--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reason is the shepherd trying to corral…" description: "\"Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.\" — Paul Eldridge" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png" --- # Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock… ![“Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.” quote by Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png) > “Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.” [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reason attempts to organize chaotic, irrational thoughts into coherent understanding. **In simple terms:** Reason tries to bring order to chaos. Key Takeaway Use reason to clarify confusing situations. Themes reason order irrationality Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - decision making - conflict resolution - creative brainstorming Key Concepts cognitive psychology philosophy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When does intuition outweigh reason? - How can you accept uncertainty? A Different Perspective Reason can’t always resolve deep emotional turmoil. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Irrationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrationality/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason and logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-and-logic/) [Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherd/) [Shepherds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherds/) ## Related quotes > [Now, I'm not the only language designer with irrationalities. You can think of some languages to go with some of these things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wall/now-i-m-not-the-only-language-designer-with-irrationalities-you-can/) [Larry Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wall/) > [The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-whole-art-of-politics-consists-in-directing-rationally-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Madness was only a handicap only if you couldn't control its irrationalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hill/madness-was-only-a-handicap-only-if-you-couldn-t-control-its/) [Stuart Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hill/) > [Logic is a large drawer, containing some useful instruments, and many more that are superfluous. A wise man will look into it for two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/logic-is-a-large-drawer-containing-some-useful-instruments-and-many/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion cannot survive. Yet it is also very important to note that religion is a link…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/religion-is-an-important-institution-a-nation-without-religion-cannot-2/) [Mustafa Kemal Ataturk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/) > [Reason: The arithmetic of the emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/reason-the-arithmetic-of-the-emotions/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [Reason can wrestle and overthrow terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/reason-can-wrestle-and-overthrow-terror/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Far more quickly than reason and logic, irony can penetrate rage and puncture self-pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moss-hart/far-more-quickly-than-reason-and-logic-irony-can-penetrate-rage-and/) [Moss Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moss-hart/) > [A wise man is not governed by others, nor does he try to govern them; he prefers that reason alone prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-wise-man-is-not-governed-by-others-nor-does-he-try-to-govern-them/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The vast majority of human beings are not interested in reason or satisfied with what it teaches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-vast-majority-of-human-beings-are-not-interested-in-reason-or/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Metaphysics may be, after all, only the art of being sure of something that is not so and logic only the art of going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/metaphysics-may-be-after-all-only-the-art-of-being-sure-of-something/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Science is simply common sense at its best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/science-is-simply-common-sense-at-its-best/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Logic is one thing and commonsense another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/logic-is-one-thing-and-commonsense-another/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [You cannot approach people who think differently with reason and logic if they don't know what that means. First, you have to appeal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/you-cannot-approach-people-who-think-differently-with-reason-and/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [Reason means truth and those who are not governed by it take the chance that someday the sunken fact will rip the bottom out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/reason-means-truth-and-those-who-are-not-governed-by-it-take-the/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) ## More by Paul Eldridge > [Authors hide their big thefts by putting small ones between quotation marks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/authors-hide-their-big-thefts-by-putting-small-ones-between-quotation/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [Reading the epitaphs, our only salvation lies in resurrecting the dead and burying the living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/reading-the-epitaphs-our-only-salvation-lies-in-resurrecting-the-dead/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [Having read the inscriptions upon the tombstones of the great and little cemeteries, Wang Peng advised the Emperor to kill all the living and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/having-read-the-inscriptions-upon-the-tombstones-of-the-great-and/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/in-the-spider-web-of-facts-many-a-truth-is-strangled/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [Praises for our past triumphs are as feathers to a dead bird.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/praises-for-our-past-triumphs-are-as-feathers-to-a-dead-bird/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [History is the transformation of tumultuous conquerors into silent footnotes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/history-is-the-transformation-of-tumultuous-conquerors-into-silent/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [Jealousy would be far less torturous if we understood that love is a passion entirely unrelated to our merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/jealousy-would-be-far-less-torturous-if-we-understood-that-love-is-a/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [A man is most accurately judged by how he treats those who are not in a position either to retaliate or to reciprocate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/a-man-is-most-accurately-judged-by-how-he-treats-those-who-are-not-in/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [For having expressed an opinion, however far-fetched, we straightway become its slave, ready to die defending it, and even ready to believe it. