--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I go back to [the idea] that we are…" description: "\"I go back to [the idea] that we are avoiding all of these unknowns, we're avoiding the night - most of us - we're avoiding the encounters, but we're al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg" --- # I go back to \[the idea\] that we are avoiding all of these… ![“I go back to [the idea] that we are avoiding all of these unknowns, we're avoiding the night - most of us - we're avoiding the encounters, but we're also afraid to deal with something unknown, unseen.” quote by Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg) > “I go back to \[the idea\] that we are avoiding all of these unknowns, we're avoiding the night - most of us - we're avoiding the encounters, but we're also afraid to deal with something unknown, unseen.” [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We tend to flee from uncertainty and hidden aspects of life, fearing the unknown and the encounters it brings. **In simple terms:** People avoid the unknown and fear hidden encounters. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and confront hidden challenges. Themes fear uncertainty avoidance confrontation Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative projects - decision making - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology existential risk human behavior Questions to Reflect On - What unknowns are you avoiding? - How can confronting uncertainty improve your work? A Different Perspective Avoiding the unknown can limit learning and resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Encounters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encounters/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) ## Related quotes > [“I haven’t been out driving at this time of night in many years, much less in an unfamiliar area. These are the things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-zadoorian/i-haven-t-been-out-driving-at-this-time-of-night-in-many-years-much/) [Michael Zadoorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-zadoorian/) > [Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/don-t-make-music-for-some-vast-unseen-audience-or-market-or-ratings/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered...sealed away for opening on a January day with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/dandelion-wine-the-words-were-summer-on-the-tongue-the-wine-was/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Vanity is often the unseen spur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/vanity-is-often-the-unseen-spur/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/full-many-a-flower-is-born-to-blush-unseen/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Even if all life on our planet is destroyed, there must be other life somewhere which we know nothing of. It is impossible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/even-if-all-life-on-our-planet-is-destroyed-there-must-be-other-life/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/but-what-a-feeling-can-come-over-a-man-just-from-seeing-the-things-he/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-unseen-enemy-is-always-the-most-fearsome/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The things that inform student culture are created and controlled by the unseen culture, the sociological aspects of our climbing culture, our 'me' generation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/the-things-that-inform-student-culture-are-created-and-controlled-by/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [Love is an element which though physically unseen is as real as air or water. It is an acting, living, moving force... it moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prentice-mulford/love-is-an-element-which-though-physically-unseen-is-as-real-as-air/) [Prentice Mulford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prentice-mulford/) > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I did not survive everything. No one ever does. Little pieces of you - sometimes the best of you - get lost in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-grace/i-did-not-survive-everything-no-one-ever-does-little-pieces-of-you/) [Carol Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-grace/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) ## More by Michal Rovner > [There's this progress, incredible progress of technology, everything is figured out, everything is known, everything is systematic and under control, communication is going on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/there-s-this-progress-incredible-progress-of-technology-everything-is/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I decided to go to the night, myself, and started to go out to the fields, where I would encounter things that I cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-decided-to-go-to-the-night-myself-and-started-to-go-out-to-the/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [Animals are also the ones that are guarding the graves, and they are the ones who communicate between the dead and the alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/animals-are-also-the-ones-that-are-guarding-the-graves-and-they-are/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [You look at them, the animals in the wild, and they stay the same. They have their rules which I cannot decipher, and there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/you-look-at-them-the-animals-in-the-wild-and-they-stay-the-same-they/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I like Palestinians in the morning when they come and we talk but in the evening, who knows, maybe they don't know that I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-like-palestinians-in-the-morning-when-they-come-and-we-talk-but-in/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I usually go to bed early to read. I read and I always say that I'm not a "bohemian artist;" I need to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-usually-go-to-bed-early-to-read-i-read-and-i-always-say-that-i-m/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I always start with reality, in anything I do, everything I do, I always start from something real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-always-start-with-reality-in-anything-i-do-everything-i-do-i-always/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I carry some kind of consideration and weight and observations about what is going on in the world, but I don't go to execute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-carry-some-kind-of-consideration-and-weight-and-observations-about/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [The night is there, we're trying to ignore the night, the night was always there as