Balance & Opposition
Paradox
A statement that appears contradictory but may express a defensible insight. Understanding it requires identifying the sense in which its apparently conflicting claims can hold together.
"The child is father of the man." — Wordsworth
Don't confuse it with Antithesis, Oxymoron. Oxymoron is paradox compressed to a two-word collision ('living death'); antithesis balances opposites without asserting both are true.
Examples
The more I learn, the more I discover that I do not know.
Growing knowledge seems to produce growing ignorance; the apparent contradiction resolves as awareness of what remains unknown.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as paradox.
Anaphora 14 Antithesis 9 Metaphor 9 Passive Voice 7 Parallelism 7 Parataxis 6 Personification 5 Asyndeton 5
The rest of the family
Antithesis Parallelism Isocolon Chiasmus Antimetabole Juxtaposition Oxymoron