# Quote — Douglas R. Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach

> This type of paradox is quite characteristic of Zen. It is an attempt to "break the mind of logic".

- Author: [Douglas R. Hofstadter](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter.md)
- Book: [Godel, Escher, Bach](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter/godel-escher-bach.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter#G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach:_an_Eternal_Golden_Braid_(1979)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Topics: [thinking](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking.md)
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter/godel-escher-bach/this-type-of-paradox

## More from this book

> Perhaps the most concise summary of enlightenment would be: transcending dualism. … Dualism is the conceptual division of the world into categories … human perception is by nature a dualistic phenomenon—which makes the quest for enlightenment an uphill struggle, to say the least.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter/godel-escher-bach/perhaps-the-most.md)

Topics: [thinking](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking.md)

> Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter/godel-escher-bach/hofstadters-law-it-always.md)

Topics: [time](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time.md)

> Relying on words to lead you to the truth is like relying on an incomplete formal system to lead you to the truth. A formal system will give you some truths, but as we shall soon see, a formal system, no matter how powerful—cannot lead to all truths.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-r-hofstadter/godel-escher-bach/relying-on-words.md)

Topics: [truth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth.md), [words](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words.md)