--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't you ever doubt it?\" Davy asked. And…" description: "\"“Don't you ever doubt it?\" Davy asked. And in fact I have. And perhaps will again. But here is what happens. I look out the window at the red farm--for..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/leif-enger-8880_certainty_don-t-you-ever-doubt-it-davy-asked-and-i_2337894.jpg" --- # Don't you ever doubt it?" Davy asked. And in fact I have… ![“Don't you ever doubt it?" Davy asked. And in fact I have. And perhaps will again. But here is what happens. I look out the window at the red farm--for here we live, Sara and I, in a new house across the meadow, a house built by capable arms and open lungs and joyous sweat. Maybe I see our…” quote by Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/leif-enger-8880_certainty_don-t-you-ever-doubt-it-davy-asked-and-i_2337894.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/leif-enger-8880_certainty_don-t-you-ever-doubt-it-davy-asked-and-i_2337894.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/leif-enger-8880_certainty_don-t-you-ever-doubt-it-davy-asked-and-i_2337894.jpg) > ““Don't you ever doubt it?" Davy asked. And in fact I have. And perhaps will again. But here is what happens. I look out the window at the red farm--for here we live, Sara and I, in a new house across the meadow, a house built by capable arms and open lungs and joyous sweat. Maybe I see our daughter, home from school, picking plums or apples for Roxanna; maybe one of our sons. reading on the grass or painting an upended canoe. Or maybe Sara comes into the room--my darling Sara--with Mr. Cassidy's beloved rolls on a steaming plate. Then I breathe deeply, and certainty enters into me like light, like a piece of science, and curious music seems to hum inside my fingers. Is there a single person on whom I can press belief? No sir. All I can do is say, Here's how it went. Here's what I saw. I've been there and am going back. Make of it what you will.”” [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on fleeting certainty, finding comfort in describing lived experience rather than absolute belief. **In simple terms:** Finding comfort in sharing what we see. Key Takeaway Share observations to ground yourself. Themes uncertainty observation family comfort Mood contemplative reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family dinner - writing - daily reflection - parenting - home life Key Concepts existentialism narrative truth subjective reality Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope when certainty fades? - What role does storytelling play in your confidence? A Different Perspective Reliance on personal narrative may still leave deeper doubts unresolved. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ## Related quotes > [“I breathe deeply, and certainty enters into me like light, like a piece of science, and curious music seems to hum inside my fingers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/i-breathe-deeply-and-certainty-enters-into-me-like-light-like-a-piece/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Every single person who is a member of our party deserves to have certainty. They deserve to know that my attention and focus is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annamie-paul/every-single-person-who-is-a-member-of-our-party-deserves-to-have/) [Annamie Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annamie-paul/) > [“The important point here is that you must not doubt of what you say because if you do, every single person in that room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-johnson/the-important-point-here-is-that-you-must-not-doubt-of-what-you-say/) [Rick Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-johnson/) > [As a businessman, I know that businesses need certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/as-a-businessman-i-know-that-businesses-need-certainty/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [What I need most of all is certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/what-i-need-most-of-all-is-certainty/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [That which is true must always remain true, though the applications may change greatly from generation to generation. It is the absence of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-which-is-true-must-always-remain-true-though-the-applications/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe that we do not know anything for certain, but everything probably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiaan-huygens/i-believe-that-we-do-not-know-anything-for-certain-but-everything/) [Christiaan Huygens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiaan-huygens/) > [Living by faith isn't living with certainty. It's trusting God in spite of unanswered questions and unresolved doubts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/living-by-faith-isn-t-living-with-certainty-it-s-trusting-god-in/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [“In this world, what is here is not necessarily here, and what is now may not really be now: place and time are malleable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-aczel/in-this-world-what-is-here-is-not-necessarily-here-and-what-is-now/) Amir Aczel > [“Though what could anyone really say these days with one hundred percent certainty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/though-what-could-anyone-really-say-these-days-with-one-hundred/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-allen-paulos/uncertainty-is-the-only-certainty-there-is-and-knowing-how-to-live/) [John Allen Paulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-allen-paulos/) > [Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men eminent for knowledge and sagacity, has not yet attained the certainty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/criticism-though-dignified-from-the-earliest-ages-by-the-labours-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [ \[I\]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-at-certainty-without-doubt-and/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/go-for-broke-always-try-and-do-too-much-dispense-with-safety-nets/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Leif Enger > [“A line only gets grace when it curves, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/a-line-only-gets-grace-when-it-curves-you-know/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Of all facial expressions, which is the worst to have aimed at you? Wouldn't you agree it's disgust?