--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can never be perfectly certain whether…" description: "\"“I can never be perfectly certain whether Helen was got with child by Leonard Bast or by his fatal forgotten umbrella. All things considered, I think i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/katherine-mansfield-1781_children_i-can-never-be-perfectly-certain-whether_688252.png" --- # I can never be perfectly certain whether Helen was got… ![“I can never be perfectly certain whether Helen was got with child by Leonard Bast or by his fatal forgotten umbrella. All things considered, I think it must have been the umbrella.” quote by Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/katherine-mansfield-1781_children_i-can-never-be-perfectly-certain-whether_688252.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/katherine-mansfield-1781_children_i-can-never-be-perfectly-certain-whether_688252.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/katherine-mansfield-1781_children_i-can-never-be-perfectly-certain-whether_688252.png) > ““I can never be perfectly certain whether Helen was got with child by Leonard Bast or by his fatal forgotten umbrella. All things considered, I think it must have been the umbrella.”” [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uncertainty about a child's paternity is resolved humorously by attributing it to a forgotten umbrella, highlighting absurdity in speculation. **In simple terms:** Uncertainty can be solved absurdly. Key Takeaway Question assumptions critically. Themes uncertainty speculation absurdity Mood thoughtful ironic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family rumors - legal disputes - creative writing Key Concepts literature psychology social norms Questions to Reflect On - What evidence would you seek? - How does humor reveal bias? A Different Perspective Absurd conclusions may ignore truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bast Fatal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bast-fatal-5473791/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Forgotten Umbrella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten-umbrella-3005879/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Howards end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/howards-end/) [Leonard Bast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leonard-bast-5473792/) [Think Umbrella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-umbrella-5473790/) [Umbrella Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/umbrella-things-5473793/) ## Related quotes > [“A brother is as easily forgotten as an umbrella.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/a-brother-is-as-easily-forgotten-as-an-umbrella/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I have forgotten my umbrella.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-have-forgotten-my-umbrella/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Live in fragments no longer. Only connect...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/live-in-fragments-no-longer-only-connect/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Their color slowly faded from out of the flowers; but their scent lingered to honey the air he breathed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/em-forster/their-color-slowly-faded-from-out-of-the-flowers-but-their-scent/) [EM Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/em-forster/) > [We live in the best of all possible worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/we-live-in-the-best-of-all-possible-worlds/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is not that of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/the-most-successful-career-must-show-a-waste-of-strength-that-might/) [E. M. 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Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-vice-of-a-vulgar-mind-to-be-thrilled-by-bigness-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But our writer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - it was very much in her mind. After we had done 'A Room With a View' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ivory/but-our-writer-ruth-prawer-jhabvala-it-was-very-much-in-her-mind/) [James Ivory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ivory/) > [“Everything seems just alike in these days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/everything-seems-just-alike-in-these-days/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [All men are equal — all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/all-men-are-equal-all-men-that-is-to-say-who-possess-umbrellas/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/railway-termini-are-our-gates-to-the-glorious-and-the-unknown/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [“Most of us begin, aided by almost every aspect of our culture, hoping for a perfect marriage. What this means is that we accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-g-heilbrun/most-of-us-begin-aided-by-almost-every-aspect-of-our-culture-hoping/) [Carolyn G. Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-g-heilbrun/) ## More by Katherine Mansfield > [“Shadow children, thin and small, Now the day is left behind, You are dancing on the wall, On the curtains, on the blind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/shadow-children-thin-and-small-now-the-day-is-left-behind-you-are/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [“Oh, with you, I could conquer the world - oh, with you I could catch hold of the moon like a little silver sixpence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/oh-with-you-i-could-conquer-the-world-oh-with-you-i-could-catch-hold/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [“I have made it a rule of my life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-have-made-it-a-rule-of-my-life-never-to-regret-and-never-to-look/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Life never becomes a habit to me. It's always a marvel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/life-never-becomes-a-habit-to-me-it-s-always-a-marvel/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Children are unaccountable little creatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/children-are-unaccountable-little-creatures/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [“Leila was sure ifhe partner didn't come and she had to listen to that marvellous music and to watch the others sliding, gliding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/leila-was-sure-ifhe-partner-didn-t-come-and-she-had-to-listen-to-that/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Regret is an appalling waste of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/regret-is-an-appalling-waste-of-time/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [I love the rain. I want the feeling of it on my face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-love-the-rain-i-want-the-feeling-of-it-on-my-face/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [England is merely an island of beef swimming in a warm gulf stream of gravy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/england-is-merely-an-island-of-beef-swimming-in-a-warm-gulf-stream-of/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Perhaps it does not matter so very much what it is one loves in this world. But love something one must.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/perhaps-it-does-not-matter-so-very-much-what-it-is-one-loves-in-this/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Ah, what happiness it is to be with people who are all happy, to press hands, press cheeks, smile into eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/ah-what-happiness-it-is-to-be-with-people-who-are-all-happy-to-press/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [To acknowledge the presence of fear is to give birth to failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/to-acknowledge-the-presence-of-fear-is-to-give-birth-to-failure/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [I am poor - obscure - just eighteen years of age - with a rapacious appetite for everything and principles as light as my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-am-poor-obscure-just-eighteen-years-of-age-with-a-rapacious/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [“I used to believe I was merely words and I do not know whether I shall start hoping for something more. You planted that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/i-used-to-believe-i-was-merely-words-and-i-do-not-know-whether-i/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [To be alive and to be a ‘writer’ is enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/to-be-alive-and-to-be-a-writer-is-enough/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) [Explore all 199 Katherine Mansfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [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/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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