Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.

The saying frames difficult problems as generative rather than merely obstructive: a “great and deep” difficulty is not solved by applying more effort within the same assumptions, but by allowing the problem to compel a shift in conceptual framework. In this view, the solution is “contained” in the difficulty because the very features that make it intractable expose the limits of current thinking and point toward what must be revised—definitions, models, or categories. The emphasis on changing one’s thinking aligns with the history of scientific breakthroughs, where anomalies and paradoxes often precipitate new theories. It also generalizes beyond science as advice about intellectual flexibility and learning from impasses.