--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any philosophic explanation of Quality is…" description: "\"Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both false and true precisely because it is a philosophic explanation. The process of philosophic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png" --- # Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both… ![“Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both false and true precisely because it is a philosophic explanation. The process of philosophic explanation is an analytic process, a process of breaking something down into subjects and predicates. What I mean (and everybody else means) by…” quote by Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png) > “Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both false and true precisely because it is a philosophic explanation. The process of philosophic explanation is an analytic process, a process of breaking something down into subjects and predicates. What I mean (and everybody else means) by the word 'quality' cannot be broken down into subjects and predicates. This is not because Quality is so mysterious but because Quality is so simple, immediate and direct.” [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Quality cannot be fully captured by analytical breakdown; it is immediate and simple, defying conventional logical analysis. **In simple terms:** Quality is simple, direct, and resists analysis. Key Takeaway Accept that some truths lie beyond logical dissection. Themes philosophy epistemology experience Mood contemplative curious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - product design - creative work - personal insight - teaching - philosophical debate Key Concepts Quality analytic limits immediacy Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience quality without analysis? - Can logic ever fully describe lived experience? A Different Perspective Analytic methods may miss nuanced, lived aspects of reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Analytics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analytics/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Broken down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-down/) [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Explanation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation/) [Explanation Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation-process-3152925/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Philosophic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophic/) [Philosophic Explanation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophic-explanation-3152922/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Precisely Philosophic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precisely-philosophic-3152924/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Process Philosophic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-philosophic-3152923/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Zen motorcycle maintenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zen-motorcycle-maintenance/) ## Related quotes > [What I mean (and everybody else means) by the word 'quality' cannot be broken down into subjects and predicates. This is not because Quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-i-mean-and-everybody-else-means-by-the-word-quality-cannot-be/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/programs-of-a-political-nature-are-important-end-products-of-social/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [My favorite piece of technical writing: Assembly of Japanese bicycle require great peace of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/my-favorite-piece-of-technical-writing-assembly-of-japanese-bicycle/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [A person isn't considered insane if there are a number of people who believe the same way. Insanity isn't supposed to be a communicable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/a-person-isn-t-considered-insane-if-there-are-a-number-of-people-who/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Civilization, or "the system" or "society" or whatever you want to call it, is best served not by mules but by free men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/civilization-or-the-system-or-society-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/in-a-car-you-re-always-in-a-compartment-and-because-you-re-used-to-it/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [I think this fear of insanity is comparable to the fear people once had of falling off the edge of the world. Or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-think-this-fear-of-insanity-is-comparable-to-the-fear-people-once/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [To an experienced Zen Buddhist, asking if one believes in Zen or one believes in the Buddha, sounds a little ludicrous, like asking if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-an-experienced-zen-buddhist-asking-if-one-believes-in-zen-or-one/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [What's wrong with technology is that it's not connected in any real way with matters of the spirit and of the heart. And so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-s-wrong-with-technology-is-that-it-s-not-connected-in-any-real/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Quality... you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/quality-you-know-what-it-is-yet-you-don-t-know-what-it-is/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [That's all the motorcycle is, a system of concepts worked out in steel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/that-s-all-the-motorcycle-is-a-system-of-concepts-worked-out-in-steel/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [In the temple of science are many mansions ... and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them thither.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/in-the-temple-of-science-are-many-mansions-and-various-indeed-are-2/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The best students always are flunking. Every good teacher knows that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-best-students-always-are-flunking-every-good-teacher-knows-that/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/if-a-revolution-destroys-a-systematic-government-but-the-systematic/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as 'the system' is to speak correctly . . . They are sustained by structural relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-speak-of-certain-government-and-establishment-institutions-as-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## More by Robert M. Pirsig > [“And from time to time you find your “county road” takes you onto a two-rutter and then a single rutter and then into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/and-from-time-to-time-you-find-your-county-road-takes-you-onto-a-two/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“I started to roll over for more sleep but heard a rooster crowing and then became aware we are on vacation and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-started-to-roll-over-for-more-sleep-but-heard-a-rooster-crowing-and/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-buddha-the-godhead-resides-quite-as-comfortably-in-the-circuits/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-though-quality-cannot-be-defined-you-know-what-quality-is/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [I suppose philosophy is historically not a woman's game, though that is changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-suppose-philosophy-is-historically-not-a-woman-s-game-though-that/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Up until my first book was published, I had all this potential, people would say, and I screwed up. After it, I could say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/up-until-my-first-book-was-published-i-had-all-this-potential-people/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the motorcycle, which grain of sand in which pile, is the Buddha. Obviously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/there-is-a-perennial-classical-question-that-asks-which-part-of-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Of