--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not rest on the broad upland of a…" description: "\"“I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that includes a series of sure statements about the absolutes, but on a narrow, rocky ridge between the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg" --- # I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that… ![“I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that includes a series of sure statements about the absolutes, but on a narrow, rocky ridge between the gulfs where there is no sureness of expressible knowledge but [only] the certainty of meeting what remains, undisclosed.” quote by Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg) > ““I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that includes a series of sure statements about the absolutes, but on a narrow, rocky ridge between the gulfs where there is no sureness of expressible knowledge but \[only\] the certainty of meeting what remains, undisclosed.”” [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He trusts uncertain, provisional knowledge over absolute certainty, embracing mystery and the unknown. **In simple terms:** Embrace uncertainty and mystery. Key Takeaway Seek truth in the unknown. Themes philosophy epistemology existentialism Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - academic research - spiritual practice - creative problem solving Key Concepts dialectics faith the unknown Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle uncertainty? - What value does mystery bring to your life? A Different Perspective Absolute claims can be limiting and may ignore nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) ## Related quotes > [“Death finds his way unimpeded, be the path narrow or rocky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shota-rustaveli/death-finds-his-way-unimpeded-be-the-path-narrow-or-rocky/) [Shota Rustaveli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shota-rustaveli/) > [Only one absolute certainty is possible to man, namely that at any given moment the feeling which he has exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/only-one-absolute-certainty-is-possible-to-man-namely-that-at-any/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Absolute certainty is a privilege of uneducated minds and fanatics. - It is, for scientific folk, an unattainable ideal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassius-jackson-keyser/absolute-certainty-is-a-privilege-of-uneducated-minds-and-fanatics-it/) [Cassius Jackson Keyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassius-jackson-keyser/) > [The hope we have in Christ is an absolute certainty. We can be sure that the place Christ is preparing for us will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-hope-we-have-in-christ-is-an-absolute-certainty-we-can-be-sure/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can. Injustice is happening now; suffering is happening now. We have choices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/without-absolute-certainty-what-do-we-do-we-do-the-best-we-can/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [Perseverance is more than endurance." It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/perseverance-is-more-than-endurance-it-is-endurance-combined-with/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [I'm sure one of the frustrations of being a Western enthusiast of Japanese food and culture is you're confronted every day with the absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/i-m-sure-one-of-the-frustrations-of-being-a-western-enthusiast-of/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) > [I speak "with absolute certainty" only so far as my own personal belief is concerned. Those who have not the same warrant for their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-blavatsky/i-speak-with-absolute-certainty-only-so-far-as-my-own-personal-belief/) [H. P. Blavatsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-blavatsky/) > [Faith to me is having absolute certainty that God is in control of my life and that He has my best interests at heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ellis/faith-to-me-is-having-absolute-certainty-that-god-is-in-control-of-my/) [Dan Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ellis/) > [ We do know, with absolute certainty, that \[Saddam\] is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/we-do-know-with-absolute-certainty-that-saddam-is-using-his/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Fundamentalists believe that we don't believe in anything. In their view of the world, they are in possession of absolute certainties, while we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/fundamentalists-believe-that-we-don-t-believe-in-anything-in-their/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Martin Buber > [This is the sacrifice: the endless possibility that is offered up on the altar of the form...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-sacrifice-the-endless-possibility-that-is-offered-up-on/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power. ... The great man, whether we comprehend him in the most intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/greatness-by-nature-includes-a-power-but-not-a-will-to-power-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [You can rake the muck this way, rake the muck that way-- it will always be muck. Have I sinned or have I not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/you-can-rake-the-muck-this-way-rake-the-muck-that-way-it-will-always/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [All actual life is encounter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/all-actual-life-is-encounter/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [God cannot be seen, but He can listened to and spoken to!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/god-cannot-be-seen-but-he-can-listened-to-and-spoken-to/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [What has to be given up is not the I, as most mystics suppose: this I is indispensable for any relationship, including the highest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/what-has-to-be-given-up-is-not-the-i-as-most-mystics-suppose-this-i/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [In the beginning was the relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/in-the-beginning-was-the-relationship/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [To begin with oneself but not to end with onself. To start from oneself but not to aim at oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/to-begin-with-oneself-but-not-to-end-with-onself-to-start-from/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/all-journeys-have-secret-destinations-of-which-the-traveller-is/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [The concept of guilt is found most powerfully developed even in the most primitive communal forms which we know... the man is guilty who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/the-concept-of-guilt-is-found-most-powerfully-developed-even-in-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [This is the eternal origin of art that a human being confronts a form that wants to become a work through him. Not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-eternal-origin-of-art-that-a-human-being-confronts-a-form/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [God is the "mysterium tremendum," that appears and overthrows, but he is also the mystery of the self-evident, nearer to me than my I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/god-is-the-mysterium-tremendum-that-appears-and-overthrows-but-he-is/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [No limits are set to the ascent of man, and to each and everyone the highest stands open. Here it is only your personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/no-limits-are-set-to-the-ascent-of-man-and-to-each-and-everyone-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [But when a man draws a lifeless thing into his passionate longing for dialogue, lending it independence and as it were a soul, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/but-when-a-man-draws-a-lifeless-thing-into-his-passionate-longing-for/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) [Explore all 169 Martin Buber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that includes a series of sure statements about the absolutes, but on a narrow, rocky ridge between the gulfs where there is no sureness of expressible knowledge but [only] the certainty of meeting what remains, undisclosed.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martin Buber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-system-that-includes-a-series/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absolutes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-system-that-includes-a-series/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/martin-buber-2381_absolutes_i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-s_2763018.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not rest on the broad upland of a system that includes a series of sure statements about the absolutes…” — Martin Buber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Martin Buber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I do not rest on the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-system-that-includes-a-series/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/i-do-not-rest-on-the-broad-upland-of-a-system-that-includes-a-series/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```