--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is in middles that extremes clash…" description: "\"It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.\" — John Updike" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png" --- # It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity… ![“It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png) > “It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Extremes meet in the middle, creating ambiguity that dominates perception. **In simple terms:** Ambiguity thrives where extremes intersect. Key Takeaway Embrace nuance in conflict. Themes philosophy conflict ambiguity balance Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political debate - personal relationships - creative decision-making Key Concepts dialectics gray areas moderation Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate ambiguous situations? - When does ambiguity become a hindrance? A Different Perspective Extremes can dominate, leaving little room for middle ground. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) [Ambiguity Restlessly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity-restlessly-2462711/) [Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash/) [Clash Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash-ambiguity-4655551/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Extremes Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes-clash-2462710/) [Middles Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middles-extremes-2462708/) ## Related quotes > [“I like middles. . . It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-like-middles-it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-where-ambiguity/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-has-been-its-drastic-un/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [So there's always been this clash between what is the public good - that which belongs to all of us in common - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-abercrombie/so-there-s-always-been-this-clash-between-what-is-the-public-good/) [Neil Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-abercrombie/) > [Whats great about The Avengers is that its the next step. Its not just superhero fights super-villain and superhero wins. Its about superheroes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leterrier/whats-great-about-the-avengers-is-that-its-the-next-step-its-not-just/) [Louis Leterrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leterrier/) > [Berlin is still a very edgy place, a very cosmopolitan place. It's a place where completely different ideas and cultures come together and clash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bremmer/berlin-is-still-a-very-edgy-place-a-very-cosmopolitan-place-it-s-a/) [Ian Bremmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bremmer/) > [The Clash, in particular, transcends any category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-raab/the-clash-in-particular-transcends-any-category/) [Scott Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-raab/) > [I'm still secretly a bit of a punk. Love The Clash and a bit of the Pistols. I guess as I've got older I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iwan-rheon/i-m-still-secretly-a-bit-of-a-punk-love-the-clash-and-a-bit-of-the/) [Iwan Rheon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iwan-rheon/) > [I grew up in the '90s. I listened to a lot of The Clash, Velvet Underground and Roxy Music. I wasn't into Boyzone, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-taylor-johnson/i-grew-up-in-the-90s-i-listened-to-a-lot-of-the-clash-velvet/) [Aaron Taylor-Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-taylor-johnson/) > [I didn't read this book--I inhaled it. This a terrific new take on a great old rock n roll story, a clash of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mckeen/i-didn-t-read-this-book-i-inhaled-it-this-a-terrific-new-take-on-a/) [William McKeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mckeen/) > [A rhododendron bud lavender-tipped. Soon a glory of blooms to clash with the cardinals and gladden the hummingbirds!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-beard/a-rhododendron-bud-lavender-tipped-soon-a-glory-of-blooms-to-clash/) [Dave Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-beard/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Truth emerges from the clash of adverse ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/truth-emerges-from-the-clash-of-adverse-ideas/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The clashes of people and the clashes of cultures have assisted me in learning the openness you have to be a part of in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kissey/the-clashes-of-people-and-the-clashes-of-cultures-have-assisted-me-in/) [Kissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kissey/) > [ I can hardly believe what these 12 caricatures \[about Prophet Muhammad\] have caused in the world. We Danes feel like we have been placed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-fogh-rasmussen/i-can-hardly-believe-what-these-12-caricatures-about-prophet-muhammad/) [Anders Fogh Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-fogh-rasmussen/) > [The Clash is pretty much my favorite band, and their songs like 'Rock the Casbah' are political dance tracks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vic-mensa/the-clash-is-pretty-much-my-favorite-band-and-their-songs-like-rock/) [Vic Mensa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vic-mensa/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Explore all 592 John Updike quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More Ambiguity quotes > [The position is clear - there is no ambiguity in Sinn Fein's position. We, along with all the other parties, have signed up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/the-position-is-clear-there-is-no-ambiguity-in-sinn-fein-s-position/) [Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I blame my grandfather 100 percent for his oldest son's death. I don't think there's any ambiguity there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/i-blame-my-grandfather-100-percent-for-his-oldest-son-s-death-i-don-t/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-the-relationship-between-social-dominance-orientation-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Yet again, an ancient answer echoes across the centuries: Listen! Listen to stories! For what stories do, above all else, is hold up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-kurtz/yet-again-an-ancient-answer-echoes-across-the-centuries-listen-listen/) [Ernest Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-kurtz/) > [My path to wisdom began when I stopped pretending to know things I didn't know. When I explicitly admitted to the limits of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/my-path-to-wisdom-began-when-i-stopped-pretending-to-know-things-i/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism - the failure to fail, and fail big, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-there-is-a-single-tragic-flaw-that-mars-our-biggest-enterprises-it/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I've always been drawn to ambiguity in pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-ambiguity-in-pop-music/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I am in the utmost perplexity, yand have wished a hundred times, that if there is a A God, nature would manifest him without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/i-am-in-the-utmost-perplexity-yand-have-wished-a-hundred-times-that/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There's a lot of ambiguity in life, and so often, our art is very neatly wrapped up at the end, when our lives never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-coon/there-s-a-lot-of-ambiguity-in-life-and-so-often-our-art-is-very/) [Carrie Coon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-coon/) > [“Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/man-must-not-attempt-to-dispel-the-ambiguity-of-his-being-but-on-the/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Browse all 431 Ambiguity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-where-ambiguity-restlessly-rules/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambiguity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-where-ambiguity-restlessly-rules/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/john-updike-396_ambiguity_it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-whe_2172012.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules.” — John Updike", "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": "John Updike", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is in middles that extremes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-where-ambiguity-restlessly-rules/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-in-middles-that-extremes-clash-where-ambiguity-restlessly-rules/#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 } } ] } ```