Assumptions Quotes

“Two of the most potent antidotes to relying entirely on assumptions are imagination and a small dose of humility.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“The degree of surprise or shock you experience from disruption correlates to your level of preparedness, perspectives, and your reliance on assumptions.”
― 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

“It is the outside actors who challenge assumptions and ask new questions that beat incumbents in imagining and innovating on what might come next.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“Climate-aligned interventions at the levels of education & mindsets, foresight & visions, and structures offer the most leverage for systemic change.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume IV - Disruption as a Springboard to Value Creation

“Complexity’s biggest dangers arise when we are mired in assumptions and boxed into existing sectors and industries instead of noticing new patterns on the fringe and changes emerging over time.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume IV - Disruption as a Springboard to Value Creation

“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

“The issue with uncompromising reliance on flawed assumptions is not being wrong, but being unprepared for alternative outcomes.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“The imagined suppression of uncertainty is nothing more than a mirage… The future is unknown, and we all constantly make assumptions. But to rely on assumptions as if they were certainty is irresponsible.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume II - Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty

“This sunball-watching person doesn't fit with my mental image of the Shadow of Death.'

'Sorry to disappoint.' Hunt's turn to lift a brow. 'What do you think I do with my spare time?'

'I don't know. I assumed you cursed at the stars and brooded and plotted revenge on all your enemies.”
― Sarah J. Maas, House of Earth and Blood

“I refused to be stuck. In Pasaje, California. In the smallness of my mother's life. In a fixed notion of my cooking, my abilities, my worth as ascribed to my Chineseness my Asianness my smallness my womanness my perpetual foreignness--myself.”
― C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

“Even the blind can see the light of growth,
Yet those with eyes are lost in convenience.
Even the deaf can hear the music of ascension,
Yet those with ears are lost in presumptions.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım

“You don't conquer heart by acting on assumption,
You don't conquer division by acting on ideology.
You don't conquer hate by means of intellectualism,
You don't conquer war by deploying more military.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“The power of evidence-based discipleship lies in its ability to help us see beyond our own biases and assumptions and into the reality of what works.”
― Justin Ho Guo Shun, The Art and Science of Discipleship: Evidence-Based Strategies to Empowering Leaders for Sustainable Ministry

“See people as they are. Never make assumptions.”
― Garima Soni - words world

“You don't know a goddamn thing. You're the smartest and the dumbest fucking person I've ever known.”
― Saul Berenson, Homeland

“There are a lot of different people from various places that I haven't met and know nothing about. That doesn't mean it's okay to make assumptions.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

“We are so lucky to have our children, even for a little while, but we take them for granted. We make the stupid assumption that as we are here, they will be, too, though that’s never been part of the contract.”
― Jodi Picoult

“People in a majority or socially supported position, no matter how well-meaning, are often so protected in their assumptions about the world that they do not even know they are making assumptions.”
― Sam Hope, Person-Centred Counselling for Trans and Gender Diverse People: A Practical Guide

“A smile speaks a language of its own. It can be cryptic in its communication –hiding emotions beneath the surface. For every smile can mask years of tears, portray a lie and fool others into believing everything is fine. Don’t always take a person’s smile as a measure of their happiness … take a look into their eyes.”
― Brittany Burgunder

“Assumptions are more dangerous than distorted truth.”
― Shubham

“Assumptions are more dangerous than distorted truth.”
― Shubham.S

“That is why whenever we make assumptions, we're asking for problems. We make an assumption, we misunderstand, we take it personally, and we end up creating a whole big drama for nothing.”
― Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

“Never trust appearances, promises without actions, and unchecked assumptions.
Always trust your instincts, earned credibility, and genuine connections with others.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“Once you’re on equal footing, it’s important to listen to and consider the other person’s point of view. Research shows that we often exaggerate how extreme our opponents are.

“Somebody says something and we all of a sudden create this whole construct about who they are as a person and what type of intention they have, and then we proceed as if that’s true,” said Julia Minson, an associate professor at Harvard Kennedy School. “That automatically sets up the adversarial environment in which someone has to lose.” She explains that it’s important to learn more about the other person’s actual intent, rather than filing it in with your own assumptions.”
― Evelyn Nam

“I once met someone who told me that I had an aura of attracting and engaging weird people. I felt offended because I knew that also implied that I am weird. Recently, after taking a walk through memory lane, I just realized that the person's observation is somehow true. I find normal to be boring but weird to be intriguing. And 'weird' is actually just a deviation from what everyone assumes to be the normal.”
― Elizabeth Nsenkyire

“Don't believe everything you think":

Question your inner narrative: Our thoughts can be biased and influenced by emotions. Regularly challenge your assumptions to get a clearer picture.
Thoughts are clouds, not facts: Let fleeting thoughts drift by without getting caught in their rain. Observe them, but don't base your reality on them.
Be your own fact-checker: Don't accept your initial thoughts as truth. Verify information and consider different perspectives before reaching conclusions.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“I think I was measuring you by me. I was assuming we're the same, because that's what humans do, isn't it? Automatically. Without thinking. We see everyone through our own lens and assume it's the only possible way of being.”
― Holly Smale, Cassandra in Reverse

“And I grew up believing these myths of manifest destiny and exceptionalism, the idea that I could do or be anything that I ever dreamed of, and assumed it was true of everyone else if they only did right and tried hard.”
― D. L. Mayfield