--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can't keep from fooling around with our…" description: "\"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, f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/m-c-escher-15873_certainty_i-can-t-keep-from-fooling-around-with-ou_1010078.png" --- # I can't keep from fooling around with our irrefutable… ![“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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/m-c-escher-15873_certainty_i-can-t-keep-from-fooling-around-with-ou_1010078.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/m-c-escher-15873_certainty_i-can-t-keep-from-fooling-around-with-ou_1010078.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/m-c-escher-15873_certainty_i-can-t-keep-from-fooling-around-with-ou_1010078.png) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. 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 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Flats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flats/) [Fooling around](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fooling-around/) [Fooling Irrefutable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fooling-irrefutable-2186760/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Fun Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun-gravity-2186758/) [Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravity/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Irrefutable Certainties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrefutable-certainties-2186761/) [Knowingly Mix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowingly-mix-2186759/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Knowingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-knowingly-2186762/) [Spatial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spatial/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of the fun of 'Gravity Falls' comes from the secrecy surrounding the plot. We want fans to be able to guess and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-hirsch/a-lot-of-the-fun-of-gravity-falls-comes-from-the-secrecy-surrounding/) [Alex Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-hirsch/) > [When a man cheats on his woman, He's an unfaithful dog; When a woman cheats on a man, He never tried hard enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/when-a-man-cheats-on-his-woman-he-s-an-unfaithful-dog-when-a-woman/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Sheets of sound. Well, that was when I got tired of certain modulations. Like when you want to get back to C, and you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-coltrane/sheets-of-sound-well-that-was-when-i-got-tired-of-certain-modulations/) [John Coltrane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-coltrane/) > [There are lots of really good guitarists, but they play with the same pedals that everybody else does. Everybody buys the same pedals, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/there-are-lots-of-really-good-guitarists-but-they-play-with-the-same/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [Strategic thinkers were naturally rattled to find this outsider fooling around with their work. They had been thinking strategically when Reagan was just another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/strategic-thinkers-were-naturally-rattled-to-find-this-outsider/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [“And yes, I say, I do like girls. I don't pursue them, though, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/and-yes-i-say-i-do-like-girls-i-don-t-pursue-them-though-and-there/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [All the difference in the world between the movies and the thrill I get out of a play at the theater. Ay, yes! Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-movies-and-the-thrill-i/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [Don't know why I did it, I was just fooling around. I never knew life was so precious, until I hit the ground. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalea-mendoza/don-t-know-why-i-did-it-i-was-just-fooling-around-i-never-knew-life/) [Kalea Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalea-mendoza/) > [About a year after (my stories began being published), magazine editor George Scithers, suggested to me that since I was so new at being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-b-longyear/about-a-year-after-my-stories-began-being-published-magazine-editor/) [Barry B. Longyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-b-longyear/) > [I'd done drag since I was 14, for special occasions, and in 2010 a friend of mine with her own burlesque group was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conchita-wurst/i-d-done-drag-since-i-was-14-for-special-occasions-and-in-2010-a/) [Conchita Wurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conchita-wurst/) > [“Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you're fooling around!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-panzram/hurry-up-you-hoosier-bastard-i-could-kill-ten-men-while-you-re/) [Carl Panzram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-panzram/) > [This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/this-ain-t-no-party-this-ain-t-no-disco-this-ain-t-no-fooling-around/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [Maybe it's because improvisational people have the same kind of understood language when you're working together. It really only took, like, maybe an hour...feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-levy/maybe-it-s-because-improvisational-people-have-the-same-kind-of/) [Eugene Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-levy/) > [As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tunney/as-a-west-side-kid-fooling-around-with-boxing-gloves-i-had-been-for/) [Gene Tunney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tunney/) > [When I go into the studio, I'm strictly for business... I don't like any fooling around in the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-redding/when-i-go-into-the-studio-i-m-strictly-for-business-i-don-t-like-any/) [Otis Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-redding/) ## More by M. C. Escher > [I could fill an entire second life with working on my prints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-could-fill-an-entire-second-life-with-working-on-my-prints/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [The regular division of the plane into congruent figures evoking an association in the observer with a familiar natural object is one of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-regular-division-of-the-plane-into-congruent-figures-evoking-an/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-might-be-in-the-basement-i-ll-go-upstairs-and-check/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [ For me it remains an open question whether \[this work\] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/for-me-it-remains-an-open-question-whether-this-work-pertains-to-the/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [I never got a pass mark in math... Just imagine - mathematicians now use my prints to illustrate their books. Funny me consorting with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-never-got-a-pass-mark-in-math-just-imagine-mathematicians-now-use/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [As far as I know, there is no proof whatever of the existence of an objective reality apart from our senses, and I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/as-far-as-i-know-there-is-no-proof-whatever-of-the-existence-of-an/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Science and art sometimes can touch one another, like two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle which is our human life, and that contact may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/science-and-art-sometimes-can-touch-one-another-like-two-pieces-of/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [ In mathematical quarters, the regular division of the plane has been considered theoretically. ... \[Mathematicians\] have opened the gate leading to an extensive domain,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/in-mathematical-quarters-the-regular-division-of-the-plane-has-been/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [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;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-might-be-in-the-basement-i-ll-go-upstairs-and-check-we-adore-chaos/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-things-i-want-to-express-are-so-beautiful-and-pure/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [To tell you the truth, I am rather perplexed by the concept of 'art'. What one person considers to be 'art' is often not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/to-tell-you-the-truth-i-am-rather-perplexed-by-the-concept-of-art/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [To have peace with this peculiar life; to accept what we do not understand; to wait calmly for what awaits us, you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/to-have-peace-with-this-peculiar-life-to-accept-what-we-do-not/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Although I am even now still a layman in the area of mathematics, and although I lack theoretical knowledge, the mathematicians, and in particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/although-i-am-even-now-still-a-layman-in-the-area-of-mathematics-and/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/it-is-human-nature-to-want-to-exchange-ideas-and-i-believe-that-at/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [All my works are games, serious game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/all-my-works-are-games-serious-game/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) [Explore all 41 M. C. Escher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) ## 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": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "M. C. 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