children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/the-night-is-there-we-re-trying-to-ignore-the-night-the-night-was/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [We're progressing on a lot of fronts, but on the aspect of your responsibility - just the very basics of how we treat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/we-re-progressing-on-a-lot-of-fronts-but-on-the-aspect-of-your/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [That's what animals do all of the time; they watch out, they watch out, and I saw, "This is us now." Us, the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/that-s-what-animals-do-all-of-the-time-they-watch-out-they-watch-out/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [ Panorama is the first word for landscape in Greek. It was about \[how today\] we see everything, we get to see everything, everything is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/panorama-is-the-first-word-for-landscape-in-greek-it-was-about-how/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [We see everything, we see what's going on in Syria, we see what's going on with the refugees. What can you do about it?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/we-see-everything-we-see-what-s-going-on-in-syria-we-see-what-s-going/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [Animals are always goddesses and gods, like the god Anubis. He's the one who's accompanying the souls to the next life, and he's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/animals-are-always-goddesses-and-gods-like-the-god-anubis-he-s-the/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [I think that the world is in a very serious decline - very, very serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-think-that-the-world-is-in-a-very-serious-decline-very-very-serious/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) [Explore all 22 Michal Rovner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) ## More Avoiding quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“What I'm trying to say is that I spent the last four months learning to be alone, avoiding the world, hating pretty much anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-cremer/what-i-m-trying-to-say-is-that-i-spent-the-last-four-months-learning/) [Andrea Cremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-cremer/) > [ I can hardly believe what these 12 caricatures \[about Prophet Muhammad\] have caused in the world. We Danes feel like we have been placed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-fogh-rasmussen/i-can-hardly-believe-what-these-12-caricatures-about-prophet-muhammad/) [Anders Fogh Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-fogh-rasmussen/) > [I know a bit about taxation and the remarkable effort that goes in to avoiding it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rinder/i-know-a-bit-about-taxation-and-the-remarkable-effort-that-goes-in-to/) [Robert Rinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rinder/) > [When you are in hard labor, remember that the length of labor is usually proportional to the number of people around. Avoid the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-odent/when-you-are-in-hard-labor-remember-that-the-length-of-labor-is/) [Michel Odent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-odent/) > [I don't believe in happy endings. Children have got to face death sooner or later. Granny and Grandpa die, dogs die, cats die, gerbils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-briggs/i-don-t-believe-in-happy-endings-children-have-got-to-face-death/) Raymond Briggs > [Resisting and avoiding pain sucks energy-and time. The more you let yourself feel those minute-and-a-half hells, the quicker you'll start feeling those minute-and-a-half happinesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/resisting-and-avoiding-pain-sucks-energy-and-time-the-more-you-let/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > [Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/reading-is-sometimes-an-ingenious-device-for-avoiding-thought/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/a-day-can-really-slip-by-when-you-re-deliberately-avoiding-what-you/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [When someone starts Ignoring you, just back off without staying there with them Just to know the reason for avoiding..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vishak/when-someone-starts-ignoring-you-just-back-off-without-staying-there/) [Vishak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vishak/) > [You know what takes effort? Being kind, being patient, being respectful, telling someone how you feel politely instead of just avoiding them for six…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-tapper/you-know-what-takes-effort-being-kind-being-patient-being-respectful/) [Jake Tapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-tapper/) > [It's all about being flexible, and avoiding choices whenever possible. Choices suck, they are inherently limiting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-armstrong/it-s-all-about-being-flexible-and-avoiding-choices-whenever-possible/) Craig Armstrong > [In my personal life I'm very conservative. I've been married to the same person for nearly 50 years, I'm scrupulous about paying bills, avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-walken/in-my-personal-life-i-m-very-conservative-i-ve-been-married-to-the/) [Christopher Walken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-walken/) Browse all 713 Avoiding quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I go back to [the idea] that we are avoiding all of these unknowns, we're avoiding the night - most of us - we're avoiding the encounters, but we're also afraid to deal with something unknown, unseen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michal Rovner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoiding-all-of-these-unknowns-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avoiding" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoiding-all-of-these-unknowns-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d1/michal-rovner-25931_avoiding_i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoidi_2566720.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I go back to [the idea] that we are avoiding all of these unknowns, we're avoiding the night - most of us…” — Michal Rovner", "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": "Michal Rovner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I go back to [the idea]...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoiding-all-of-these-unknowns-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/i-go-back-to-the-idea-that-we-are-avoiding-all-of-these-unknowns-we/#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 } } ] } ```