And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task. Jostein Gaarder
About This Quote

This quote is a great metaphor for life. What we see is what we get. We can try to find the rare white crow but we just might not find it. It's important to not reject the possibility of finding a white crow.

It means that we should look at all the possibilities and choose the most likely. If something doesn't seem likely, we should at least think about it but don't throw it out just because we haven't seen one yet. The more we think about it, the more likely we become and this will lead to success.

Source: Sophies World

Some Similar Quotes
  1. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. - Elie Wiesel

  2. Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We... - Haruki Murakami

  3. The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace. - Mahatma Gandhi

  4. He suddenly recalled from Plato's Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split then in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost. - Milan Kundera

  5. It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters, - Amit Ray

More Quotes By Jostein Gaarder
  1. How terribly sad it was that people are made in such a way that they get used to something as extraordinary as living.

  2. So now you must choose.. Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so? To children, the world and everything in it is new, something that gives rise to astonishment. It is...

  3. Imagine that one day you are out for a walk in the woods. Suddenly you see a small spaceship on the path in front of you. A tiny Martian climbs out the spaceship and stands on the ground looking up at you… What would you...

  4. Wisest is she who knows she does not know.

  5. When you realize there is something you don't understand, then you're generally on the right path to understanding all kinds of things.

Related Topics