--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where unclarity resides, there is…" description: "\"Where unclarity resides, there is temptation, and there it proves only too easily the stronger. Wherever there is ambiguity, wherever there is wavering..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/soren-kierkegaard-578_ambiguity_where-unclarity-resides-there-is-temptat_2339168.jpg" --- # Where unclarity resides, there is temptation, and there it… ![“Where unclarity resides, there is temptation, and there it proves only too easily the stronger. Wherever there is ambiguity, wherever there is wavering, there is disobedience down at the bottom.” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/soren-kierkegaard-578_ambiguity_where-unclarity-resides-there-is-temptat_2339168.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/soren-kierkegaard-578_ambiguity_where-unclarity-resides-there-is-temptat_2339168.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/soren-kierkegaard-578_ambiguity_where-unclarity-resides-there-is-temptat_2339168.jpg) > “Where unclarity resides, there is temptation, and there it proves only too easily the stronger. Wherever there is ambiguity, wherever there is wavering, there is disobedience down at the bottom.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambiguity invites temptation and disobedience, suggesting that unclear situations weaken moral resolve. **In simple terms:** Unclear situations lead to temptation and disobedience. Key Takeaway Seek clarity to strengthen resolve. Themes morality ambiguity temptation human nature philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - decision making - leadership - personal relationships - legal judgments - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts ethical psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help you clarify ambiguous situations? - Can uncertainty ever be beneficial? A Different Perspective Not all ambiguity leads to weakness; sometimes it fosters creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian/) [Disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disobedience/) [Orthodox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orthodox/) [Orthodox christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orthodox-christian/) [Temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temptation/) ## Related quotes > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [God is present in the moment of choice, not in order to watch but in order to be chosen. Therefore, each person must choose.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/god-is-present-in-the-moment-of-choice-not-in-order-to-watch-but-in/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [When you say 'Yes' or promise something, you can very easily deceive yourself and others also, as if you had already done what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/when-you-say-yes-or-promise-something-you-can-very-easily-deceive/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [It was not to save a nation that Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, nor to appease angry gods... Then why does Abraham do it?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-was-not-to-save-a-nation-that-abraham-went-to-sacrifice-isaac-nor/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...a human being not only can choose but... he must choose... for in this way God retains His honor while at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-human-being-not-only-can-choose-but-he-must-choose-for-in-this-way/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [... the more one needs God the more perfect he is. To need God is nothing to be ashamed of but is perfection itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-more-one-needs-god-the-more-perfect-he-is-to-need-god-is-nothing/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [ ...the reason for \[this age's\] anxiety and unrest is because in one direction, 'truth' increases in scope and quantity - via science and technology… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-reason-for-this-age-s-anxiety-and-unrest-is-because-in-one/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...knowing God is the condition for the sanctification of a human being by God's assistance and according to His intention. Wherever God is, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/knowing-god-is-the-condition-for-the-sanctification-of-a-human-being/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...it is not the obscure passages in Scripture that bind you but the ones you understand. With these you are to comply at once.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-is-not-the-obscure-passages-in-scripture-that-bind-you-but-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks that only the person who desires great wealth chooses mammon. Alas, the person who insists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-is-presumptuous-ridicule-of-god-if-someone-thinks-that-only-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...the greatest thing each person can do is to give himself to God utterly and unconditionally - weaknesses, fears, and all. For God loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-thing-each-person-can-do-is-to-give-himself-to-god/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [It is only all too easy to understand the requirements contained in God's Word ('Give all your goods to the poor.' 'If anyone strikes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-is-only-all-too-easy-to-understand-the-requirements-contained-in/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Truth is not something you can appropriate easily and quickly. You certainly cannot sleep or dream yourself to the truth. No, you must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/truth-is-not-something-you-can-appropriate-easily-and-quickly-you/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [...there is one thing that all Satan's cunning and all the snares of temptation cannot take by surprise - an undivided will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/there-is-one-thing-that-all-satan-s-cunning-and-all-the-snares-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More Ambiguity quotes > [The position is clear - there is no ambiguity in Sinn Fein's position. We, along with all the other parties, have signed up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/the-position-is-clear-there-is-no-ambiguity-in-sinn-fein-s-position/) [Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I blame my grandfather 100 percent for his oldest son's death. I don't think there's any ambiguity there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/i-blame-my-grandfather-100-percent-for-his-oldest-son-s-death-i-don-t/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-the-relationship-between-social-dominance-orientation-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Yet again, an ancient answer echoes across the centuries: Listen! Listen to stories! For what stories do, above all else, is hold up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-kurtz/yet-again-an-ancient-answer-echoes-across-the-centuries-listen-listen/) [Ernest Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-kurtz/) > [My path to wisdom began when I stopped pretending to know things I didn't know. When I explicitly admitted to the limits of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/my-path-to-wisdom-began-when-i-stopped-pretending-to-know-things-i/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism - the failure to fail, and fail big, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-there-is-a-single-tragic-flaw-that-mars-our-biggest-enterprises-it/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I've always been drawn to ambiguity in pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-ambiguity-in-pop-music/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I am in the utmost perplexity, yand have wished a hundred times, that if there is a A God, nature would manifest him without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/i-am-in-the-utmost-perplexity-yand-have-wished-a-hundred-times-that/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There's a lot of ambiguity in life, and so often, our art is very neatly wrapped up at the end, when our lives never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-coon/there-s-a-lot-of-ambiguity-in-life-and-so-often-our-art-is-very/) [Carrie Coon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-coon/) > [“Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/man-must-not-attempt-to-dispel-the-ambiguity-of-his-being-but-on-the/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Browse all 431 Ambiguity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Where unclarity resides, there is temptation, and there it proves only too easily the stronger. 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