---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The assumption that anything true is…"
description: "\"The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.\" — William Poundstone"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg"
---

#  The assumption that anything true is knowable is the…

![“The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.” quote by William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg)

> “The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.”

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Claiming all truth is knowable leads to self‑contradictory paradoxes because some truths are beyond comprehension.

**In simple terms:** Believing everything can be known creates paradoxes.

Key Takeaway

Question what can be truly known.

Themes

philosophy epistemology paradoxes

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- academic debate
- scientific research
- everyday decision making

Key Concepts

knowledge limits self‑reference logical contradiction

Questions to Reflect On

- What truths might be beyond human understanding?
- How do we handle unknowable concepts?

A Different Perspective

Some truths may be inherently unknowable, limiting the claim.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Assumption True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption-true-476743/) [Grandfather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather/) [Grandfather Paradoxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather-paradoxes-476741/) [Knowable Grandfather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowable-grandfather-476742/) [Paradox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) [Paradoxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradoxes/) [True Knowable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-knowable-476744/)

## Related quotes

> [“And while we may never be able to wrap our minds around the thing itself, it is by the power of a story that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-fisher/and-while-we-may-never-be-able-to-wrap-our-minds-around-the-thing/)

[Casey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-fisher/)

> [Though we talk peace, we wage war. Sometimes we even wage war in the name of peace. Does that seem paradoxical? Well, war is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/though-we-talk-peace-we-wage-war-sometimes-we-even-wage-war-in-the/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [This is classic when you begin thinking about what is a great founder is, you navigate what is apparent paradoxes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/this-is-classic-when-you-begin-thinking-about-what-is-a-great-founder/)

[Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/)

> [It is one of the great paradoxes of the stock market that what seems too high usually goes higher and what seems too low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-neil/it-is-one-of-the-great-paradoxes-of-the-stock-market-that-what-seems/)

[William O'Neil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-neil/)

> [Only by acknowledging the full extent of slavery's full grip on U.S. Society - its intimate connections to present day wealth and power, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-a-blackmon/only-by-acknowledging-the-full-extent-of-slavery-s-full-grip-on-u-s/)

[Douglas A. Blackmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-a-blackmon/)

> [“The ancient sages never put their teachings in systematic form. They spoke in paradoxes, for they were afraid of uttering half-truths. They began by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-ancient-sages-never-put-their-teachings-in-systematic-form-they/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I look upon paradoxes as the impotent efforts of men who, not having capacity to draw attention and celebrity from good sense, fly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/i-look-upon-paradoxes-as-the-impotent-efforts-of-men-who-not-having/)

[Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/)

> [The Socratic teacher turns his students away from himself and back onto themselves; he hides in paradoxes, makes himself inaccessible. The intimate relationship between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/the-socratic-teacher-turns-his-students-away-from-himself-and-back/)

[Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/)

> [“The story ‘Good Old Neon’ invokes two conundrums from mathematical logic, the Berry and Russell paradoxes, to describe a psychological double bind that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ryerson/the-story-good-old-neon-invokes-two-conundrums-from-mathematical/)

[James Ryerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ryerson/)

> [I'm into paradoxes. I wanted to make an album about them, but the group told me I was a pretentious fart. They were right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-may/i-m-into-paradoxes-i-wanted-to-make-an-album-about-them-but-the-group/)

[Brian May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-may/)

> [When the mathematician says that such and such a proposition is true of one thing, it may be interesting, and it is surely safe.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kasner/when-the-mathematician-says-that-such-and-such-a-proposition-is-true/)

[Edward Kasner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kasner/)

> [There are very few theorems in advanced analysis which have been demonstrated in a logically tenable manner. Everywhere one finds this miserable way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-henrik-abel/there-are-very-few-theorems-in-advanced-analysis-which-have-been/)

[Niels Henrik Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-henrik-abel/)

> [The next day, when I was sober, I thought again about the three of us, and about time's many paradoxes. For instance: that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-next-day-when-i-was-sober-i-thought-again-about-the-three-of-us/)

[Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/)

> [I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-would-rather-be-a-man-of-paradoxes-than-a-man-of-prejudices/)

[Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/)

> [The paradox is really the pathos of intellectual life and just as only great souls are exposed to passions it is only the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-paradox-is-really-the-pathos-of-intellectual-life-and-just-as/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

## More by William Poundstone

> [Samuelson spotted a mistake in Bacheliers work. Bachelier's model had failed to consider that stock prices cannot fall below zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/samuelson-spotted-a-mistake-in-bacheliers-work-bachelier-s-model-had/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [There is a deep connection between Bernoulli's dictum and John Kelly's 1956 publication. It turns out that Kelly's prescription can be restated as this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/there-is-a-deep-connection-between-bernoulli-s-dictum-and-john-kelly/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [“In view of this, it may seem remarkable that anything as complex as a text of Hamlet exists. The observation that Hamlet was written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/in-view-of-this-it-may-seem-remarkable-that-anything-as-complex-as-a/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [Expectation is a statistical fiction, like having 2.5 children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/expectation-is-a-statistical-fiction-like-having-2-5-children/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [“In 1894 Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patents expired. Within a few years, over 6,000 local telephone companies were competing for the U.S. market.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/in-1894-alexander-graham-bell-s-telephone-patents-expired-within-a/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [Paradox is thus a much deeper and universal concept than the ancients would have dreamed. Rather than an oddity, it is a mainstay of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/paradox-is-thus-a-much-deeper-and-universal-concept-than-the-ancients/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [Bernoulli's real contribution was to coin a word. The word has been translated into English as "utility". It describes this subjective value people place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/bernoulli-s-real-contribution-was-to-coin-a-word-the-word-has-been/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [There were many at Bell Labs and MIT who compared Shannon's insight to Einstein's. Others found that comparison unfair - unfair to Shannon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/there-were-many-at-bell-labs-and-mit-who-compared-shannon-s-insight/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [A bit is worth 10,000 basis points.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/a-bit-is-worth-10-000-basis-points/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [Carl Friedrich Gauss, often rated the greatest mathematician of all time, played the market. On a salary of 1,000 thalers a year, Euler left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/carl-friedrich-gauss-often-rated-the-greatest-mathematician-of-all/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [The more improbable the message, the less "compressible" it is, and the more bandwidth it requires. This is Shannon's point: the essence is its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-more-improbable-the-message-the-less-compressible-it-is-and-the/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [“The stumbling block isn't the certainty effect per se. It's the way that smart people are influenced by mere words, by the way the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-stumbling-block-isn-t-the-certainty-effect-per-se-it-s-the-way/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [The ultimate compound return rate is acutely sensitive to fat tails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-ultimate-compound-return-rate-is-acutely-sensitive-to-fat-tails/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [Your second ducat, like your second million, is never quite as sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/your-second-ducat-like-your-second-million-is-never-quite-as-sweet/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

> [The best paradoxes raise questions about what kinds of contradictions can occur-what species of impossibilities are possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-best-paradoxes-raise-questions-about-what-kinds-of-contradictions/)

[William Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

[Explore all 33 William Poundstone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/)

## More Assumption quotes

> [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/)

[Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/)

> [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/)

[Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/)

> [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/)

[Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/)

> [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/)

[Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/)

> [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/)

[Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/)

> [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/)

[Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/)

> [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/)

[Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/)

> [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/)

[Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/)

> [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/)

[George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/)

> [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/)

[Philip Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-selznick/)

> [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/)

[Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/)

> [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/)

[Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/)

> [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/)

[Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/)

> [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/)

[Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/)

[Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Poundstone"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-knowable-is-the-grandfather-of/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Assumption"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-knowable-is-the-grandfather-of/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/william-poundstone-19065_assumption_the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-kno_1630232.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.” — William Poundstone",
                "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": "William Poundstone",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-poundstone/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The assumption that anything true is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-knowable-is-the-grandfather-of/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-poundstone/the-assumption-that-anything-true-is-knowable-is-the-grandfather-of/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
