“At a bare minimum, understanding entails being able to detect an internal contradiction: a paradox.”

— William Poundstone

Source: Labyrinths of Reason (1988), Chapter 1: "Paradox", p. 21

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William Poundstone 33

American writer 1955

Richard Kadrey (1957) San Francisco-based novelist, freelance writer, and photographer

Source: Butcher Bird

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John Elkann (1976) Italian businessman

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“Being able to love others is a form of blessing. Being able to understand others is a form of wisdom.”

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Singapore, (17 February 2017)[citation needed].

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““In fact, there’s probably only one thing worse than not being able to understand a person.”
“What’s that?” asked Nimrod.
“Being able to understand him completely.””

James K. Morrow (1947) (1947-) science fiction author

"Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower" p. 76 (originally published in Author’s Choice Monthly #8: Swatting at the Cosmos)
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“Part of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory”

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“Disinterestedness is as great a puzzle and paradox as ever. Indeed, strictly speaking, it is a species of irrationality, or insanity, as regards the individual’s self; a contradiction of the most essential nature of a sentient being, which is to move to pleasure and from pain”

Alexander Bain (1818–1903) Scottish philosopher and educationalist

Alexander Bain, On the Study of Character, including an estimate of phrenology http://books.google.com/books?id=xLhcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA292, 1861, p. 292.

“Being able to communicate with someone doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand them.”

Eugene J. Martin (1938–2005) American artist

Annotated Drawings by Eugene J. Martin: 1977-1978

“Not even Mr Blair has been able to erode the unions conviction that we all have a “right” to a minimum wage… Both the minimum wage and the Social Charter would palpably destroy jobs.”

Boris Johnson book Lend Me Your Ears

Lend Me Your Ears, p387
2000s, 2003

“In fact, there’s probably only one thing worse than not being able to understand a person.”

James K. Morrow (1947) (1947-) science fiction author

“What’s that?” asked Nimrod.
“Being able to understand him completely.”
"Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower" p. 76 (originally published in Author’s Choice Monthly #8: Swatting at the Cosmos)
Short fiction, Bible Stories for Adults (1996)

“At a bare minimum, understanding entails being able to detect an internal contradiction: a paradox.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

William Poundstone 33

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