Certainty Quote by M. C. Escher

“I can't keep from fooling around with our irrefutable certainties. It is, for example, a pleasure knowingly to mix up two and three dimensionalities, flat and spatial, and to make fun of gravity.” quote by M. C. Escher — Download Open image

“I can't keep from fooling around with our irrefutable certainties. It is, for example, a pleasure knowingly to mix up two and three dimensionalities, flat and spatial, and to make fun of gravity.”

M. C. Escher

About This Quote

Source Essay: Art and perception, 1950s

The author delights in playfully challenging our assumptions about dimensions and gravity, highlighting the joy of creative paradoxes

In simple terms: Playing with reality reveals hidden wonders

Key Takeaway

Embrace curiosity about the world’s rules

Themes

creativity perception science

Mood

playful inquisitive

Type

philosophical creative

When to use this quote

education
art workshops
science communication
philosophical discussions
personal reflection

Key Concepts

Dimensionality paradox visual illusion

Questions to Reflect On

How does breaking rules spark insight?
When is playful doubt harmful?

A Different Perspective

Such play can blur factual understanding if misapplied

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.6 out of 5 (5 ratings)

Certainty Example Flats Fooling around Fooling Irrefutable Fun Fun Gravity Gravity I can Irrefutable Certainties Knowingly Mix Pleasure Pleasure Knowingly Spatial Three Two

More by M. C. Escher

I could fill an entire second life with working on my prints.

M. C. Escher

Image

The regular division of the plane into congruent figures evoking an association in the observer with a familiar natural object is one of these…

M. C. Escher

Image

I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check.

M. C. Escher

Image

For me it remains an open question whether [this work] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art.

M. C. Escher

Image

I never got a pass mark in math... Just imagine - mathematicians now use my prints to illustrate their books. Funny me consorting with…

M. C. Escher

Image

As far as I know, there is no proof whatever of the existence of an objective reality apart from our senses, and I do…

M. C. Escher

Image

Science and art sometimes can touch one another, like two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle which is our human life, and that contact may…

M. C. Escher

Image

In mathematical quarters, the regular division of the plane has been considered theoretically. ... [Mathematicians] have opened the gate leading to an extensive domain,…

M. C. Escher

Image

I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check. We adore chaos because we love to produce order. I don't use drugs;…

M. C. Escher

Image

The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure.

M. C. Escher

Image

To tell you the truth, I am rather perplexed by the concept of 'art'. What one person considers to be 'art' is often not…

M. C. Escher

Image

To have peace with this peculiar life; to accept what we do not understand; to wait calmly for what awaits us, you have to…

M. C. Escher

Image

Explore all 41 M. C. Escher quotes

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…

Cyril Norman Hinshelwood

Image

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…

Hubert Selby, Jr

Image

The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…

Paulo Coelho

Image

In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.

Cesare Pavese

Image

Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.

Robert Breault

Image

The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…

Tom Robbins

Image

As a businessman, I know that businesses need certainty.

Bill Foster

Image

It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…

Colin Greenwood

Image

Every single person who is a member of our party deserves to have certainty. They deserve to know that my attention and focus is…

Annamie Paul

Image

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…

Sam Graves