--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The equivocations, the confusions, the…" description: "\"The equivocations, the confusions, the contradictions. There's no way we can live through or comprehend something so big that happened so long ago. We'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/nicholson-baker-3405_bigs_the-equivocations-the-confusions-the-con_1192393.jpg" --- # The equivocations, the confusions, the contradictions… ![“The equivocations, the confusions, the contradictions. There's no way we can live through or comprehend something so big that happened so long ago. We've lost true history. But if we are willing to tolerate the contradictions, and if we suffer through events rather than ticking them off, we may at…” quote by Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/nicholson-baker-3405_bigs_the-equivocations-the-confusions-the-con_1192393.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/nicholson-baker-3405_bigs_the-equivocations-the-confusions-the-con_1192393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/nicholson-baker-3405_bigs_the-equivocations-the-confusions-the-con_1192393.jpg) > “The equivocations, the confusions, the contradictions. There's no way we can live through or comprehend something so big that happened so long ago. We've lost true history. But if we are willing to tolerate the contradictions, and if we suffer through events rather than ticking them off, we may at least get closer to understanding what happened than if we grip the handrail of a carefully polished and reassuringly heroic narrative.” [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that embracing contradictions and tolerating uncertainty leads to deeper understanding than clinging to tidy, heroic narratives. **In simple terms:** Accept contradictions to better understand complex history. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty to gain richer insight. Themes history truth contradiction critical thinking Mood thoughtful critical Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - personal learning - public discourse Key Concepts philosophy narrative theory epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance narrative comfort with historical complexity? - What contradictions have you encountered that reshaped your view? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Heroic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroic/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [I think you have to live inside your contradictions and find a way to accept that that's the human condition - to be forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hawthorne-deming/i-think-you-have-to-live-inside-your-contradictions-and-find-a-way-to/) [Alison Hawthorne Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-hawthorne-deming/) > [Documentaries can embrace contradictions in a way that journalism can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/documentaries-can-embrace-contradictions-in-a-way-that-journalism-can/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [The novel is a big space, and a lot can happen. Just think about the parts of your life. 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Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [What we can do now is contribute to a clearer understanding of what happened that day on Everest in the hope that the lessons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoli-boukreev/what-we-can-do-now-is-contribute-to-a-clearer-understanding-of-what/) [Anatoli Boukreev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoli-boukreev/) > [Greek is the embodiment of the fluent speech that runs or soars, the speech of a people which could not help giving winged feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/greek-is-the-embodiment-of-the-fluent-speech-that-runs-or-soars-the/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Who then is free? The wise who can command his passions, who fears not want, nor death, nor chains, firmly resisting his appetites and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-then-is-free-the-wise-who-can-command-his-passions-who-fears-not/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [It's always the paragraphs I loved most, the ones I tenderly polished and re-read with pride, that my editor will suggest cutting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/it-s-always-the-paragraphs-i-loved-most-the-ones-i-tenderly-polished/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/everyone-sees-the-unseen-in-proportion-to-the-clarity-of-his-hear/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [The frivolous work of polished idleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mackintosh/the-frivolous-work-of-polished-idleness/) [James Mackintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mackintosh/) > [I love to eat an apple after a meal, just to cleanse my teeth - they always look polished afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-zeta-jones/i-love-to-eat-an-apple-after-a-meal-just-to-cleanse-my-teeth-they/) [Catherine Zeta-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-zeta-jones/) ## More by Nicholson Baker > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Just as the people who lived through the Second World War thought different things on different days, I think everybody who goes through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/just-as-the-people-who-lived-through-the-second-world-war-thought/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I’ve always thought of myself as shy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-ve-always-thought-of-myself-as-shy/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [There's something paralyzing about being a writer that you have to escape. 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That's one of their nicest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/printed-books-usually-outlive-bookstores-and-the-publishers-who/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The neurons that do expire are the ones that made imitation possible. When you are capable of skillful imitation, the sweep of choices before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-neurons-that-do-expire-are-the-ones-that-made-imitation-possible/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [What's somewhat puzzling is that Churchill himself knew what the reaction would be to any sort of aerial attack on cities, because in 1938…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/what-s-somewhat-puzzling-is-that-churchill-himself-knew-what-the/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Shoes are the first adult machines we are given to master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/shoes-are-the-first-adult-machines-we-are-given-to-master/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [As soon as you start doing that - changing things - it seems self-evident to me that you've entered the world of make-believe. 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White's essays are the best things I've read about Maine - especially the one in which he's not sure if he can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/e-b-white-s-essays-are-the-best-things-i-ve-read-about-maine/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The fact that we had independently decided to sweep our apartments on that Sunday afternoon after spending the weekend together, I took as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-fact-that-we-had-independently-decided-to-sweep-our-apartments-on/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Explore all 131 Nicholson Baker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## More Bigs quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-didn-t-get-how-big-it-was-until-i-went-home-turned-on-the/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. 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