The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Uncertainty
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
Winston Churchill The Second World War · 1948-1953

Quotes

“Knowledge is of no real value if all you can tell me is what happened yesterday. It is necessary to tell what will happen tomorrow.”

Richard Feynman · The Meaning of It All, 1998 · Primary source

“There never has been security. No man has ever known what he would meet around the next corner; if life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.”

Eleanor Roosevelt · Tomorrow is Now, 1963 · Primary source

“In my life I had come to realize that when things were going very well indeed it was just the time to anticipate trouble. And, conversely, I learned from pleasant experience that at the most despairing crisis, when all looked sour beyond words, some delightful break was apt to lurk just around the corner.”

Amelia Earhart · Last Flight, 1937 · Primary source

“The old order won’t give way to the new without a phase of experimentation and chaos in between.”

Andrew S. Grove · High Output Management, 1983 · Primary source

“He that builds before he counts the cost, acts foolishly; and he that counts before he builds, finds he did not count wisely.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“’Tis easy to see, hard to foresee.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“A company’s ability to respond to unplanned events, good or bad, is a prime indicator of its ability to compete.”

Bill Gates · Business @ the Speed of Thought, 1999 · Primary source

“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”

Winston Churchill · The Second World War, 1948-1953 · Primary source

“Hope makes a good breakfast. Eat plenty of it.”

Ian Fleming · From Russia, with Love, 1957 · Primary source

“You never get real adventures without a bit of risk somewhere.”

Ian Fleming · Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, 1964 · Primary source

“If you have competence, you pretty much know its boundaries already. To ask the question [of whether you are past the boundary] is to answer it.”

Charlie Munger · Poor Charlie’s Almanack, 2005 · Primary source

“If you don’t get elementary probability into your repertoire, you go through a long life like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”

Charlie Munger · Poor Charlie’s Almanack, 2005 · Primary source

“I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is so far as I can tell. It doesn’t frighten me.”

Richard Feynman · Horizon: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, 1981 · Primary source

“How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!”

Thomas Jefferson · Letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 1825 · Primary source

“In war nothing is ever as bad, or as good, as it is reported to Higher Headquarters.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”

Marie Curie · No reliable source

“Marry, and you will regret it. Do not marry, and you will also regret it. Marry or do not marry, you will regret it either way.”

Søren Kierkegaard · Either/Or, 1843 · Primary source

Works

Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1844
Experience

An exploration of perception, change, grief and uncertainty, examining how temperament and circumstance shape human experience and limit claims to certainty.

Read summary·Explore 4 quotes
Richard Feynman · 1981
Horizon: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

An interview exploring Feynman’s scientific curiosity, approach to knowledge, childhood influences, teaching, and reflections on the atomic bomb.

Read summary·Explore 2 quotes

Related Tags

Decision-making 35 Transcendentalism 32 Judgement 31 Purpose 31 Resilience 30 Experience 30 Risk 29 Courage 25 Perspective 21 Perception 20 Knowledge 18 Adaptation 17 Imagination 16 Understanding 15 Fear 12 Hope 12 Self-awareness 10 Experimentation 9 Optimism 9 Adventure 7 Change 7 Anticipation 6 Practical judgement 6 Marriage 6 Organisational change 5 Reason 5 Choice 5 Verification 5 Grief 5 Planning 4 Foresight 4 Prediction 4 Worry 4 Probability 4 Intellectual humility 4 Regret 4 Manhattan Project 4 Setbacks 3 Budgeting 3 Contingency planning 3 Circle of competence 3 Doubt 3 Models 3 Scientific curiosity 3 Good fortune 2 Present action 2 Encouragement 2 Quantitative reasoning 2 Scientific method 2 Transition 1 Cost estimation 1 Contingency 1 Organisational agility 1 Competitive resilience 1 Rapid response 1 Anxiety 1 Knowledge limits 1 Existential questions 1 Testability 1 Scientific knowledge 1 Indecision 1 Military intelligence 1 Reporting bias 1 Information reliability 1 Science education 1