Welcome to a curated collection of quotes delving into the enigmatic realm of not knowing. Uncertainty, ambiguity, and the unknown are facets of life that often perplex and challenge us. Whether it’s the uncertainty of the future, the ambiguity of a situation, or the vast expanse of knowledge yet to be discovered, not knowing is a fundamental part of the human experience.
In the face of uncertainty, we may feel a range of emotions from fear and anxiety to curiosity and wonder. Embracing the unknown can be daunting, yet it is also an opportunity for growth, exploration, and discovery. These quotes offer insights, perspectives, and reflections on the beauty and complexity of not knowing, reminding us that it is okay to be uncertain and that uncertainty often leads to growth and understanding.
Below, you’ll find a collection of quotes from various thinkers, writers, and philosophers spanning different cultures and time periods. Feel free to explore, ponder, and reflect on these words as you navigate the intricacies of not knowing in your own life.
Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done; it’s just doing it. Alan Watts
You can say you have faith, you can say you believe in God, but until you feel completely uncomfortable, not knowing where to turn, at your lowest – that is where you have to decide to trust that God’s timing is right and that He will show you why you’re going through this. Carly Pearce
Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president, died from multiple myeloma. Frank Reynolds, the ABC anchorman, who I had talked to toward the end of his life, not knowing what he had, died from it. Later I found out that Frank McGee, who was the Today Show host, died from it. Tom Brokaw
There’s nothing better than not knowing what’s going to happen until you put the pieces together. Feist
If you don’t know your blood pressure, it’s like not knowing the value of your company. Mehmet Oz
I think there’s no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world. James Laughlin
I try to keep an open mind – not knowing it all. Paul Wall
I’ve always felt robbed of something by people not knowing I was a Jew. Piper Laurie
Our greatest motivation in life comes from not knowing the future. Thomas Frey
I’ve always loved life, and I’ve never known what’s ahead. I love not knowing what might be round the corner. I love serendipity. Twiggy
An actor shouldn’t undergo psychoanalysis, because there are a lot of things you’re better off not knowing. Paul Lynde
I will not be concerned at other men’s not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability. Confucius
I came back from university thinking I knew all about politics and racism, not knowing my dad had been one of the youngest-serving Labour councillors in the town and had refused to work in South Africa years ago because of the situation there. And he’s never mentioned it – you just find out. That’s a real man to me. A sleeping lion. Johnny Vegas
The hardest part of this whole ordeal is not knowing if your children are getting what they need to survive. Susan Smith
One of the hardest aspects of this protracted public persona is not knowing others as well as they feel they know me. It’s a rather clumsy feeling actually; to not know someone who acts as though you’re old friends. Christopher Knight
I guess because I had such a horrible life growing up, going from place to place not knowing what I was gonna do and ending up being homeless, there was a lot of pain and a lot of anger that was coming out through my guitar playing. Dave Mustaine
I think it’s exciting, working with new people. There’s something refreshing about not knowing what’s going to happen. It’s like an open sky of possibilities. MO
I love to be in the position of not knowing what I’m gonna do, but having rehearsed all of those so when something happens with the others actors I go with whatever that is I’m getting. Wayne Rogers
That’s what I’m interested in: the space in between, the moment of imagining what is possible and yet not knowing what that is. Julie Mehretu
I don’t know where I see myself next month let alone five years. My whole life is last minute. I enjoy the spontaneity of it; I like not knowing what I will do next or whether I will be in the country next week. I just enjoy being around a creative environment. Amber Le Bon
The ocean is the lifeblood of our world. If we were to lose our fish that we appreciate so much by overfishing; or if we were to lose some of our favorite beaches to overbuilding and pollution, then how would we feel? It’s become a case of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone. Aaron Peirsol
There has never been a great athlete who died not knowing what pain is. Bill Bradley
Sometimes, not knowing what you’re doing allows you to do things you never knew you could do. Nell Scovell
I went from weirdo teenager to pixie waif to them not knowing what the hell to do with me. Winona Ryder
Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. Agnes de Mille
Pollock said several times that he couldn’t separate himself from his art. Not knowing much about modern art when I began to read about him, I was much more his persona – his struggles as a human being – that was interesting to me. Ed Harris
Cabin Fever was murder. There was a lot of psychological stress, like not knowing if we were going to finish the movie. The day we arrived to start rehearsals, our main investors pulled out. Rider Strong
One of the difficulties of not knowing for so long whether we were doing a fifth season or not was that we weren’t really allowed to go out shopping for work. Claudia Black
Whenever you start working on something, you have to go about it with the underlying assumption that this puzzle has a solution, right? If you started a jigsaw puzzle not knowing whether all the pieces were in the box, it would not be a fun exercise. Boyan Slat
