Skeptic Quotes"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." "Learn to say, 'I do not know'." "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny.'" "A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition." "Skepticism is provisional, even if it lasts a lifetime." "Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." "There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect. We have to treat it with humility." "It is wrong always and everywhere for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence." "If you want to learn new things, you should try reading old books." "There's all the difference in the world between a belief that one is prepared to defend by quoting evidence and logic and a belief that is supported by nothing more than tradition, authority, or revelation." "The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found." "No one can accept the fundamental hypotheses of scientific psychology and be in the least mystical." "All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike — and yet it is the most precious thing we have." “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." "Nothing is more dangerous than active ignorance" "Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing." "The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin." “Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.” "I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true. The importance of the strength of our conviction is only to provide a proportionately strong incentive to find out if the hypothesis will stand up to critical examination." "For every problem, there is a solution that is neat, simple, and wrong." "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." "Belief in the truth commences with the doubting of all those 'truths' we once believed." "Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths" "I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." "William James used to preach the 'will to believe'. For my part, I should wish to preach the 'will to doubt'.... What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite." "Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt." "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." "Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it." "Skepticism is a provisional approach to claims. It is the application of reason to any and all ideas — no sacred cows allowed. In other words, skepticism is a method, not a position." "A skeptic is a person who would ask God for his ID card." "I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them." “No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.” "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." "The truth is rare and never simple." |
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