--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And I have written three books on the…" description: "\"And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd all written hitherto, And putting us to ignorance again.\" — Robert Browning" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png" --- # And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd… ![“And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd all written hitherto, And putting us to ignorance again.” quote by Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png) > “And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd all written hitherto, And putting us to ignorance again.” [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet claims to have written about the soul, yet admits ignorance, questioning authority. **In simple terms:** Even scholars admit they know little about the soul. Key Takeaway Embrace humility in knowledge. Themes literature humility knowledge skepticism Mood contemplative skeptical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic writing - creative writing - philosophical debate Key Concepts epistemology self-reflection Questions to Reflect On - What does 'ignorance' reveal about learning? - How does humility affect scholarship? A Different Perspective May be obscure for modern readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [Adventure is putting one's ignorance into motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/adventure-is-putting-one-s-ignorance-into-motion/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [Twere too absurd to slight For the hereafter the todays delight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/twere-too-absurd-to-slight-for-the-hereafter-the-todays-delight/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [I show you doubt, to prove that faith exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-show-you-doubt-to-prove-that-faith-exists/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## More by Robert Browning > [I would have rummaged, ransacked at the word; Those old odd corners of an empty heart; For remnants of dim love the long disused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-would-have-rummaged-ransacked-at-the-word-those-old-odd-corners-of/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/all-service-ranks-the-same-with-god-with-god-whose-puppets-best-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-was-ever-a-fighter-so-one-fight-more-the-best-and-the-last-i-would/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/if-you-get-simple-beauty-and-naught-else-you-get-about-the-best-thing/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The ultimate, angels' law, Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-ultimate-angels-law-indulging-every-instinct-of-the-soul-there/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/grow-old-along-with-me-the-best-is-yet-to-be-the-last-of-life-for/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Look not down but up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/look-not-down-but-up/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [What a thing friendship is - World without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/what-a-thing-friendship-is-world-without-end/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Explore all 386 Robert Browning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd all written hitherto, And putting us to ignorance again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-soul-proving-absurd-all-written/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-soul-proving-absurd-all-written/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/robert-browning-734_absurd_and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-so_410680.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And I have written three books on the soul, Proving absurd all written hitherto, And putting us to ignorance…” — Robert Browning", "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": "Robert Browning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And I have written three books...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-soul-proving-absurd-all-written/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/and-i-have-written-three-books-on-the-soul-proving-absurd-all-written/#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 } } ] } ```