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/of-all-facial-expressions-which-is-the-worst-to-have-aimed-at-you/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“Let me say something about that word: miracle. For too long it's been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/let-me-say-something-about-that-word-miracle-for-too-long-it-s-been/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“I breathe deeply, and certainty enters into me like light, like a piece of science, and curious music seems to hum inside my fingers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/i-breathe-deeply-and-certainty-enters-into-me-like-light-like-a-piece/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Pride is the rope God allows us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/pride-is-the-rope-god-allows-us-all/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Sometimes heroism is nothing more than patience, curiosity, and a refusal to panic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/sometimes-heroism-is-nothing-more-than-patience-curiosity-and-a/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“Someday, you know, we're going to be shown the great ledger of our recorded decisions-a dread concept you nonetheless know in your deepest soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/someday-you-know-we-re-going-to-be-shown-the-great-ledger-of-our/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“Dewey Hall was the only building on campus not made of brick, and the tornado came for it in absolute maturity, no umbilical growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/dewey-hall-was-the-only-building-on-campus-not-made-of-brick-and-the/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“If you can’t talk sense, don’t talk at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/if-you-can-t-talk-sense-don-t-talk-at-all/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“You can embark on new and steeper versions of your old sin, you know, and cry tears doing it that are genuine as any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/you-can-embark-on-new-and-steeper-versions-of-your-old-sin-you-know/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/real-miracles-bother-people-like-strange-sudden-pains-unknown-in/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [It is one thing to say you're at war with this whole world and stick your chest out believing it, but when the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/it-is-one-thing-to-say-you-re-at-war-with-this-whole-world-and-stick/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [“It is one thing to be sick of your own infirmities and another to understand that the people you love most are sick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/it-is-one-thing-to-be-sick-of-your-own-infirmities-and-another-to/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Be careful whom you choose to hate. The small and the vulnerable own a protection great enough, if you could but see it, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/be-careful-whom-you-choose-to-hate-the-small-and-the-vulnerable-own-a/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [Once torched by truth...a little thing like faith is easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/once-torched-by-truth-a-little-thing-like-faith-is-easy/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) [Explore all 77 Leif Enger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) ## More Certainty quotes > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As a businessman, I know that businesses need certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/as-a-businessman-i-know-that-businesses-need-certainty/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-is-suggested-that-in-domestic-violence-at-least-the-presence-or/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [Every single person who is a member of our party deserves to have certainty. They deserve to know that my attention and focus is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annamie-paul/every-single-person-who-is-a-member-of-our-party-deserves-to-have/) [Annamie Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annamie-paul/) > [The significance and volume of repairs that are needed across the country demand that we give state and local governments the long-term certainty they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-graves/the-significance-and-volume-of-repairs-that-are-needed-across-the/) [Sam Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-graves/) > [“Death is the one great certainty in life. That’s what my dad used to say. Nothing else is certain. Not love. Not happiness. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mila-gray/death-is-the-one-great-certainty-in-life-that-s-what-my-dad-used-to/) [Mila Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mila-gray/) > [ \[I\]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-at-certainty-without-doubt-and/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the formation of expectations. An acceptable house, partner or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-t-mortensen/as-the-future-is-never-known-with-certainty-the-evaluation-of-the/) [Dale T. Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-t-mortensen/) > [Finding someone that trusted my vision helped me find certainty in who I was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/finding-someone-that-trusted-my-vision-helped-me-find-certainty-in/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) [Browse all 1,776 Certainty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Don't you ever doubt it?\" Davy asked. And in fact I have. And perhaps will again. But here is what happens. I look out the window at the red farm--for here we live, Sara and I, in a new house across the meadow, a house built by capable arms and open lungs and joyous sweat. 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