Possibility is the condition or fact of being possible. The Latin origins of the word hint at ability. Possibility also refers to something that "could happen", that is not precluded by the facts, but usually not probable. Impossible denotes that something cannot happen or be done.
- Subjunctive possibility
- Logical possibility
- Epistemic possibility
- Possibility theory
Famous quotes containing the word possibility:
“You run ahead?—Do you do it as a shepherd? Or as an exception? A third possibility would be as a runaway ... First question of conscience.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Not for nothing does it say in the Commandments ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any image’ ... Every image is a sin.... When you love someone you leave every possibility open to them, and in spite of all the memories of the past you are ready to be surprised, again and again surprised, at how different they are, how various, not a finished image.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“Women generally should be taught that the rough life men must needs lead, in order to be healthy, useful and manly men, would preclude the possibility of a great degree of physical perfection, especially in color. It is not a bad reflection to know that in all probability the human animal has endowments enough without aspiring to be the beauty of all creation as well as the ruler.”
—Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)