The odds of me coming into the rocket business, not knowing anything about rockets, not having ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in my favor. Elon Musk
My methodology is not knowing what I’m doing and making that work for me. Stone Gossard
I love the characters not knowing everything and the reader knowing more than them. There’s more mischief in that and more room for seriousness, too. Anne Enright
Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you. Eckhart Tolle
I’m having a great time. It’s like I’m on some ridiculous big roller coaster not knowing what’s happening next, but just having a great time on the ride. Samantha Mumba
Swimming outside the pool is scary. I don’t like not knowing what’s underneath me – it’s quite dark in lakes. I swam in the sea in Australia around the Great Barrier Reef, though, and that was incredible because you could see exactly what was underneath you. Ellie Simmonds
I will literally open my mouth not knowing what is coming out. Leo Kottke
We can identify with Frodo and Sam, setting off not knowing quite where they are going and what they are to do. Timothy Radcliffe
That night at Carnegie Hall was a great experience. When the thing was first put up to me I was a little dubious, not knowing just what would be expected of us. Benny Goodman
As much as most of the actors were kind of curious to know what their character meant in relation to the script and to the plot, they really were quite happy to be part of the adventure of not knowing. Radha Mitchell
If you don’t know where you make your mistakes, that’s your worst mistake: not knowing where your mistakes are at. Meek Mill
The Cylons are such a frightening concept – not knowing who is real. No way. Mary McDonnell
You don’t need to know who I’m dating. You don’t need to know what I’m doing. I’m fine with everybody not knowing that. Eva Longoria
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares. Henri Nouwen
Sjogren’s is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what’s happening after spending years not knowing… I feel like I can get better and move on. Venus Williams
I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger. I long for a faith that is gloriously treacherous. I want to be with Jesus, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. Mike Yaconelli
I’ve never been to the Olympics, so I don’t know what to expect. It’s better for me, just like my first Worlds… My third Worlds, I knew what it was like, so I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. But this is my first Olympics, and not knowing what to expect is good for me. Simone Biles
Immediately after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I was extremely concerned about my family, friends and all the people in Puerto Rico. I felt helpless and could not concentrate not knowing if my family and loved ones were safe. I wanted to help my people as fast as I could. Yadier Molina
Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to the football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterback’s idea. John Madden
My family moved from California to New Jersey in the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. I will never forget the first day in a new school, walking into the cafeteria during lunch and not knowing a single soul. I didn’t feel confident enough to share a seat at just anyone’s table. Camille Guaty
Actually, the fun part was not knowing what the heck I was going to be doing. Utada Hikaru
I went to a party when I was a student and they had a mynah bird up in the bedroom where people put their coats. I was completely captivated – I just sat there all night talking to it. The next day I passed a pet shop and they had a conure – it’s a little parakeet – in the window. I bought it, not knowing what it was or how to look after it. Derren Brown
I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there. Richard P. Feynman
Not knowing anything is the sweetest life. Sophocles
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next. Ursula K. Le Guin
Lohan and I talk about just things that happen. It’s Lindsay. She’s great. I went from not knowing who she was to not being able to get rid of her because she’s everywhere. She’s on everything. Jonathan Bennett
The constant in my life was me not knowing my worth, not loving me enough, not shaping my life, being a shadow of my true self. Porsha Williams
Single parenting is sometimes just a case of sitting around by yourself in mild despair, not knowing what to do. Simon Van Booy
Not knowing my birthday had never seemed strange. I knew I’d been born near the end of September, and each year I picked a day, one that didn’t fall on a Sunday because it’s no fun spending your birthday in church. Tara Westover
You think you can go into all those auditions not knowing who you are? The work came after I found my sense of self – when I wasn’t so manic and desperate. Jenifer Lewis
Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one. Krzysztof Kieslowski
Unfortunately, the food industry has not yet faced this situation and begun taking measures to avoid exploiting our weakness for not knowing when we have had enough. Marvin Harris
In the first day of the Soviet Army’s arrival, I and the other comrades were isolated and then found ourselves here, not knowing anything… I can only conjecture what could have happened. Alexander Dubcek
Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps few know their own strength. It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of. Jonathan Swift
You don’t want to be starting a film not knowing what you want to do. Russell Crowe
