--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This, for both Schopenhauer and Tolstoy…" description: "\"“This, for both Schopenhauer and Tolstoy, is the central tragedy of human life; if only men would learn how little the cleverest and most gifted among ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/isaiah-berlin-10150_chaos_this-for-both-schopenhauer-and-tolstoy-i_1759085.jpg" --- # This, for both Schopenhauer and Tolstoy, is the central… ![“This, for both Schopenhauer and Tolstoy, is the central tragedy of human life; if only men would learn how little the cleverest and most gifted among them can control, how little they can know of all the multitude of factors the orderly movement of which is the history of the world; above all…” quote by Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/isaiah-berlin-10150_chaos_this-for-both-schopenhauer-and-tolstoy-i_1759085.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/isaiah-berlin-10150_chaos_this-for-both-schopenhauer-and-tolstoy-i_1759085.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/isaiah-berlin-10150_chaos_this-for-both-schopenhauer-and-tolstoy-i_1759085.jpg) > ““This, for both Schopenhauer and Tolstoy, is the central tragedy of human life; if only men would learn how little the cleverest and most gifted among them can control, how little they can know of all the multitude of factors the orderly movement of which is the history of the world; above all, what presumptuous nonsense it is to claim to perceive an order merely on the strength of believing desperately that an order must exist, when all one actually perceives is meaningless chaos –a chaos of which the heightened form, the microcosm in which the disorder of human life is reflected in an intense degree, is war.”” [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human life is tragic because we overestimate our control and understanding of the world, mistaking chaos for order, leading to conflict and war. **In simple terms:** We think we control life, but we don’t. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of knowledge and avoid false certainty. Themes tragedy human limitation illusion war philosophy Mood reflective serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political decisionmaking - personal relationships - conflict resolution - strategic planning Key Concepts determinism epistemic humility existential conflict Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront uncertainty in daily life? - What signs show you may be overconfident? A Different Perspective Assuming order can be fully known can lead to misguided actions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Central Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/central-tragedy-1675620/) [Chaos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaos/) [Free will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-will/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schopenhauer/) [Schopenhauer Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schopenhauer-tolstoy-1675619/) [Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolstoy/) [Tragedy Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-human-472674/) ## Related quotes > [“The will has no overall purpose, aims at no highest good, and can never be satisfied. 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Every human being who inhabits it is served his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/this-is-a-badly-broken-world-full-of-wars-and-cruelty-and-senseless/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [But that night as I drove back to Montreal, I at least discovered this: that there is no simple explanation for anything important any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-maclennan/but-that-night-as-i-drove-back-to-montreal-i-at-least-discovered-this/) [Hugh MacLennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-maclennan/) > [Every tragedy of the human experience can be attributed to one human decision - the decision to withdraw from each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/every-tragedy-of-the-human-experience-can-be-attributed-to-one-human/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The tragedy of human life consists in our vain attempts to stretch the limits of things which can never become unlimited, to reach the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-tragedy-of-human-life-consists-in-our-vain-attempts-to-stretch/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“I didn’t believe for a minute that this liquid colossus, which had brought about the death of hundreds of humans within itself, with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanis-aw-lem/i-didn-t-believe-for-a-minute-that-this-liquid-colossus-which-had/) [Stanisław Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanis-aw-lem/) > [“This attack is the greatest tragedy in human history,” Avasarala said. “They want the belt to rise up so they can hide behind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-attack-is-the-greatest-tragedy-in-human-history-avasarala-said/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) ## More by Isaiah Berlin > [Those who have ever valued liberty for its own sake believed that to be free to choose, and not to be chosen for, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/those-who-have-ever-valued-liberty-for-its-own-sake-believed-that-to/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-is-liberty-not-equality-or-fairness-or-justice-or-human/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The world that we encounter in ordinary experience is one in which we are faced by choices equally absolute, the realisation of some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-world-that-we-encounter-in-ordinary-experience-is-one-in-which-we/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Philosophers are adults who persist in asking childish questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/philosophers-are-adults-who-persist-in-asking-childish-questions/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The history of society is the history of the inventive labors that man alter man, alter his desires, habits, outlook, relationships both to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-history-of-society-is-the-history-of-the-inventive-labors-that/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing completely straight was ever made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/out-of-the-crooked-timber-of-humanity-nothing-completely-straight-was/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Utopias have their value -- nothing so wonderfully expands the imaginative horizons of human potentialities -- but as guides to conduct they can prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/utopias-have-their-value-nothing-so-wonderfully-expands-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/both-liberty-and-equality-are-among-the-primary-goals-pursued-by/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [All forms of tampering with human beings, getting at them, shaping them against their will to your own pattern, all thought control and conditioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/all-forms-of-tampering-with-human-beings-getting-at-them-shaping-them/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The case against the notion of historical objectivity is like the case against international law, or international morality; that it does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-case-against-the-notion-of-historical-objectivity-is-like-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“True pluralism, as Berlin understands it, is much more tough-minded and intellectually bold: it rejects the view that all conflicts of values can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/true-pluralism-as-berlin-understands-it-is-much-more-tough-minded-and/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-and-equality-spontaneity-and-security-happiness-and-knowledge/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [To understand is to perceive patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/to-understand-is-to-perceive-patterns/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same for all men everywhere at all times, whether one finds it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-view-that-the-truth-is-one-and-undivided-and-the-same-for-all-men/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The most passionate, consistent, extreme and implacable enemy of the Enlightenment and ... all forms of rationalism ... was Johann Georg Hamann. His influence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-most-passionate-consistent-extreme-and-implacable-enemy-of-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) [Explore all 64 Isaiah Berlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## More Chaos quotes > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [If I meet a wise person, I think, 'Yes, tell me more about parenting, about marriage, about how to stay in love. 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One moment tender, funny or romantic, the next, visceral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/i-love-derrick-brown-for-the-surprise-of-one-word-waking-up-next-to/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/chaos-often-breeds-life-when-order-breeds-habit/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [There seems to be a kind of order in the universe…in the movement of the stars and the turning of the Earth and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-seems-to-be-a-kind-of-order-in-the-universe-in-the-movement-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [In the ring, there's not a lot of room for mistakes. 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