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/for-having-expressed-an-opinion-however-far-fetched-we-straightway/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [To judge a man's character by only one of its manifestations is like judging the sea by a jugful of its water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/to-judge-a-man-s-character-by-only-one-of-its-manifestations-is-like/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [With the stones we cast at them, geniuses build new roads with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/with-the-stones-we-cast-at-them-geniuses-build-new-roads-with-them/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [If we were brought to trial for the crimes we have committed against ourselves, few would escape the gallows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/if-we-were-brought-to-trial-for-the-crimes-we-have-committed-against/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [There are those whose sole claim to profundity is the discovery of exceptions to the rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/there-are-those-whose-sole-claim-to-profundity-is-the-discovery-of/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [We mourn the transitory things and fret under the yoke of the immutable ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/we-mourn-the-transitory-things-and-fret-under-the-yoke-of-the/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) > [We endeavor to stuff the universe into the gullet of an aphorism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/we-endeavor-to-stuff-the-universe-into-the-gullet-of-an-aphorism/) [Paul Eldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) [Explore all 22 Paul Eldridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/) ## More Flocks quotes > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. I held my wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/max-you-have-a-bigger-mission-than-finding-the-flock-s-parents-focus/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [It is important to meet people where they are. It reminds me of yoga, to which people may flock for the physical benefits, often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-dawn/it-is-important-to-meet-people-where-they-are-it-reminds-me-of-yoga/) [Karen Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-dawn/) > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [The holy heaven yearns to wound the earth, and yearning layeth hold on the earth to join in wedlock; the rain, fallen from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-holy-heaven-yearns-to-wound-the-earth-and-yearning-layeth-hold-on/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Remember the band, Flock of Seagulls? They had their van stolen. I was like, They still have a van?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/remember-the-band-flock-of-seagulls-they-had-their-van-stolen-i-was/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [“Without this flock, I would be worthless. Without the people in this flock, I'd be empty. Without the people who started this flock, I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson/without-this-flock-i-would-be-worthless-without-the-people-in-this/) [Shannon A. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson/) > [The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-american-people-intuitively-understand-this-which-is-why-the/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [People want to be at the center of the Universe...and they're going to flock to anybody who tells them that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-j-stenger/people-want-to-be-at-the-center-of-the-universe-and-they-re-going-to/) [Victor J. Stenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-j-stenger/) > [There are two kinds of leaders: those who are interested in the flock, and those who are interested in the fleece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/there-are-two-kinds-of-leaders-those-who-are-interested-in-the-flock/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [To be a good shepherd is to shear the flock, not skin it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiberius/to-be-a-good-shepherd-is-to-shear-the-flock-not-skin-it/) [Tiberius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiberius/) > [We find that alchemy has to do with magicians or magic and may even have roots in the Chaldean people who lived in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-alan-wolf/we-find-that-alchemy-has-to-do-with-magicians-or-magic-and-may-even/) [Fred Alan Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-alan-wolf/) > [We used to send whole flocks of birds shooting out of our mouths and never managed to grab them by their wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/we-used-to-send-whole-flocks-of-birds-shooting-out-of-our-mouths-and/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [I am only a sparrow amongst a great flock of sparrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evita-peron/i-am-only-a-sparrow-amongst-a-great-flock-of-sparrows/) [Evita Peron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evita-peron/) > [Pilgrims travel to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land, and the foundations of their faith. People go to Washington, D.C. to see the workings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/pilgrims-travel-to-jerusalem-to-see-the-holy-land-and-the-foundations/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [For the wise old man was universally beloved, and ministered so beautifully to his flock that many of them thanked him all their lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/for-the-wise-old-man-was-universally-beloved-and-ministered-so/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) Browse all 297 Flocks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Eldridge" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral-life-s-vast-flock-of-wild/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flocks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral-life-s-vast-flock-of-wild/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/paul-eldridge-26341_flocks_reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral_197777.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.” — Paul Eldridge", "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": "Paul Eldridge", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eldridge/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Reason is the shepherd trying to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral-life-s-vast-flock-of-wild/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eldridge/reason-is-the-shepherd-trying-to-corral-life-s-vast-flock-of-wild/#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 } } ] } ```