--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s impossible to say a thing exactly…" description: "\"“It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/margaret-atwood-40_air_it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-t_358578.jpg" --- # It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was… ![“It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too…” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/margaret-atwood-40_air_it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-t_358578.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/margaret-atwood-40_air_it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-t_358578.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/margaret-atwood-40_air_it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-t_358578.jpg) > ““It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances; too many gestures, which could mean this or that, too many shapes which can never be fully described, too many flavors, in the air or on the tongue, half-colors, too many. But”” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language can never fully capture reality; meaning is always filtered through omission and perspective. **In simple terms:** Words are imperfect mirrors of truth. Key Takeaway Accept ambiguity and seek multiple viewpoints. Themes communication perception truth Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing - debate - translation - teaching Key Concepts linguistics subjectivity interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide what to omit? - What shapes your interpretation? A Different Perspective Exactness is impossible; misunderstandings persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Nuances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuances/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) ## Related quotes > [“It's impossible to say something exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, because what you say can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-impossible-to-say-something-exactly-the-way-it-was-because-what/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-the-way-it-was-because-what-4/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Would tear having the tongue, than half secrets opened of woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/would-tear-having-the-tongue-than-half-secrets-opened-of-woman/) Mak\_786 > [“It's impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-impossible-to-say-a-thing-exactly-the-way-it-was-because-what-3/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Film is a medium of clear lines and broad strikes - which can be fantastic - but compared to the subtleties and nuances of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/film-is-a-medium-of-clear-lines-and-broad-strikes-which-can-be/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [The more you perform, the more adept you get at the nuances of navigating that communal conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-alexandro/the-more-you-perform-the-more-adept-you-get-at-the-nuances-of/) [Ted Alexandro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-alexandro/) > [“One never discusses art save with people who are already in agreement, and then it is a matter of nuances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-preault/one-never-discusses-art-save-with-people-who-are-already-in-agreement/) Auguste Preault > [There are so many elements and nuances from the books that are very hard to tell in the length of a movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-hassoune/there-are-so-many-elements-and-nuances-from-the-books-that-are-very/) [Jade Hassoune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-hassoune/) > [I am spoken to not in words, which come to me quaint and veiled, but in signs, in conformations of face and hands, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/i-am-spoken-to-not-in-words-which-come-to-me-quaint-and-veiled-but-in/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [Sometimes, if you leave yourself open, an actor can bring nice nuances to a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-twohy/sometimes-if-you-leave-yourself-open-an-actor-can-bring-nice-nuances/) [David Twohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-twohy/) > [Wine is something to enjoy. We get sick and tired of people who pick it apart and talk about its 'saucy nuances.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-paulsen/wine-is-something-to-enjoy-we-get-sick-and-tired-of-people-who-pick/) [Pat Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-paulsen/) > [The more you spend time with a character, the more you see different nuances of that character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-gabel/the-more-you-spend-time-with-a-character-the-more-you-see-different/) [Seth Gabel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-gabel/) > [Life is much more complex than the black-and-white sound bites that you get on television. There are nuances and shades of gray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-berlinger/life-is-much-more-complex-than-the-black-and-white-sound-bites-that/) [Joe Berlinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-berlinger/) > [News isn't designed to talk about daily life in its nuances, but poetry is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-griswold/news-isn-t-designed-to-talk-about-daily-life-in-its-nuances-but/) [Eliza Griswold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-griswold/) > [I try as best I can to enter the realm of nuances of human behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ludlum/i-try-as-best-i-can-to-enter-the-realm-of-nuances-of-human-behavior/) [Robert Ludlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ludlum/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/) [margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. 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But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. 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