--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This spiritualist, this statistician…" description: "\"This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway?\" — Thomas Pynchon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg" --- # This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway? ![“This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway?” quote by Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg) > “This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway?” [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning identity and expertise reveals the fluidity of self and knowledge. **In simple terms:** Identity and expertise are fluid; question them. Key Takeaway Explore your own definitions. Themes identity knowledge philosophy Mood curious introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - personal reflection - creative writing - public discourse - null Key Concepts postmodernism self‑concept epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What defines your core identity? - How do you validate expertise? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis may lead to paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Spiritualist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritualist/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [ I was born rather late in \[my father's\] life, in his mid - 40s. And so what he did up until the time he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-was-born-rather-late-in-my-father-s-life-in-his-mid-40s-and-so-what/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [“materialist and a spiritualist accept the same definition of a crystal of sodium chloride.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/materialist-and-a-spiritualist-accept-the-same-definition-of-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Which is one reason that by the end of the 1860s, Wallace had become a spiritualist. Like Gray, he too found it impossible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-fuller/which-is-one-reason-that-by-the-end-of-the-1860s-wallace-had-become-a/) Randall Fuller > [“If a leaden bullet is composed of electric charges, may not a human spirit be composed of something equally intangible—or tangible? I found myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-blatchford/if-a-leaden-bullet-is-composed-of-electric-charges-may-not-a-human/) [Robert Blatchford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-blatchford/) > [Great believers are always reckoned infidels, impracticable, fantastic, atheistic, and really men of no account. The spiritualist finds himself driven to express his faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/great-believers-are-always-reckoned-infidels-impracticable-fantastic/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [My mother was a spiritualist. We had weekly séances at our house with a neighbor who was a medium and various friends, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/my-mother-was-a-spiritualist-we-had-weekly-s-ances-at-our-house-with/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [ “Especially did his \[Seth Jones\] intense belief in the efficacy of the “Prayer of Faith” produce a deep impression—partly due to this unquestioned fact:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bradford/especially-did-his-seth-jones-intense-belief-in-the-efficacy-of-the/) [Hope Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bradford/) > [I wish to confound all these people, to create a work of art of a supernatural realism and of a spiritualist naturalism. I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joris-karl-huysmans/i-wish-to-confound-all-these-people-to-create-a-work-of-art-of-a/) [Joris-Karl Huysmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joris-karl-huysmans/) > [“I believe everyone is on a spiritual path—some people know it, some don’t. The ones that know it call themselves religious, spiritual, or Soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-mildon/i-believe-everyone-is-on-a-spiritual-path-some-people-know-it-some/) [Emma Mildon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-mildon/) > [I've got different things going on - part spiritualist, part humanitarian, part brat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-love/i-ve-got-different-things-going-on-part-spiritualist-part/) [Mike Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-love/) > [If the dead talk to you, you are a spiritualist; if God talks to you, you are a schizophrenic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/if-the-dead-talk-to-you-you-are-a-spiritualist-if-god-talks-to-you/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [“Sorry, pigtails, but subtlety isn't an option anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-miles/sorry-pigtails-but-subtlety-isn-t-an-option-anymore/) [T. A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-miles/) > [My grandmother's first husband was a spiritualist medium. What fascinates me about that is the balance between conviction and sincerity and trickery, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/my-grandmother-s-first-husband-was-a-spiritualist-medium-what/) [Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/) > [“Don't be a spiritualist and don't be a materialist: be both. Don't be a Zorba and don't be a Buddha; be both: Zorba the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/don-t-be-a-spiritualist-and-don-t-be-a-materialist-be-both-don-t-be-a/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [“Having grown up knowing the formerly-mentioned historical figures are part of my family lineage, I was interested to learn that at least one, famed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bradford/having-grown-up-knowing-the-formerly-mentioned-historical-figures-are/) [Hope Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bradford/) ## More by Thomas Pynchon > [“How strange tonight, this city. As if something trembled below its surface, waiting to burst through.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/how-strange-tonight-this-city-as-if-something-trembled-below-its/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“It was one of those great iron afternoons in London: the yellow sun being teased apart by a thoasand chimneys breathing, fawning upward without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/it-was-one-of-those-great-iron-afternoons-in-london-the-yellow-sun/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Surely for as long as there have been nights as bad as this one---something to raise the possibility of another night that could actually,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/surely-for-as-long-as-there-have-been-nights-as-bad-as-this-one/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Death glided by, shadowless, among the empties on the grass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/death-glided-by-shadowless-among-the-empties-on-the-grass/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse of history's rags and straws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/people-read-what-news-they-wanted-to-and-each-accordingly-built-his/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Out of that night and day of unconditional wrath, folks would've expected to see any city, if it survived, all newly reborn, purified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/out-of-that-night-and-day-of-unconditional-wrath-folks-would-ve/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“As spread thighs are to the libertine...so was the letter V to young Stencil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/as-spread-thighs-are-to-the-libertine-so-was-the-letter-v-to-young/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Oedipa