Quotes from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern

Douglas R. Hofstadter ·  880 pages

Rating: (3.2K votes)


“It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order.”
― Douglas R. Hofstadter, quote from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern


“I would like to understand things better, but I don’t want to understand them perfectly.”
― Douglas R. Hofstadter, quote from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern


“This computer-generated pangram contains six a's, one b, three c's, three d's, thirty-seven e's, six f's, three g's, nine h's, twelve i's, one j, one k, two l's, three m's, twenty-two n's, thirteen o's, three p's, one q, fourteen r's, twenty-nine s's, twenty-four t's, five u's, six v's, seven w's, four x's, five y's, and one z.”
― Douglas R. Hofstadter, quote from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern


“Please, Oh please, publish me in your collection of self-referential sentences!”
― Douglas R. Hofstadter, quote from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern


“Supperational thinkers, by recursive definition, include in their calculations the fact that they are in a group of superrational thinkers.”
― Douglas R. Hofstadter, quote from Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern



About the author

Douglas R. Hofstadter
Born place: in New York City, New York, The United States
Born date February 15, 1945
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The creatures of human myth flourish in Ourea. Trees are this world's skyscrapers. Magic its currency. And while the rest of Earth forgot what it means to dream big, Ourea kept alive its wonder.”
― S.M. Boyce, quote from Treason


“Practice listening to other people talk about their beliefs without interrupting them. Listen to Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, Mormons, Anarchists, Republicans, KKK members, Heterosexuals, Homosexuals, Meat Eaters, Vegans, Scientists, Scientologists, and so on . . . Develop the ability to listen to ANYTHING without losing your temper. The first principle here at Buddhist Boot Camp is that the opposite of what you know is also true. Accept that other people’s perspectives on reality are as valid as your own (even if they go against everything you believe in), and honor the fact that someone else’s truth is as real to them as yours is to you. Then (and this is where it gets even more difficult), bow to them and say, “Namaste,” which means the divinity within you not only acknowledges the divinity within others, but honors it as well. Compassion is the only thing that can break down political, dogmatic, ideological, and religious boundaries. May we all harmoniously live in peace. You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. —The Buddha”
― Timber Hawkeye, quote from Buddhist Boot Camp


“Bola raz žena, vdova s tromi synmi, volali sa Čierny, Hnedý a Modrý. Čierny bol najstarší, výbušný a agresívny. Hnedý bol prostredné dieťa, tiché a nevýrazné. Modrého mala matka najradšej. A Modrý bol vrah.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Blueeyedboy


“I need a whole other life not to let this one go to waste.”
― Lera Auerbach, quote from Excess of Being


“Some people are attracted to sickness, to the kind of madness where sparks fly
off the head, to the incoherence of despair, masked by nervous energy, which winds up looking like bewildered joy.”
― Luke Davies, quote from Candy


Interesting books

Defiance
(23.6K)
Defiance
by Shelly Crane
The Raven Prince
(16.2K)
The Raven Prince
by Elizabeth Hoyt
Ramayana
(5.4K)
Ramayana
by Vālmīki
Goddess of the Sea
(8.9K)
Goddess of the Sea
by P.C. Cast
The Snow Queen
(10.5K)
The Snow Queen
by Joan D. Vinge
Spoon River Anthology
(7.5K)
Spoon River Antholog...
by Edgar Lee Masters

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.