--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have undertaken to to find an…" description: "\"“I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something that can't possibly be explained-Nero Wolfe”\" — Rex Stout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png" --- # I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something… ![“I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something that can't possibly be explained-Nero Wolfe” quote by Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png) > ““I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something that can't possibly be explained-Nero Wolfe”” [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A detective seeks an explanation for an inherently unknowable mystery, highlighting limits of rational inquiry. **In simple terms:** Even detectives can’t explain everything. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty when evidence is insufficient. Themes mystery logic limits of knowledge Mood curious thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - investigations - court cases - philosophical debates Key Concepts detective fiction epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What problems seem unsolvable to you? - How do you handle unknowns? A Different Perspective Some mysteries may remain unsolvable despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [I try to know what I need to know. I make sure to know what I want to know. (Nero Wolfe)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-try-to-know-what-i-need-to-know-i-make-sure-to-know-what-i-want-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [ “Mrs. Rachel Bruner: \[trying to goad Wolfe\] I thought you were afraid of nobody and nothing. Nero Wolfe: \[unruffled\] I can dodge folly without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/mrs-rachel-bruner-trying-to-goad-wolfe-i-thought-you-were-afraid-of/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“More people saying what they believe would be a great improvement. Because I often do I am unfit for common intercourse.-Nero Wolfe in "Blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/more-people-saying-what-they-believe-would-be-a-great-improvement/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“It strikes me, sir, that you are nearing the point where even a grateful American might tell you to go to the devil.-Nero Wolfe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/it-strikes-me-sir-that-you-are-nearing-the-point-where-even-a/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Only the man that knows to little, knows too much." Nero Wolfe”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/only-the-man-that-knows-to-little-knows-too-much-nero-wolfe/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Women don't require motives that are comprehensible to my intellectual processes. (Nero Wolfe)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/women-don-t-require-motives-that-are-comprehensible-to-my-2/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“I knew how to use a dictionary, and if I was going to be spending time around Nero Wolfe, I would have to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-knew-how-to-use-a-dictionary-and-if-i-was-going-to-be-spending-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I've always believed in the Nero Wolfe theory of knowledge. You can just sit quietly in your room - according to Pascal, the activity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katha-pollitt/i-ve-always-believed-in-the-nero-wolfe-theory-of-knowledge-you-can/) [Katha Pollitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katha-pollitt/) ## More by Rex Stout > [A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-person-who-does-not-read-cannot-think-he-may-have-good-mental/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/if-i-m-home-with-no-chore-at-hand-and-a-package-of-books-has-come-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [To say that man is a reasoning animal is a very different thing than to say that most of man's decisions are based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-say-that-man-is-a-reasoning-animal-is-a-very-different-thing-than/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/frankly-i-wish-i-could-make-my-heart-quit-doing-an-extra-thump-when/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/in-a-world-that-operates-largely-at-random-coincidences-are-to-be/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“everything from war to picnics depends on the weather, as Wolfe remarked”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/everything-from-war-to-picnics-depends-on-the-weather-as-wolfe/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold -- if you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-more-you-put-in-your-brain-the-more-it-will-hold-if-you-have-one/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“When we turned right on Thirty-fifth Street our suffix came along. By the time we rolled to the curb in front of Wolfe's house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/when-we-turned-right-on-thirty-fifth-street-our-suffix-came-along-by/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-the-tongue-has-promised-the-body-must-submit-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-glass-key-is-better-than-anything-hemingway-ever-wrote/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn't leak and no tire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/genius-is-fine-for-the-ignition-spark-but-to-get-there-someone-has-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-dickens-character-to-me-is-a-theatrical-projection-of-a-character/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“To pronounce French properly you must have within you a deep antipathy, not to say scorn, for some of the most sacred of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-pronounce-french-properly-you-must-have-within-you-a-deep/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-man-may-debar-nonsense-from-his-library-of-reason-but-not-from-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) [Explore all 148 Rex Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something that can't possibly be explained-Nero Wolfe”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rex Stout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanation-for-something-that-can-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Explained Nero" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanation-for-something-that-can-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/rex-stout-2846_explained-nero_i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanat_945598.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have undertaken to to find an explanation for something that can't possibly be explained-Nero Wolfe” — Rex Stout", "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": "Rex Stout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have undertaken to to find...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanation-for-something-that-can-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/i-have-undertaken-to-to-find-an-explanation-for-something-that-can-t/#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 } } ] } ```