Certainty Quotes

• The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.

  Erich Fromm

  Block, Power, Men

  Erich Fromm (2013). “Man for Himself: An Inquiry Into the Psychology of Ethics”, p.52, Open Road Media

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• Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security

  John Allen Paulos

  Inspirational, Life, Success

  John Allen Paulos (2007). “A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market”, p.5, Basic Books

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• The minute one utters a certainty, the opposite comes to mind.

  May Sarton

  Opposites, Mind, Minutes

  May Sarton (2014). “Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing: A Novel”, p.48, Open Road Media

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• To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.

  Socrates

  Ridiculous, Uncertain, Uncomfortable

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• Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

  Voltaire

  Inspirational, Faith, Atheist

  Voltaire (1919). “Voltaire in His Letters: Being a Selection from His Correspondence”

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  The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Confidence, Wisdom

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• The present is the only reality and the only certainty.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Reality

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• The more I see the less I know for sure.

  John Lennon

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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  I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of imagination.

  John Keats

  Inspirational, Truth, Lying

  Letter to Benjamin Bailey, 22 Nov. 1817

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• Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity.

  Vaclav Havel

  Hope, Hero, Giving

  "Vaclav Havel Dead: The Quotes Of The Man Who 'Lived In Truth'" by Paul Vale, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. December 18, 2011.

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• It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.

  Henri Poincare

  Absolute Certainty, Foreseeing, Foreseen

  The Foundations of Science Science and Hypothesis (p. 129)

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• A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.

  Bret Harte

  Inspirational, Hands, Bird

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• Whether gods exist or not, there is no way to get absolute certainty about ethics. Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can.

  Richard Stallman

  Way, Ethics, Absolute Certainty

  "Thus Spake Stallman". Slashdot.org Interview, slashdot.org. May 01, 2000.

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• The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

  William Butler Yeats

  Passionate, Doubt And Certainty, Anarchy

  "The Second Coming" l. 1 (1921)

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• For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

  Vincent Van Gogh

  Inspirational, Dream, Stars

  Vincent van Gogh, Rachel Barnes (1990). “Van Gogh by Vincent”

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• Inquiry is fatal to certainty.

  Will Durant

  Learning, Acceptance, Science

  Will Durant (2011). “The Age of Faith: The Story of Civilization”, p.1077, Simon and Schuster

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• As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Funny, Wisdom

  Address to Prussian Academy of Sciences, Berlin, 27 Jan. 1921

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• The certainties of one age are the problems of the next.

  R. H. Tawney

  Art, Philosophy, Science

  R. H. Tawney (2016). “Religion And The Rise Of Capitalism”, p.238, Verso Books

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• Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.

  Charles Darwin

  Inspirational, Confidence, Atheist

  Charles Darwin (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Charles Darwin (Illustrated)”, p.6343, Delphi Classics

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• The existence of a first cause of the universe is a necessity of thought ... Amid the mysteries which become more mysterious the more they are thought about, there will remain the one absolute certainty that we are over in the presence of an Infinite, Eternal Energy from which all things proceed.

  Herbert Spencer

  Science, Energy, Firsts

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• Facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away while scientists debate rival theories for explaining them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air pending the outcome.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Science, Ideas, Apples

  "Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History". Book by Stephen Jay Gould. "Evolution as Fact and Theory", pp. 254 - 55, 1983.

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• Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men eminent for knowledge and sagacity, has not yet attained the certainty and stability of science.

  Samuel Johnson

  Knowledge, Science, Men

  Samuel Johnson (1827). “The Rambler”, p.27

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• Science is the outcome of being prepared to live without certainty and therefore a mark of maturity. It embraces doubt and loose ends.

  A.C. Grayling

  Science, Maturity, Doubt

  "This much I know". Interview with Tim Adams, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2009.

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• Clearly it is not reason that has failed. What has failed-as it has always failed-is the attempt to achieve certainty, to reach an absolute, to find the course of human events to a final end. It is not reason that has promised to eliminate risk in human undertakings; it is the emotional needs of men.

  Allen Wheelis

  Men, Emotional, Risk

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