--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once in a while there are things the…" description: "\"Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too improbable, too unlikely, too preposterous.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg" --- # Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses… ![“Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too improbable, too unlikely, too preposterous.” quote by Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg) > “Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too improbable, too unlikely, too preposterous.” [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind rejects ideas that seem too improbable to be true, even if evidence exists. **In simple terms:** Our brains reject highly unlikely ideas. Key Takeaway Question evidence that challenges intuition. Themes cognition belief probability Mood curious skeptical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - scientific discovery - personal belief - critical thinking Key Concepts psychology skepticism cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs have you dismissed as too unlikely? - How can you test improbable claims? A Different Perspective Even improbable ideas can be true if supported by data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Appear Improbable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appear-improbable-2896426/) [Being true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-true/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Improbable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbable/) [Improbable Unlikely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbable-unlikely-2896428/) [Preposterous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preposterous/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Unlikely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlikely/) [Unlikely Preposterous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlikely-preposterous-2896427/) ## Related quotes > [Our daily life is mostly, made of cases in which we lose money and/or time and/or energy and/or appetite, cheerfulness and good health because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-m-cipolla/our-daily-life-is-mostly-made-of-cases-in-which-we-lose-money-and-or/) [Carlo M. 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If I absorbed his life force,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/sleep-with-seth-mortensen-good-grief-it-was-the-most-preposterous/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [What I got in Sunday school ... was simply a firm conviction that the Christian faith was full of palpable absurdities, and the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/what-i-got-in-sunday-school-was-simply-a-firm-conviction-that-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No writer in a free country should be expected to bother about the exact demarcation between the sensuous and the sensual; this is preposterous;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-writer-in-a-free-country-should-be-expected-to-bother-about-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Predictions are preposterous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-mason/predictions-are-preposterous/) [Jackie Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-mason/) > [Preposterous ass, that never read so far to know the cause why music was ordain'd! Was it not to refresh the mind of man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/preposterous-ass-that-never-read-so-far-to-know-the-cause-why-music/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Horror, let's face it, is basically pretty dumb. You're writing about events that are preposterous, and the trick is to dress them up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/horror-let-s-face-it-is-basically-pretty-dumb-you-re-writing-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/society-never-made-the-preposterous-demand-that-a-man-should-think-as/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More by Walter Abish > [“America fears the unshaven legs, the unshaven men's cheeks, the aroma of perspiration, and the limp prick. Above all it fears the limp prick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/america-fears-the-unshaven-legs-the-unshaven-men-s-cheeks-the-aroma/) [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) > [“I lie and am lied to, but the result of my lie is mental leaps, memory, knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/i-lie-and-am-lied-to-but-the-result-of-my-lie-is-mental-leaps-memory/) [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) > [“Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes, and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/ages-ago-alex-allen-and-alva-arrived-at-antibes-and-alva-allowing-all/) [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) > [In the past the French came to Germany less with the desire to understand it than with a zealous desire to interpret, to analyze…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/in-the-past-the-french-came-to-germany-less-with-the-desire-to/) [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) > [Is it possible for anyone in Germany, nowadays, to raise his right hand, for whatever the reason, and not be flooded by the memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/is-it-possible-for-anyone-in-germany-nowadays-to-raise-his-right-hand/) [Walter Abish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) [Explore all 6 Walter Abish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! 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I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too improbable, too unlikely, too preposterous.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Abish" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-brain-simply-refuses-to-accept/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accepting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-brain-simply-refuses-to-accept/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/walter-abish-53733_accepting_once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-bra_1913488.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too…” — Walter Abish", "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": "Walter Abish", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-abish/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Once in a while there are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-brain-simply-refuses-to-accept/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-abish/once-in-a-while-there-are-things-the-brain-simply-refuses-to-accept/#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 } } ] } ```