--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think clarity is necessarily…" description: "\"“I don't think clarity is necessarily truth. It's simplicity, isn't it?”\" — Michael Ondaatje" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_clarity_i-don-t-think-clarity-is-necessarily-tru_1371731.png" --- # I don't think clarity is necessarily truth. It's… ![“I don't think clarity is necessarily truth. It's simplicity, isn't it?” quote by Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_clarity_i-don-t-think-clarity-is-necessarily-tru_1371731.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_clarity_i-don-t-think-clarity-is-necessarily-tru_1371731.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_clarity_i-don-t-think-clarity-is-necessarily-tru_1371731.png) > ““I don't think clarity is necessarily truth. It's simplicity, isn't it?”” [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Clarity is not the same as truth; truth often lies in complexity, while clarity seeks simplicity. **In simple terms:** Simplicity ≠ truth. Key Takeaway Simplify wisely. Themes philosophy communication truth Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts cognitive bias epistemology Questions to Reflect On - When does simplifying become misleading? - How do you preserve depth while being clear? A Different Perspective Simplicity can oversimplify nuanced realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Simplicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simplicity/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [The great seal of truth is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-boerhaave/the-great-seal-of-truth-is-simplicity/) [Herman Boerhaave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-boerhaave/) > [When I began to dare to be clear, because I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/when-i-began-to-dare-to-be-clear-because-i-think-clarity-is-the-real/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Give a man or woman back his self-respect, and in most cases-not all, but most-you also give back that person's ability to think with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/give-a-man-or-woman-back-his-self-respect-and-in-most-cases-not-all/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Simplicity isn’t something you can stick on top of a user interface.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-colborne/simplicity-isn-t-something-you-can-stick-on-top-of-a-user-interface/) [Giles Colborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-colborne/) > [Because simplicity isn't the greatest thing in the world, but love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-sanchez/because-simplicity-isn-t-the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-but-love/) [Bo Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-sanchez/) > [“Contrary to the indoctrinated notion that reducing existence to the essentials is for half-wits and losers in this golden age of technological ‘progress,’ simplicity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/contrary-to-the-indoctrinated-notion-that-reducing-existence-to-the/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) > [“Simplicity isn’t just a visual style. It’s not just minimalism or the absence of clutter. It involves digging through the depth of the complexity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/simplicity-isn-t-just-a-visual-style-it-s-not-just-minimalism-or-the/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [Thai food ain't about simplicity. It's about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it's got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/thai-food-ain-t-about-simplicity-it-s-about-the-juggling-of-disparate/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/truth-is-ever-to-be-found-in-the-simplicity-and-not-in-the/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [I am as true as truth's simplicity, And simpler than the infancy of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-am-as-true-as-truth-s-simplicity-and-simpler-than-the-infancy-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The expression of truth is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-expression-of-truth-is-simplicity/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/a-vocabulary-of-truth-and-simplicity-will-be-of-service-throughout/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“Truth, simplicity and love. These are the three main aspects of Eden Fruitarianism which the acolyte seeks to embrace, expand and better understand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mango-wodzak/truth-simplicity-and-love-these-are-the-three-main-aspects-of-eden/) [Mango Wodzak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mango-wodzak/) > [“But in simplicity lies truth.  In simplicity lies power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-ravikant/but-in-simplicity-lies-truth-in-simplicity-lies-power/) [Kamal Ravikant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-ravikant/) ## More by Michael Ondaatje > [“In spite of this, our table's status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain's Table were constantly toasting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/in-spite-of-this-our-table-s-status-on-the-oronsay-continued-to-be/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [He will hear the rain before he feels it, a clicking on the dry grass, on the olive leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/he-will-hear-the-rain-before-he-feels-it-a-clicking-on-the-dry-grass/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would lean over and smell the skin at the base of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/whenever-her-father-was-alone-with-a-dog-in-a-house-he-would-lean/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“...those who had risked everything at a riverbend on a left turn and so discovered a fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/those-who-had-risked-everything-at-a-riverbend-on-a-left-turn-and-so/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“All over the world there must be people like us, Anna had said then, wounded in some way by falling in love - seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/all-over-the-world-there-must-be-people-like-us-anna-had-said-then/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/what-is-interesting-and-important-happens-mostly-in-secret-in-places/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [There's more danger in the violence you don't face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-s-more-danger-in-the-violence-you-don-t-face/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [From this point on, she whispered, we will either find or lose our souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/from-this-point-on-she-whispered-we-will-either-find-or-lose-our-souls/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“You know it is the most relaxed thing when you when you sit with a best friend and you know there is nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-know-it-is-the-most-relaxed-thing-when-you-when-you-sit-with-a/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“There was no control except the " mood of his power... and it is for this reason it is good you never heard him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-was-no-control-except-the-mood-of-his-power-and-it-is-for-this/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [You're getting everyone's point of view at the same time, which for me, is the perfect state for a novel: a cubist state, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-re-getting-everyone-s-point-of-view-at-the-same-time-which-for-me/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-see-the-poem-or-the-novel-ending-with-an-open-door/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“The Time Around Scars: A girl whom I've not spoken to or shared coffee with for several years writes of an old scar. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/the-time-around-scars-a-girl-whom-i-ve-not-spoken-to-or-shared-coffee/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“- Daca ti-as incredinta viata mea, ai scapa-o pe jos. Nu-i asa?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/daca-ti-as-incredinta-viata-mea-ai-scapa-o-pe-jos-nu-i-asa/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Explore all 322 Michael Ondaatje quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## More Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It comes a moment that someone says something really small, but fits so perfect into your heart that everything start to make sense!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/it-comes-a-moment-that-someone-says-something-really-small-but-fits/) Laylablack > [“Replaying the past in your mind won't change the present; it only steals the clarity needed to shape what comes next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-meyering-sr/replaying-the-past-in-your-mind-won-t-change-the-present-it-only/) Joseph Meyering Sr > [Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 12. I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I don't think clarity is necessarily truth. 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