The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

Solum ut inter ista certum sit, nihil esse certi.

Pliny the Elder

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Topic

Certainty Uncertainty Truth

Author

Pliny the Elder

Source

Historia Naturalis

Genre

Scientific literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Latin

Time

77 BC 70s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Scientist Writer

From

Italy Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pliny the Elder. Historia Naturalis [Natural History]. 77 AD, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pliny the Elder. Natural History: A Selection, translated by John F. Healy. Penguin Classics, 1991, bk. 2.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Pliny the Elder about certainty: “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.”
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A quote by Pliny the Elder about certainty: “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.”
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A quote by Pliny the Elder about certainty: “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Truth

There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.

Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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More information about this quote
Topic
Embellishment Truth

Author

Mark Twain
Source
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Medium
Novel
Genre
Children's literature Adventure novel
Language
English
Time
1884 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. London: Chatto & Windus, 1884, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, edited by R. Kent Rasmussen. Penguin Classics, 2014, ch. 1.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

For our discussion is about no ordinary matter, but on the right way to conduct our lives.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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More information about this quote
Topic
How to live Purpose of life
Speaker
Socrates

Author

Plato
Source
Republic
Medium
Philosophical dialogue Dialogue
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

Another quote originally in Latin

It therefore comes to pass that everyone is fond of relating his own exploits and displaying the strength both of his body and his mind, and that men are on this account a nuisance one to the other.

Baruch Spinoza

Ethics

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More information about this quote
Topic
Bragging and boasting

Author

Baruch Spinoza
Source
Ethics
Medium
Treatise
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Latin
Time
1677 1670s 17th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Spinoza, Baruch. Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Desmonstrata [Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order]. 1677, pt. 3, prop. 55, note.

Current Citation

Spinoza, Benedict. Ethics, translated by Michael Silverthorne and Matthew J. Kinser. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pt. 3, prop. 55, note.

Another quote of the following type Paradox

The more things change, the more they are the same.

Alphonse Karr

More information about this quote
Topic
Change

Author

Alphonse Karr
Source
Les Guepes
Medium
Magazine
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
French
Time
1849 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Karr, Alphonse. Les Guepes. Au Bureau du Figaro, c. 1849.