--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more we chase away the false…" description: "\"The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things we think we know about ourselves and others - the more mysterious our existence becomes.\" — S..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png" --- # The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things… ![“The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things we think we know about ourselves and others - the more mysterious our existence becomes.” quote by Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png) > “The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things we think we know about ourselves and others - the more mysterious our existence becomes.” [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning known truths reveals deeper mysteries, expanding our sense of existence. **In simple terms:** Chasing false certainties deepens mystery. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and curiosity. Themes philosophy existence self-discovery Mood inquisitive thoughtful Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - spiritual practice Key Concepts truth mystery self-knowledge Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs have you questioned lately? - How does uncertainty inspire creativity? A Different Perspective Seeking certainty can limit growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [False Mysteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-mysteries-589414/) [Know Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-mysterious-589415/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mysteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysteries/) [Mysteries Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysteries-things-589413/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Mysterious Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious-existence-589412/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Because there are mysteries. Because there are things that people are forbidden to speak about. Because there are things they do not remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/because-there-are-mysteries-because-there-are-things-that-people-are/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“I do believe in the mysteries of things, about myself and the things I see. I enjoy being puzzled and arriving at my own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barney-hoskyns/i-do-believe-in-the-mysteries-of-things-about-myself-and-the-things-i/) [Barney Hoskyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barney-hoskyns/) > [“None want to know the ignorant. Some want to know the simple. Many want to know the profound. Countless want to know the mysterious.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/none-want-to-know-the-ignorant-some-want-to-know-the-simple-many-want/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/the-more-unintelligent-a-man-is-the-less-mysterious-existence-seems/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [A mob is usually a creature of very mysterious existence, particularly in a large city. Where it comes from, or whither it goes, few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-mob-is-usually-a-creature-of-very-mysterious-existence-particularly/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Men are so delving into the mysteries of things that today a boy of twenty knows more than twenty doctors formerly knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/men-are-so-delving-into-the-mysteries-of-things-that-today-a-boy-of/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I've spent my life cultivating knowledge of myself. But the more I know myself, the more utterly mysterious I become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/i-ve-spent-my-life-cultivating-knowledge-of-myself-but-the-more-i/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“...spirituality alone will not take a man far in the Mysteries; he must have intellectual powers as well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/spirituality-alone-will-not-take-a-man-far-in-the-mysteries-he-must/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [Every reader, I suspect, has a book like this somewhere in his or her past, a book that seemed to hold within it, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/every-reader-i-suspect-has-a-book-like-this-somewhere-in-his-or-her/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I don't believe in destroying GOOD mysteries or adding to BAD reputations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-balance/i-don-t-believe-in-destroying-good-mysteries-or-adding-to-bad/) [John Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-balance/) > [I have a sense of them being Easter religions, for some reason. Christianity, of course, is a mystery religion, too, and I believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-have-a-sense-of-them-being-easter-religions-for-some-reason/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [My husband asked me once why I read so many mysteries, and part of it is just intellectual, part of it is the joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/my-husband-asked-me-once-why-i-read-so-many-mysteries-and-part-of-it/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“There are some mysteries of the universe that ought to remain mysteries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hill/there-are-some-mysteries-of-the-universe-that-ought-to-remain/) [Nathan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hill/) > [If you ask me to tell you anything about the nature of what lies beyond the phaneron… my answer is “How should I know?”……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gardner/if-you-ask-me-to-tell-you-anything-about-the-nature-of-what-lies/) [Martin Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-gardner/) > [“Maybe it's better not to know some things. Mysteries make us tick more than just about anything else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-carter-eaton/maybe-it-s-better-not-to-know-some-things-mysteries-make-us-tick-more/) [Jason Carter Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-carter-eaton/) ## More by Sam Keen > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To sustain love, a man and a woman must continually be marrying and divorcing, moving with, against, away from, and beyond each other, saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-sustain-love-a-man-and-a-woman-must-continually-be-marrying-and/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [In a way, human beings have never been part of the natural order; we're not biological in the normal sense. Normal biological animals stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/in-a-way-human-beings-have-never-been-part-of-the-natural-order-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-be-on-a-quest-is-nothing-more-or-less-than-to-become-an-asker-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [There is the extreme of hopelessness and the inevitability of doom, a deep despair that comes from the sense that our industrial, consuming society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/there-is-the-extreme-of-hopelessness-and-the-inevitability-of-doom-a/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Human beings are what I think of as "biomythic" animals: we're controlled largely by the stories we tell. When we get the story wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/human-beings-are-what-i-think-of-as-biomythic-animals-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If we come from good families where we have been supported well, there is a disillusionment we have to undergo in terms of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-we-come-from-good-families-where-we-have-been-supported-well-there/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To a large extent, the aged in our society are ghettoized. Old people are seen as useless, bypassed by history, old-fashioned, in the way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-a-large-extent-the-aged-in-our-society-are-ghettoized-old-people/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Call it "womb awe" or even "womb worship" but it's not simple envy. I don't remember even wanting to be a woman. But each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/call-it-womb-awe-or-even-womb-worship-but-it-s-not-simple-envy-i-don/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mounting an expedition to actualize a Compassionate Commonwealth of all peoples...is the great spiritual challenge of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mounting-an-expedition-to-actualize-a-compassionate-commonwealth-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The root of humanly caused evil is not man's animal nature, not territorial aggression, or innate selfishness, but our need to gain self-esteem, deny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-root-of-humanly-caused-evil-is-not-man-s-animal-nature-not/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If some incarnation of evil as unambiguous as Hitler appeared again, I would have no moral qualms about killing the enemy. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-some-incarnation-of-evil-as-unambiguous-as-hitler-appeared-again-i/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-just-battle-first-with-himself/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) [Explore all 104 Sam Keen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things we think we know about ourselves and others - the more mysterious our existence becomes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Keen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteries-those-things-we-think-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteries-those-things-we-think-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/sam-keen-4929_existence_the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteri_1643654.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The more we chase away the false mysteries - those things we think we know about ourselves and others - the…” — Sam Keen", "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": "Sam Keen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The more we chase away the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteries-those-things-we-think-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-more-we-chase-away-the-false-mysteries-those-things-we-think-we/#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 } } ] } ```