“If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't.”

— Ian Stewart

Source: The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ian Stewart 2

British mathematician and science fiction author 1945

David Zindell book Neverness

Lyall Watson
Neverness (1988)

“His words were simple words enough,
And yet he used them so,
That what in other mouths was rough
In his seemed musical and low.”

James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat

The Shepherd of King Admetus http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1170/, st. 5

“We should continue to use simple models where they capture enough of the core underlying structure and incentives that they usefully predict outcomes. When the world we are trying to explain and improve, however, is not well described by a simple model, we must continue to improve our frameworks and theories so as to be able to understand complexity and not simply reject it.”

Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012) American political economist

Elinor Ostrom (2009) "Nobel Prize Lecture", December 8.

“Hey, you're gonna have to keep it simple for us folks! Keep the words simple so we can understand what you're talking about.”

Ray Comfort (1949) New Zealand-born Christian minister and evangelist

AronRa vs Ray Comfort (September 17th, 2012), Radio Paul's Radio Rants

“Truth is simple. Very simple – so simple that a child can understand it. In fact, so simple that only a child can understand it. Unless you become a child again you will not be able to understand it.”

Rajneesh (1931–1990) Godman and leader of the Rajneesh movement

“I'm looking for the teacher who is simple enough to be great, and great enough to be simple.”

Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister

Ich suche den Lehrer, der einfach genug ist, um groß zu sein und groß genug, um einfach zu sein.
Michael: a German fate in diary notes (1926)

“Maybe we all just wanted someone to believe in. That's all each of us wanted, and it should be so simple, but it never was simple.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Source: The Six Rules of Maybe

“My grandmother used to say life was so much easier when you were simple-minded.
It’s taken me almost my whole life to understand what she meant.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Source: Still Mostly True

“College education tends to make simple things complicated and hard to understand. What we should do is to teach our children the most essential and simple principles of life and ways to handle problems.”

Zheng Yuanjie (1955) Chiese writer

Zheng Yuanjie (2004) in: "Zheng Yuanjie's 19 years in fairy tales" on chinadaily.com.cn, May 10, 2004 ( online http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-05/10/content_329434.htm).

“For I am more selves than Neville thinks. We are not simple as our friends would have us to meet their needs. Yet love is simple.”

Virginia Woolf book The Waves

Bernard, section III
The Waves (1931)

“If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't.”

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