wondered whether, at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), she too might not be left with only compiled memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/oedipa-wondered-whether-at-the-end-of-this-if-it-were-supposed-to-end/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/if-they-can-get-you-asking-the-wrong-questions-they-don-t-have-to/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“remember didn't you sneak away from camp to have a moment alone with What you felt stirring across the land . . . it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/remember-didn-t-you-sneak-away-from-camp-to-have-a-moment-alone-with/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Through rain...then through dreaming glass, green with the evening. And herself in chair, old-fashioned, bonneted, looking west over the deck of Earth, inferno red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/through-rain-then-through-dreaming-glass-green-with-the-evening-and/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“She knew instinctively: he will be fine as the fraternity boy just out of an Ivy League school who knows he will never stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/she-knew-instinctively-he-will-be-fine-as-the-fraternity-boy-just-out/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Lovely morning, World War Two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/lovely-morning-world-war-two/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Listen to anything and take it apart again. Spectrum analysis, in my head. I can break down chords, and timbres, and words too into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/listen-to-anything-and-take-it-apart-again-spectrum-analysis-in-my/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [A screaming comes across the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/a-screaming-comes-across-the-sky/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) [Explore all 483 Thomas Pynchon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## More Spiritualist quotes > [ I was born rather late in \[my father's\] life, in his mid - 40s. And so what he did up until the time he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/i-was-born-rather-late-in-my-father-s-life-in-his-mid-40s-and-so-what/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [“Don't be a spiritualist and don't be a materialist: be both. Don't be a Zorba and don't be a Buddha; be both: Zorba the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/don-t-be-a-spiritualist-and-don-t-be-a-materialist-be-both-don-t-be-a/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [My grandmother's first husband was a spiritualist medium. What fascinates me about that is the balance between conviction and sincerity and trickery, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/my-grandmother-s-first-husband-was-a-spiritualist-medium-what/) [Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/) > [“Sorry, pigtails, but subtlety isn't an option anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-miles/sorry-pigtails-but-subtlety-isn-t-an-option-anymore/) [T. A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-miles/) > [If the dead talk to you, you are a spiritualist; if God talks to you, you are a schizophrenic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/if-the-dead-talk-to-you-you-are-a-spiritualist-if-god-talks-to-you/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I've got different things going on - part spiritualist, part humanitarian, part brat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-love/i-ve-got-different-things-going-on-part-spiritualist-part/) [Mike Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-love/) > [“I believe everyone is on a spiritual path—some people know it, some don’t. The ones that know it call themselves religious, spiritual, or Soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-mildon/i-believe-everyone-is-on-a-spiritual-path-some-people-know-it-some/) [Emma Mildon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-mildon/) > [I wish to confound all these people, to create a work of art of a supernatural realism and of a spiritualist naturalism. I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joris-karl-huysmans/i-wish-to-confound-all-these-people-to-create-a-work-of-art-of-a/) [Joris-Karl Huysmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joris-karl-huysmans/) > [ “Especially did his \[Seth Jones\] intense belief in the efficacy of the “Prayer of Faith” produce a deep impression—partly due to this unquestioned fact:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bradford/especially-did-his-seth-jones-intense-belief-in-the-efficacy-of-the/) [Hope Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bradford/) > [My mother was a spiritualist. We had weekly séances at our house with a neighbor who was a medium and various friends, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/my-mother-was-a-spiritualist-we-had-weekly-s-ances-at-our-house-with/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Great believers are always reckoned infidels, impracticable, fantastic, atheistic, and really men of no account. The spiritualist finds himself driven to express his faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/great-believers-are-always-reckoned-infidels-impracticable-fantastic/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“If a leaden bullet is composed of electric charges, may not a human spirit be composed of something equally intangible—or tangible? I found myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-blatchford/if-a-leaden-bullet-is-composed-of-electric-charges-may-not-a-human/) [Robert Blatchford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-blatchford/) > [“Which is one reason that by the end of the 1860s, Wallace had become a spiritualist. Like Gray, he too found it impossible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-fuller/which-is-one-reason-that-by-the-end-of-the-1860s-wallace-had-become-a/) Randall Fuller > [“materialist and a spiritualist accept the same definition of a crystal of sodium chloride.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/materialist-and-a-spiritualist-accept-the-same-definition-of-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Having grown up knowing the formerly-mentioned historical figures are part of my family lineage, I was interested to learn that at least one, famed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bradford/having-grown-up-knowing-the-formerly-mentioned-historical-figures-are/) [Hope Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bradford/) [Browse all 20 Spiritualist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritualist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Pynchon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what-are-you-anyway/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Spiritualist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what-are-you-anyway/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/thomas-pynchon-533_spiritualist_this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what_476670.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This spiritualist, this statistician, what are you anyway?” — Thomas Pynchon", "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": "Thomas Pynchon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This spiritualist, this statistician, what are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what-are-you-anyway/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/this-spiritualist-this-statistician-what-are-you-anyway/#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 } } ] } ```