--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have become so accustomed to think…" description: "\"I have become so accustomed to think \"scientifically\" that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/p-d-ouspensky-9110_afraid_i-have-become-so-accustomed-to-think-sci_1594647.png" --- # I have become so accustomed to think "scientifically" that… ![“I have become so accustomed to think "scientifically" that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of life. I feel like a man condemned to death, whose companions have been hanged and who has already become reconciled to the thought that the same fate…” quote by P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/p-d-ouspensky-9110_afraid_i-have-become-so-accustomed-to-think-sci_1594647.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/p-d-ouspensky-9110_afraid_i-have-become-so-accustomed-to-think-sci_1594647.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/p-d-ouspensky-9110_afraid_i-have-become-so-accustomed-to-think-sci_1594647.png) > “I have become so accustomed to think "scientifically" that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of life. I feel like a man condemned to death, whose companions have been hanged and who has already become reconciled to the thought that the same fate awaits him.” [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels trapped by a strictly scientific worldview, fearing the unknown beyond material existence. **In simple terms:** Science limits imagination about life’s mysteries. Key Takeaway Balance rationality with openness. Themes science existential dread unknown Mood contemplative anxious Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - academic research - personal crisis - spiritual inquiry Key Concepts philosophical skepticism metaphysics Questions to Reflect On - What might lie beyond material life? - How can one reconcile science and mystery? A Different Perspective Scientific rigor can ignore experiential truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Companion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companion/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [“You see, all our ordinary views of things are no good, they do not lead anywhere. It is necessary to think differently, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/you-see-all-our-ordinary-views-of-things-are-no-good-they-do-not-lead/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Gideon was a man who’d lived an entirely solitary life, and yet he’d accepted me into it so completely that he could envision a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/gideon-was-a-man-who-d-lived-an-entirely-solitary-life-and-yet-he-d/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [“Don’t be afraid to imagine yourself doing something bigger than you have the resources to do right now. Dreaming is free. It costs nothing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniela-gabrielle/don-t-be-afraid-to-imagine-yourself-doing-something-bigger-than-you/) Daniela Gabrielle > [Don't be afraid of anyone. 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Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-j-buchanan/) > [Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/man-is-a-creature-that-can-get-accustomed-to-anything-and-i-think/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“We are accustomed to think of ourselves as a great democratic body, linked by common ties of blood and language, united indissolubly by all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/we-are-accustomed-to-think-of-ourselves-as-a-great-democratic-body/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [True beauty is in the mind; and the expression of the features depends more upon the moral nature than most persons are accustomed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-frederick-saunders/true-beauty-is-in-the-mind-and-the-expression-of-the-features-depends/) [Arthur Frederick Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-frederick-saunders/) > [Curious people who have become accustomed to think that one cannot sustain the moral of the army without giving it the freedom to shed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-sharett/curious-people-who-have-become-accustomed-to-think-that-one-cannot/) [Moshe Sharett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-sharett/) > [I am accustomed to think very long of going anywhere,--am slow to move. 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You're frustrated by making stories that people can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-rowley/it-s-often-frustrating-when-you-re-a-war-reporter-and-you-re-covering/) [Rick Rowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-rowley/) > [Women covering their heads is traditional, but now we're seeing more and more women covering themselves from head to toe. This is said to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/women-covering-their-heads-is-traditional-but-now-we-re-seeing-more/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [My favorite performance would definitely be "Toxic," which was my blind audition song. It was the start of it all and it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/my-favorite-performance-would-definitely-be-toxic-which-was-my-blind/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) ## More by P.D. 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Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [“Suddenly I began to find a strange meaning in old fairy-tales; woods, rivers, mountains, became living beings; mysterious life filled the night; with new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/suddenly-i-began-to-find-a-strange-meaning-in-old-fairy-tales-woods/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [The greatest barrier to consciousness is the belief that one is already conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/the-greatest-barrier-to-consciousness-is-the-belief-that-one-is/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Ideas by themselves cannot produce change of being; your effort must go in the right direction, and one must correspond to the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/ideas-by-themselves-cannot-produce-change-of-being-your-effort-must/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Desire is when you do what you want, will is when you can do what you do not want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/desire-is-when-you-do-what-you-want-will-is-when-you-can-do-what-you/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Divide in yourself the mechanical from the conscious, see how little there is of the conscious, how seldom it works, and how strong is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/divide-in-yourself-the-mechanical-from-the-conscious-see-how-little/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [“The most important factor in every function is: ‘Is it under our control or not?’ So when imagination is under our control we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/the-most-important-factor-in-every-function-is-is-it-under-our/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Love is the eternally burning fire in which humanity & all the world are being purified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/love-is-the-eternally-burning-fire-in-which-humanity-all-the-world/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [a man can be given only what he can use; and he can use only that for which he has sacrificed something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/a-man-can-be-given-only-what-he-can-use-and-he-can-use-only-that-for/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [If a man gives way to all his desires, or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no 'friction,' no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/if-a-man-gives-way-to-all-his-desires-or-panders-to-them-there-will/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) [Explore all 73 P.D. Ouspensky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) ## More Afraid quotes > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. 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I'm afraid of, like, creepy men in white vans and sidewalks with no streetlights. But I'm not afraid to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-totah/i-m-a-pretty-fearless-person-i-m-afraid-of-like-creepy-men-in-white/) [Josie Totah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-totah/) > [I will support my party when they are right on an issue, but am not afraid to stand up to party bosses who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-senger/i-will-support-my-party-when-they-are-right-on-an-issue-but-am-not/) Darlene Senger > [Why am I so afraid to loose you,when you're not even mine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-am-i-so-afraid-to-loose-you-when-you-re-not-even-mine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I want to tell you, but I cant, becuase I'm afraid if I do you'll never treat me same the again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-orante/i-want-to-tell-you-but-i-cant-becuase-i-m-afraid-if-i-do-you-ll-never/) [Cristina Orante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-orante/) > [Mistakes I've made in the past make me afraid to try new things in the future. 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