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If a man never contradicts himself, the reason must be that he virtually never says anything at all.
Erwin Schrodinger
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that contradiction is a natural part of expressing complex thoughts, and that avoiding contradiction may indicate a lack of meaningful communication.

Erwin Schrödinger's quote implies that contradictions are inherent in human expression and thought. When someone never contradicts themselves, it may suggest they are not engaging fully with ideas or expressing their true thoughts, as genuine discourse often requires a willingness to entertain opposing viewpoints or acknowledge uncertainty.

Themes

ContradictionExpressionThoughtCommunicationTruth

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about philosophy, one might quote Schrödinger to emphasize the complexity of human thought.

More from Erwin Schrodinger

Quantum physics thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe.
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A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.
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I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is deficient. It gives a lot of factual information, puts all our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but it is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity.
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There is no kind of framework within which we can find consciousness in the plural; this is simply something we construct because of the temporal plurality of individuals, but it is a false construction... The only solution to this conflict insofar as any is available to us at all lies in the ancient wisdom of the Upanishad.
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Vedanta teaches that consciousness is singular, all happenings are played out in one universal consciousness and there is no multiplicity of selves.
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Consciousness is a singular for which there is no plural.
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