-creativity-in-freelancing-doing-a-job-in-different/) [Bhairab IT Zone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhairab-it-zone/) > [“Are you willing to engage in the wrestle? In an ongoing spiritual wrestle? If we want to grow spiritually, the Lord expects us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-dew/are-you-willing-to-engage-in-the-wrestle-in-an-ongoing-spiritual/) [Sheri Dew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-dew/) ## More by Isaac Asimov > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Uncertainty that comes from knowledge (knowing what you don't know) is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/uncertainty-that-comes-from-knowledge-knowing-what-you-don-t-know-is/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Don't you see? It's Galaxy-wide. It's a worship of the past. It's a deterioration - a stagnation!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/don-t-you-see-it-s-galaxy-wide-it-s-a-worship-of-the-past-it-s-a/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/so-the-universe-is-not-quite-as-you-thought-it-was-you-d-better/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It is in meeting the great tests that mankind can most successfully rise to great heights. 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If there is one science into which man has probed continuously and successfully, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-are-a-military-man-and-should-know-better-if-there-is-one-science/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“temperatura constante de mais ou menos 21 graus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/temperatura-constante-de-mais-ou-menos-21-graus/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Human beings can tolerate an immortal robot, for it doesn't matter how long a machine lasts, but they cannot tolerate an immortal human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/human-beings-can-tolerate-an-immortal-robot-for-it-doesn-t-matter-how/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“if people believe this, they would act on that belief. Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is transmuted”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/if-people-believe-this-they-would-act-on-that-belief-many-a-prophecy/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance implies only ignorance that may someday be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/there-are-many-aspects-of-the-universe-that-still-cannot-be-explained/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. \[The Second Law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-robot-must-obey-the-orders-given-it-by-human-beings-except-where/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) [Explore all 671 Isaac Asimov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. 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