Unpredictability Quotes

“life is a kind of Labyrinth, with all its twists and turns, its straight paths and its occasional dead ends.”
― Jim Henson

“You can’t rely on modeling uncertainties to deliver certainty.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume I - Reframing and Navigating Disruption

“Foresight does not seek to predict, but to drive imagination to inform decision-making and the actions required today in light of the potential futures ahead. Foresight prepares you for the swerves.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“None of these were “Black Swans,” which is the “go to” taxonomy for C-suites and policymakers justifying their surprise in the face of the assumptions they made about the world, signals they chose to ignore, and preparation they decided to skimp on.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“Complexity flies in the face of what is merely complicated, imposing limitations to our understanding.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume IV - Disruption as a Springboard to Value Creation

“Domino effects give way to butterfly effects given nonlinearity. “Outsized” conflates with “unpredictable” as a small cause yields disproportionate effects.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume IV - Disruption as a Springboard to Value Creation

“Scenarios are dynamic living narratives, and require updating as the world itself evolves.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume IV - Disruption as a Springboard to Value Creation

“The objective is not to get the future right. Rather, our work spurs better preparation for any of the futures which may arise.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“…this life doesn't simply come with its share of unpredictability; surprise it its most conspicuous feature.”
― Cicely Tyson, Just as I Am

“The wise could be counted on to do what was wise; there was no predicting the actions of a buffoon.”
― F.C. Yee, The Legacy of Yangchen

“Fear always accompanies the making of art, generated by the shock of seeing an idea taking its form. A sculpture in the mind is safe and secure--the actual work rarely behaves as intended.”
― Andy Goldsworthy, Passage

“... in that moment I know this is what I must do with my life; do away with the predictable, the mundane, and hurl myself into the unknown.”
― Soulla Christodoulou, Alexander and Maria

“You never know with nutcases.”
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

“Your opponent can observe and exploit any systematic pattern almost as easily as he can exploit an unchanging repetition of a single strategy. It is unpredictability that is important when mixing.”
― Avinash K. Dixit, The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life

“Does my existence constantly cause cognitive dissonance in you?”
― Et Imperatrix Noctem

“In a world of the ordinary and predictable, be a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Song of a Nature Lover

“Walking a small child was like herding water, Michael used to think when his own children were small. Heaven only knew what they'd take into their heads to do next - dart in front of a speeding car or throw a tantrum in mid-traffic or stop to pick a soaked cigar butt out of the gutter.”
― Anne Tyler, The Amateur Marriage

“Man is unpredictable, despite Mr. Wells' good record. On Monday, man may be hysterical with doom, and on Tuesday you will find him opening the Doomday Bar & Grill and settling down for another thousand years of terrifying queerness.”
― E.B. White, The Wild Flag: Editorials from the New Yorker on Federal World Government and Other Matters

“Imagine a life without uncertainty. Hope, according to Aeschylus, comes from the lack of certainty of fate; perhaps hope is inherently blind. Imagine how dull life would be if variables assessed for admission to a professional school, graduate program, or executive training program really did predict with great accuracy who would succeed and who would fail. Life would be intolerable—no hope, no challenge.

Thus, we have a paradox. While we all strive to reduce the uncertainties of our existence and of the environment, ultimate success—that is, a total elimination of uncertainty—would be horrific.

Knowing pleasant outcomes with certainty would also detract from life’s joy. An essential part of knowledge is to shrink the domain of the unpredictable. But while we pursue this goal, its ultimate attainment would not be at all desirable.”
― Reid Hastie, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making

“There are too many variables and uncertainties; too much in this world is either unpredictable or unlucky.”
― H.C. Roberts, Harp and the Lyre: Exposed

“People tends to predict, and finally all your value comes to the point of your unpredictability..!”
― Mahendar Singh Jakhar

“There is a close connection between the key concept of the genetic code and the pathology of cancer. Cancer implies an infinite proliferation of a basic cell in complete disregard of the laws governing the organism as a whole. Similarly, in cloning, all obstacles to the extension of the reign of the Same are removed; nothing inhibits the proliferation of a single matrix. Formerly sexual reproduction constituted a barrier, but now at last it has become possible to isolate the genetic matrix of identity; consequently it will be possible to eliminate all the differences that have hitherto made individuals charming in their unpredictability.”
― Jean Baudrillard, The Transparency of Evil: Essays in Extreme Phenomena

“Later, I would come to think of those first days as a time when we learned as a species that we had worried over the wrong things: the hole in the ozone layer, the melting of the ice caps, the West Nile and swine flu and killer bees. But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown.”
― Karen Thompson Walker

“...one consequence of this cognitive architecture is that when our predictive potential is limited –that is, when there is high uncertainty- we experience anxiety. Our predictive brain does not like unpredictability. This is where ritual comes in.”
― Dimitris Xygalatas, Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living

“When he pulled up the nets, they contained only one kind of fish– black pomfres, the flat diamonds of their bodies slick in the morning light. The uniformity did not surprise him; over the years, he'd learned that the waters here were temperamental. They could be relied upon for a good catch, but from time to time they threw up only praws or squid, and other times colorful varieties of fish that weren't even supposed to be found in this region. He'd grown to accept the unpredictability, embracing it as a game to be played, like the reading of tea leaves or the grooves of a palm (Heng 217).”
― Rachel Heng, The Great Reclamation

“~ Life, with all its twists and turns, is a testament to the unpredictable nature of existence. We may never fully understand the forces at play or the reasons behind our setbacks. Perhaps it's the whims of fate or the caprice of fortune. Regardless, we must acknowledge that perfection in action does not guarantee success. Time and chance happen to every man, and that our journey is defined not by the victories we achieve, but by the courage we display in the face of adversity. So let us take our chances, knowing that even in defeat, there lies the opportunity for growth and self-discovery.”
― Carson Anekeya

“Only the monsters down here were most definitely not nice, and trying to cuddle one would be dangerous, like kissing a piranha”
― Duncan Ralston, Where the Monsters Live

“Some folks are predictably unpredictable.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, BECOME: Unleash the Power of Moral Character and Be Proud of the Life You Choose

“Every country has its myths, and one that successful Indians liked to indulge was a romance of instability and adaptation—the idea that their country’s rapid rise derived in part from the chaotic unpredictability of daily life. […] In India, a land of few safe assumptions, chronic uncertainty was said to have helped produce a nation of quick-witted, creative problem-solvers. Among the poor, there was no doubt that instability fostered ingenuity, but over time the lack of a link between effort and result could become debilitating.”
― Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

“Cette plage aurait pu être une fin (en soi). Sauf qu'un copain m'a un jour écrit : « Rien n'est tracé dans la vie ».”
― Élodie Font, Coming In