Introduction to J. J. Coupling’s story Period Piece in Isaac Asimov Presents The Golden Years of Science Fiction, Fifth Series (1983), , pp. 523-524

Are there things about the universe that we cannot know in the usual way of observing and measuring, but that we can know in some other way—intuition, revelation, mad insight? If so, how can you know that what you know in these non-knowing ways is really so. Anything you know without knowing, others can know only on your flat statement without any proof other than “I know!”

— Isaac Asimov

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Are there things about the universe that we cannot know in the usual way of observing and measuring, but that we can know in some other way—intuition, revelation, mad insight? If so, how can you know that what you know in these non-knowing ways is really so. Anything you know without knowing, others can know only on your flat statement without any proof other than “I know!”" in the context of "Introduction to J. J. Coupling’s story Period Piece in Isaac Asimov Presents The Golden Years of Science Fiction, Fifth Series (1983), , pp. 523-524" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Isaac Asimov" (Quotes, General sources, 1981–1992) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Isaac Asimov

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. 2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992) was a Russian-born American biochemist who was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, his works include the Foundation series and I, Robot.