Ambiguity Quotes | Beyond Motive

top of page

Ambiguity Quotes

"It's hard to tell whether the ship or airplane - they're all the same, I'm convinced - is male or female; it may shift back and forth."

"It's hard to tell whether the ship or airplane - they're all the same, I'm convinced - is male or female; it may shift back and forth."

John C. Hawkes, American Novelist

18

"Ambiguity in directors is a hard thing to deal with."

"Ambiguity in directors is a hard thing to deal with."

Skeet Ulrich, American Actor

18

"If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious."

"If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious."

Kingman Brewster, Jr., American Educator

Ambiguity, Kingman Brewster

16

"The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood."

"The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood."

Alexander Haig, American Public Servant

15

"Take advantage of the ambiguity in the world. Look at something and think what else it might be."

"Take advantage of the ambiguity in the world. Look at something and think what else it might be."

Roger von Oech, American Author

Ambiguity, World

14

"The use of the polygraph has done little more than create confusion, ambiguity and mistakes."

"The use of the polygraph has done little more than create confusion, ambiguity and mistakes."

Aldrich Ames, American Criminal

Ambiguity, Confusion, Mistakes

14

"I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door."

"I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door."

Michael Ondaatje, Canadian Author

Ambiguity, Ending, Open

13

"Writing a really general parser is a major but different undertaking, by far the hardest points being sensitivity to context and resolution of ambiguity."

"Writing a really general parser is a major but different undertaking, by far the hardest points being sensitivity to context and resolution of ambiguity."

Graham Nelson, English Mathematician

Ambiguity, Being, Resolution, Sensitivity

13

"The Butcher Boy is a very great novel indeed and a very important Irish novel. The ambiguity of that is, he's writing a book about an appalling situation and he does it in a hilarious way."

"The Butcher Boy is a very great novel indeed and a very important Irish novel. The ambiguity of that is, he's writing a book about an appalling situation and he does it in a hilarious way."

Stephen Rea, Irish Actor

Ambiguity, Writing

11

"As if violence could make light. Maybe violence could make light."

"As if violence could make light. Maybe violence could make light."

Aspen Matis, American Author

Ambiguity, Violence, Paradox, Darkness, Light

10

"In sum, every pore of his being oozed one thing okay, FINE. Every pore oozed two things. The first was irrelevant. The second was dangerous."

"In sum, every pore of his being oozed one thing okay, FINE. Every pore oozed two things. The first was irrelevant. The second was dangerous."

G.S. Jennsen, American Author

Ambiguity, Danger, Instinct, Threat

8

"It was easier to deal with Tennyson when he was fighting me; but having him on my side was frightening, because now I didn't know who the enemy was."

"It was easier to deal with Tennyson when he was fighting me; but having him on my side was frightening, because now I didn't know who the enemy was."

Neal Shusterman, American Author

Ambiguity, Trust, Alliance, Uncertainty, Conflict

3

"I know how to be the witness to her grief. I don't know how to be this kind of villain."

"I know how to be the witness to her grief. I don't know how to be this kind of villain."

Holly Black, American Author

Ambiguity, Grief, Identity, Conflict, Morality

"I don't want to be a vampire' she told herself. But in her dreams, she kind of did."

"I don't want to be a vampire' she told herself. But in her dreams, she kind of did."

Holly Black, American Author

Ambiguity, Desire, Conflict, Fantasy, Identity

bottom of page