Skepticism Quotes

• Education has failed in a very serious way to convey the most important lesson science can teach: skepticism.

  David Suzuki

  Education, Positive Energy, Important

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• Great intellects are skeptical.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Intellect, Skeptical

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  The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.

  Daniel J. Boorstin

  Inspiring, Education, Wisdom

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

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• She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist.

  Jean-Paul Sartre

  Atheist, Philosophical, Atheism

  "The Words". Book by Jean-Paul Sartre, 1964.

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  All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Inspirational, Witty, Truth

  Arthur Schopenhauer (2016). “101 Facts of life”, p.4, Publishdrive

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• Somehow liberals have been unable to acquire from life what conservatives seem to be endowed with at birth: namely, a healthy skepticism of the powers of government agencies to do good.

  Daniel Patrick Moynihan

  Agency, Government, Healthy

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• The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.

  Aristotle

  Truth, Science, Men

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• Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

  Denis Diderot

  Philosophy, Firsts, Steps

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• The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.

  Carl Sagan

  Science, Prejudice, Vastness

  "Wonder and Skepticism". The Skeptical Inquirer 19 (1), www.csicop.org. January/February 1995.

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• Healthy scepticism is the basis of all accurate observation.

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  Healthy, Observation, Accurate

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2013). “Collected Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Delphi Classics)”, p.9809, Delphi Classics

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• I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.

  Isaac Asimov

  Believe, Independent, Science

  Isaac Asimov (1982). “Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine”

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• Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?

  Carl Sagan

  Inspirational, Life, Truth

  Carl Sagan, Tom Head (2006). “Conversations with Carl Sagan”, p.145, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.

  Bertrand Russell

  Philosophy, Ignorance, Knowing

  Bertrand Russell (1996). “Unpopular Essays”, p.38, Psychology Press

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• Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer.

  George Santayana

  Thinking, Firsts, Surrender

  Scepticism and Animal Faith ch. 9 (1923)

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• Investors should start with a view of skepticism. They should become intellectual investors rather than emotional investors. They should be careful, and they should be skeptical.

  Arthur Levitt Jr

  Emotional, Views, Intellectual

  "Fool.com: Doing Hard Time With Arthur Levitt [Special]". The Motley Fool Radio Show, www.fool.com. July 09, 2002.

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• Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind.

  John Dewey

  Mind, Mark, Posing

  John Dewey, Larry Hickman, Thomas M. Alexander (1998). “The Essential Dewey: Pragmatism, education, democracy”, p.28, Indiana University Press

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• Skepticism, not cleanliness, is next to godliness. Skepticism is the father of freedom. It is like the pry that holds open the door for truth to slip in.

  Gerry Spence

  Father, Doors, Next

  Gerry Spence (1999). “Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century”, p.164, St. Martin's Press

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• What counts is not what sounds plausible, not what we would like to believe, not what one or two witnesses claim, but only what is supported by hard evidence rigorously and skeptically examined. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

  Carl Sagan

  Believe, Two, Sound

  "Cosmos/ Encyclopaedia Galactica". Documentary, www.imdb.com. 1980.

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• The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy.

  Mary Catherine Bateson

  Commitment, Democracy, Essentials

  Mary Catherine Bateson (2007). “Composing a Life”, p.155, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greater part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true.

  Francis Quarles

  News, Greater

  "Enchiridion" by Francis Quarles, 1640.

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• On any Tuesday morning, if asked, a good working scientist will tell you with some self-satisfaction that the affairs of his field are nicely in order, that things are finally looking clear and making sense, and all is well. But come back again on another Tuesday, and the roof may have just fallen in on his life's work.

  Lewis Thomas

  Morning, Self, Order

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• In real life, every field of science is incomplete, and most of them - whatever the record of accomplishment during the last 200 years - are still in their very earliest stages.

  Lewis Thomas

  Real, Years, Accomplishment

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• What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step towards truth.

  Denis Diderot

  Philosophy, Firsts, Steps

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• I'm the most cynical person, and I know what that sounds like when you say, I don't drink and drive, and I don't. But I know people look at that with skepticism, and I understand.

  Tracey Gold

  People, Cynical, Sound

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• It is evident that skepticism, while it makes no actual change in man, always makes him feel better.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Change, Feel Better, Men

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