Vagueness Quotes

“If you can't be kind, at least be vague.”
― Judith Martin

“This moment
my mind is bereft of poetry, yet
I want to write
nothing but a poem.”
― Suman Pokhrel

“In this vagueness,
might a story of lives--
lives that have been crushed themselves
while crushing rocks into pieces--
be written.”
― Suman Pokhrel

“But to my questions he gave replies so vague that one could not tell whether they came from the mountains or the sea.”
― Sōseki Natsume, Kokoro

“I can't be friends with a man who blows hot and cold with the same breath.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“A story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.”
― George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant

“For remember that in general we don't use language according to strict rules-- it hasn't been taught to us by means of strict rules, either. We, in our discussions on the other hand, constantly compare language with a calculus preceding to exact rules.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Blue and Brown Books

“[F]or a social theorist ignorance is more excusable than vagueness. Other investigators can easily show I am wrong if I am sufficiently precise. They will have much more difficulty showing by investigation what, precisely, I mean if I am vague. I hope not to be forced to weasel out with 'But I didn’t really mean that.' Social theorists should prefer to be wrong rather than misunderstood. Being misunderstood shows sloppy theoretical work.”
― Arthur Stinchcombe

“Vagueness and procrastination are ever a comfort to the frail in spirit.”
― John Updike, In the Beauty of the Lilies

“Like all great things which then become fashions, science, as now the universal stamp of approval, probably receives more abuse than any other field of study. Glaze the word itself over whatever vague ideology one may presume ratified, no matter the degree of pseudo-science or lack of scholarly credibility packaged within, and the many will consume it like gravy on a feast. My thought for the time is that as the promise of true science increases, so shall rise its many more superficial counterparts as provided by the agenda-bound trendies and hyper-ambitious laypersons to boot.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

“Vagueness is the kingdom of the devil and it is as such on purpose." - On Vagueness”
― Lamine Pearlheart

“Haydon was more than his model, he was his inspiration, the torch-bearer of a certain kind of English calling which - for the very reason that it was vague and understated and elusive - had made sense of Guillam's life till now.”
― John le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

“Spiritual activity, education, civilization, culture, the idea are all vague, indefinite concepts, under the banner of which it is quite convenient to use words that have a still less clear meaning and therefore can easily be plugged into any theory.”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

“Siebel, The Magazine has a man in a suit on the cover. He's not smiling, or frowning. He wears a beard that isn't a beard; it's a quotation from a film nobody can put their finger on. 'Customer satisfaction,' says the brochure. 'Seamless integration.' 'Comprehensive upgrade.' Of what? I want to scream. 'Solutions provider.' Siebel has solutions for questions that have not yet been asked, will never be asked.
A Sino-American businessman holds a tiny screen in his hand: 'You're always connected and always available. Some call it a revolution; others call it evolution.' Language is de-fanged, homogenised. Yellow E-tab faces leer at you. Ecstasy without frenzy. Satisfaction, whether you want it or not.”
― Iain Sinclair

“People who have nothing much in mind for next week speak instead about the next century or millennium.”
― George F. Will, The Woven Figure: Conservatism and America's Fabric

“The specifics of what, exactly, these terms meant were never explained; as with any fantasy, vagueness was part of the appeal.”
― Sarah Dessen, Once and for All

“The traveler must, of course, always be cautious of the overly broad generalization. But I am an American, and a paucity of data does not stop me from making sweeping vague conceptual statements and, if necessary, following these statements up with troops.”
― George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone

“She had this vague look in her eyes, half-disappointed, half what's-the-difference. Like someone who realized he bought skim milk by mistake and doesn't have the energy to take it back.”
― Etgar Keret, The Girl on the Fridge

“He is a man of vagueness and precision in equal measure.”
― Gina Marinello-Sweeney, Prince of Chandeliers

“Someone was certainly guilty of something, however, and it behooved us to take all possible precautions.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Golden One

“Life is all about taking decisions, the precision or vagueness of which has an effect on the texture of our existence, our moral fabric and the rational side of our persona”
― Dr Prem Jagyasi

“Art in its essence is a dreamy vocation.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Oneironaut’s Diary

“Everybody has a notion of what a desert should look like. Effective definitions of deserts vary according to the background of those doing the defining and the purpose of their enquiry. An artist’s approach to deserts may be different from the stance taken by a scientist although, broadly, the two usually overlap geographically. It may, or may not, be surprising to learn that no universally accepted definition of the term ‘desert’ exists.”
― Nick Middleton, Deserts: A Very Short Introduction

“You can achieve anything by knowing nothing.”
― Samraat Singh

“Better the storm of truth than the peace of falsehood.”
― Aloo Denish Obiero