I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it. Rosalia de Castro
Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to a football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterback’s idea. John Madden
I guess I didn’t feel confident enough to be searching in a big public way. I was very content at the time to toil in obscurity on things that I thought might point me in certain directions or teach me certain things – not knowing what that would be. Steven Soderbergh
It’s a really scary thing, having your dreams come true and seeing everything you ever wanted happening, getting the attention for it and then not knowing how to handle it properly. Samaire Armstrong
Less than an hour before he’d congratulated himself on escaping all the traps of Earth, all the snares of Man. Not knowing that the greatest trap of all, the final and the fatal trap, lay on this present planet. Clifford D. Simak
Anyone with a heart, with a family, has experienced loss. No one escapes unscathed. Every story of separation is different, but I think we all understand that basic, wrenching emotion that comes from saying goodbye, not knowing if we’ll see that person again – or perhaps knowing that we won’t. Luanne Rice
Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story; we do not know where we are in the story. We do not know who, ultimately, is at fault or who will carry the blame in the end. David Whyte
My new toy is not knowing, because it’s very creative. I’m the guy who likes to get in the car and get lost. Jeffrey Tambor
It’s exciting not knowing what tomorrow, or the next month, or the next year holds. Lucy Boynton
As a child I knew almost nothing, nothing beyond what I had picked up in my grandmother’s house. All children, I suppose, come into the world like that, not knowing who they are. V. S. Naipaul
Korean, yes, I am now fluent in Korean. I was not always. When I got to Korea, I was constantly put on TV shows not knowing what was going on. So that forced me to learn Korean so I could stop looking like an idiot. Eric Nam
Having a scapegoat means not knowing that we have one. Rene Girard
I think there’s a difference between ditzy and dumb. Dumb is just not knowing. Ditzy is having the courage to ask! Jessica Simpson
The habit of common and continuous speech is a symptom of mental deficiency. It proceeds from not knowing what is going on in other people’s minds. Walter Bagehot
Whatever hardships there have been in my life I still live in a very privileged position. Fear is not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Fear is seeing a child get hurt. Fear is watching someone you love waste away. Fear is knowing you are going to die yourself. But there’s no fear in what I do. I write books. James Frey
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Gilda Radner
I have retired, but if there’s anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do. Nelson Mandela
Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come. Serena Williams
A lot of women don’t know how to love because there’s deep reasons for them not knowing how to love. And what I mean by deep reasons is deep and dark reasons. Lil Wayne
So many people prefer to live in drama because it’s comfortable. It’s like someone staying in a bad marriage or relationship – it’s actually easier to stay because they know what to expect every day, versus leaving and not knowing what to expect. Ellen DeGeneres
I definitely like the mystery of not knowing how things will turn out, you know. Ian Williams
I don’t know the literary world; I was scared of being confronted with famous names, not knowing what they had written. It was occupied territory I was entering. John le Carre
I always get carried away when I’m kissing. I just go nuts! Walking away after it is the strangest moment for me. It’s embarrassing – not knowing what to say to each other. Robert Pattinson
Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door. Emily Dickinson
As a result of 50 years of emancipation, feminine qualities were dying out or being transferred to the males. Pansies of both sexes were everywhere, not yet completely homosexual, but confused not knowing what they were. The result was a herd of unhappy sexual misfits… the women wanting to dominate and the men to be nannied. Ian Fleming
There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were. Nina Simone
Ninety per cent of the world’s woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves – so how can we know anyone else? Sydney J. Harris
There’s a confidence that comes from youth and not knowing better. But there comes a point, as an actor, when you do know better, and that is when the fear starts. Kiefer Sutherland
The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along. Rumi
I think my whole identity is formed around not knowing where I’m from. It might even be that I find comfort in that confusion. Mitski
Some of us pray demands. Some of us pray complaints. Some of us pray knowing, and some of us pray not knowing. But prayer is the attitude that you hold in your heart. Iyanla Vanzant
They’re trying to tell us that we’re not right, so we have to buy their products. The number one cause of mental illness is not knowing who you are and you can’t know who you are if you don’t spend time honoring yourself, and living in the present. Naomi Judd
God is best known in not knowing him. Saint Augustine
Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance. Bertrand Russell
When I sat down and wrote the first paragraph, I was like, ‘Oh, I can go with this.’ I didn’t do an outline. I didn’t do anything. I just wrote sentence by sentence, not knowing where the story was going. Colleen Hoover
We want better reasons for having children than not knowing how to prevent them. Dora Russell
