74 Baffling Paradoxes That Look "Simple," But Might Challenge Your Perception Of Things

“The beginning of the end,” “less is more,” “silence speaks volumes,” or “it is better to give than to receive.” While reading, we often come across phrases like these that just don’t make sense at first glance. However, after a careful look, we can understand what they are really trying to say. 

That’s basically a paradox, which is a powerful literary device. Writers often use it to push readers to question their opinions and challenge their assumptions. It is generally defined as a statement or concept that seems contradictory, but, when inspected closely, reveals a deeper truth. Its ability to open a whole new door of meaning is what renders it so fascinating.

When you look at the word’s etymology, Merriam-Webster sheds light on its Greek roots. These people were all too aware of how a paradox could take us outside our usual way of thinking. They basically combined the prefix “para” (meaning beyond or outside of) with the verb “dokein” (meaning to think), forming “paradoxos,” an adjective meaning “contrary to expectation.” 

Latin speakers used that word as the basis for the noun paradoxum. Later, English speakers borrowed it in the 1500s as “paradox.” Research shows the earliest evidence for paradox dates to 1533, in the writing of Thomas More, a lord chancellor, humanist, and martyr.

We have come a long way from the 1500s. But we shouldn’t underrate the ability of a mind-bending paradox in today’s age of increasing totalitarian governments. Writers can use it to disrupt conventional thinking and make readers weigh opposing ideas at the same time. That makes paradox a tool for intellectual resistance. It can also make people question the “truth” these governments feed them. 

According to Alan Watt, a bestselling novelist and filmmaker, “For a writer who enjoys stretching the limits of language to reach the utmost bound of human thought, there is no better tool than the paradox.”

“A great paradox is both confounding and beautiful. It reminds us that there are limits to what logic can capture and that some aspects of truth are inherently contradictory. Language and argument are shorthands; they can never fully explain what they’re attempting to explain. Paradox reminds us that storytelling often lives beyond simple logic, in the tension between opposing ideas,” he adds.

Whether it be Shakespeare or Emily Dickinson, many notable literary figures have used this device. However, legendary baseball player and coach Yogi Berra was another major personality famous for using paradoxes. In fact, his paradoxical statements were so impressive that they became famous as “Yogi-isms.”

For instance, when he said, “Baseball is ninety percent mental, and the other half is physical,” it might seem like a comic statement. But when you really try to understand him, it sounds like he was stressing that physical ability isn’t enough. And when he said, “The future ain’t what it used to be,” he was probably trying to say that what we envision isn’t what materializes. 

While his statements might sound comical, a closer look shows he was a total genius. On that note, here are some of my favorite Yogi-isms:

“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

“It gets late early out there.”

“If people don’t want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?”

“I didn’t really say everything I said.”