the value traps, the most widespread and pernicious is value rigidity. This is an inability to revalue what one sees because of commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/of-the-value-traps-the-most-widespread-and-pernicious-is-value/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Historically mystics have claimed that for a true understanding of reality metaphysics is too “scientific”. Metaphysics is not reality. Metaphysics is names about reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/historically-mystics-have-claimed-that-for-a-true-understanding-of/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“What’s emerging from the pattern of my own life is the for belief that the crisis is being caused by the inadequacy of existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-s-emerging-from-the-pattern-of-my-own-life-is-the-for-belief/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as 'the system' is to speak correctly . . . They are sustained by structural relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-speak-of-certain-government-and-establishment-institutions-as-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/if-a-revolution-destroys-a-systematic-government-but-the-systematic/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-only-zen-you-can-find-on-the-tops-of-mountains-is-the-zen-you/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Only social patterns can control biological patterns, and the instrument of conversation between society and biology is not words. The instrument of conversation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/only-social-patterns-can-control-biological-patterns-and-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Even in the presence of others he was completely alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-in-the-presence-of-others-he-was-completely-alone/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) [Explore all 351 Robert M. Pirsig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## More Analytics quotes > [Every NBA arena has six cameras in the ceiling. The question is what does the software do with video feeds? How to surface that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ballmer/every-nba-arena-has-six-cameras-in-the-ceiling-the-question-is-what/) [Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ballmer/) > [In my view, we ought to replace the notion of analytic philosophy by that of synthetic philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/in-my-view-we-ought-to-replace-the-notion-of-analytic-philosophy-by/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The female mind is capable of understanding analytic geometry... The difficulty may just be that we have never yet discovered a way to communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-female-mind-is-capable-of-understanding-analytic-geometry-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You can keep the Office of Personnel Management records, I don't need Electronic Health Records, give me the metadata, big data analytics and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-scott-senior-fellow-institute-for-critical-infrastructure-technology/you-can-keep-the-office-of-personnel-management-records-i-don-t-need/) [James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-scott-senior-fellow-institute-for-critical-infrastructure-technology/) > [...(I)ndividual selfhood is expressed in the self's capacity for self-transcendence and not in its rational capacity for conceptual and analytic procedures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/i-ndividual-selfhood-is-expressed-in-the-self-s-capacity-for-self/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything. The person of synthetic or constructive intellect, in almost nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-person-of-analytic-or-critical-intellect-finds-something/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is what makes conscious of the conditions and laws of observing which applied in this manner become a theme on its own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoni-tapies/it-is-what-makes-conscious-of-the-conditions-and-laws-of-observing/) [Antoni Tapies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoni-tapies/) > [The price of light is less than the cost of darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-price-of-light-is-less-than-the-cost-of-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Euler - The unsurpassed master of analytic invention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-courant/euler-the-unsurpassed-master-of-analytic-invention/) [Richard Courant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-courant/) > [Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-e-p-box/statisticians-like-artists-have-the-bad-habit-of-falling-in-love-with/) [George E. P. Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-e-p-box/) > [The principles of logic and mathematics are true universally simply because we never allow them to be anything else. And the reason for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/the-principles-of-logic-and-mathematics-are-true-universally-simply/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Science is the ultimate pornography, analytic activity whose main aim is to isolate objects or events from their contexts in time and space. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/science-is-the-ultimate-pornography-analytic-activity-whose-main-aim/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An individual's ability to draw is... the ability to shift to a different-from-ordinary way of processing visual information - to shift from verbal, analytic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-edwards/an-individual-s-ability-to-draw-is-the-ability-to-shift-to-a/) [Betty Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-edwards/) > [Photography is inherently an analytic discipline. Where a painter starts with a blank canvas and builds a picture, a photographer starts with the messiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-shore/photography-is-inherently-an-analytic-discipline-where-a-painter/) [Stephen Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-shore/) > [A function of a variable quantity is an analytic expression composed in any way whatsoever of the variable quantity and numbers or constant quantities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonhard-euler/a-function-of-a-variable-quantity-is-an-analytic-expression-composed/) [Leonhard Euler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonhard-euler/) [Browse all 105 Analytics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analytics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both false and true precisely because it is a philosophic explanation. The process of philosophic explanation is an analytic process, a process of breaking something down into subjects and predicates. What I mean (and everybody else means) by the word 'quality' cannot be broken down into subjects and predicates. This is not because Quality is so mysterious but because Quality is so simple, immediate and direct.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert M. Pirsig" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-is-going-to-be-both-false-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Analytics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-is-going-to-be-both-false-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/robert-m-pirsig-817_analytics_any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-i_1137068.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any philosophic explanation of Quality is going to be both false and true precisely because it is a…” — Robert M. Pirsig", "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 M. Pirsig", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Any philosophic explanation of Quality is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-is-going-to-be-both-false-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/any-philosophic-explanation-of-quality-is-going-to-be-both-false-and/#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 } } ] } ```