--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm confused, and brilliant books help me…" description: "\"I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so.\" — Jesse Ball" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg" --- # I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so. ![“I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so.” quote by Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg) > “I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so.” [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Repeated reading of insightful books clarifies confusion by providing perspectives and knowledge that reduce uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Books give clarity when confused. Key Takeaway Read often to gain clarity. Themes learning clarity reading Mood thoughtful curious Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - personal confusion - academic study - career decisions - creative projects Key Concepts cognitive development knowledge acquisition Questions to Reflect On - Which book has most clarified your thinking? - How do you choose books for clarity? A Different Perspective Books may not address all confusion sources; personal reflection still needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [I'm confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-m-confused/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [If I'm confused, I just spend some time looking at the sky and falling into it. It's not a meditation that anyone taught me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/if-i-m-confused-i-just-spend-some-time-looking-at-the-sky-and-falling/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [We see everything. We see what celebrities buy at the supermarket. It's ridiculous. It's that visibility. I'm confused by this whole celebrity-obsessed culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-mendes/we-see-everything-we-see-what-celebrities-buy-at-the-supermarket-it-s/) [Eva Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-mendes/) > [He is the dark prince. The all-powerful one. The leader of the creatures of the night." Then Meena said, "I'm confused then. I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/he-is-the-dark-prince-the-all-powerful-one-the-leader-of-the/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [I think that everyone is kind of confused about the information they get from the media and rightly so. I'm confused about the information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-woodward/i-think-that-everyone-is-kind-of-confused-about-the-information-they/) [Bob Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-woodward/) > [I'm also not sure that I look up to others as knowing what the hell is going on, except maybe Andre Agassi, who, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/i-m-also-not-sure-that-i-look-up-to-others-as-knowing-what-the-hell/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [I freely admit I'm confused. I'm a confused and troubled individual but at the same time...Its Free!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-freely-admit-i-m-confused-i-m-a-confused-and-troubled-individual/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [Misinterpretation leads me to inspiration and creativity because I think my brain is trying to figure out some information that I'm confused about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-gondry/misinterpretation-leads-me-to-inspiration-and-creativity-because-i/) [Michel Gondry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-gondry/) > [If women are breadwinners and men bring home the bacon, why do people complain about having no dough? I'm confused. Also hungry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/if-women-are-breadwinners-and-men-bring-home-the-bacon-why-do-people/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I'M CONFUSED, because I don't know why it's so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don't know why some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-watson/i-m-confused-because-i-don-t-know-why-it-s-so-hard-to-obey-a/) [Benjamin Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-watson/) > [Now I'm confused. Now I don't know what I want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kirkpatrick/now-i-m-confused-now-i-don-t-know-what-i-want/) [Chris Kirkpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kirkpatrick/) > [People say to me, Oh, it's so wonderful that you're writing about real things, and that it's a political thing to do, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/people-say-to-me-oh-it-s-so-wonderful-that-you-re-writing-about-real/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I'm confused about who the news belongs to. I always have it in my head that if your name's in the news, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-m-confused-about-who-the-news-belongs-to-i-always-have-it-in-my/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [I'm confused tell me where we go wrong? I was sure that I would be with you for so long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/i-m-confused-tell-me-where-we-go-wrong-i-was-sure-that-i-would-be/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [I'm a liberal. I'm confused when that became a bad word...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/i-m-a-liberal-i-m-confused-when-that-became-a-bad-word/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [I'm confused. Really, really confused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gilchrist/i-m-confused-really-really-confused/) [Adam Gilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gilchrist/) ## More by Jesse Ball > [“-Lara is a weasel. I've always hated her. The only happy week I had as a child was when she fell from the roof…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/lara-is-a-weasel-i-ve-always-hated-her-the-only-happy-week-i-had-as-a/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I'd say writing is easier for me now than it once was, but I do less of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-d-say-writing-is-easier-for-me-now-than-it-once-was-but-i-do-less/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“Our knowledge about ourselves is our least reliable knowledge. Yet, so thoroughly do we ordinarily champion our own cause that it is acknowledged effective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/our-knowledge-about-ourselves-is-our-least-reliable-knowledge-yet-so/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Not that believing such things has anything to do with whether they are true. You see that, don't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/not-that-believing-such-things-has-anything-to-do-with-whether-they/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“We are born in this cemetery, but must not despair. -Piet Soron, 1847”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/we-are-born-in-this-cemetery-but-must-not-despair-piet-soron-1847/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I have a different purpose in writing each novel. Some of them seem more similar than others, but the purposes are always different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-have-a-different-purpose-in-writing-each-novel-some-of-them-seem/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Americans are genuinely and profoundly anti-intellectual. They are especially so in their pleasure-seeking, which is epically banal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/americans-are-genuinely-and-profoundly-anti-intellectual-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Sunday was always the best of days for being the self you had intended to be, but were not, for one reason or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/sunday-was-always-the-best-of-days-for-being-the-self-you-had/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I don't think anything needs to happen in a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-don-t-think-anything-needs-to-happen-in-a-book/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-something-offhand-and-it-can-matter/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [One can't say how one behaved or why, really. Such situations, they are far more complex than any either/or proposition. It is simplistic to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-can-t-say-how-one-behaved-or-why-really-such-situations-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“One cultivates one's life, one's friends, one's means, one's hopes. One goes from place to place, from triumph to triumph, in search of ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-cultivates-one-s-life-one-s-friends-one-s-means-one-s-hopes-one/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“The whole thing about people living on in memory is a crock of shit. 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People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesse Ball" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me-to-be-less-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me-to-be-less-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me_1348919.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm confused, and brilliant books help me to be less so.” — Jesse Ball", "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": "Jesse Ball", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm confused, and brilliant books help...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me-to-be-less-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-m-confused-and-brilliant-books-help-me-to-be-less-so/#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 } } ] } ```