Skepticism Quotes - Page 19

• Transcendentalism is, we might say, an early form of anarchism. The Transcendentalists also did not call themselves anarchists, but there are anarchist ideas in their thinking and in their literature. They were all suspicious of authority. We might say that the Transcendentalism played a role in creating an atmosphere of skepticism towards authority, towards government.

  Howard Zinn

  Thinking, Government, Ideas

  "Rebels Against Tyranny". Interview with Ziga Vodovnik, www.counterpunch.org. May 12, 2008.

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• Realism is punishing. Probabilistic skepticism is worse.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Realism

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1465, Random House

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• Every theory in medicine, if medicine is to remain healthy, must be beaten out on the anvil of skepticism. So do we weed out charlatanism.

  Alice Tisdale Hobart

  Weed, Health, Doctors

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• The sceptic, when he plunges into the depths of infidelity, like the miser who leaps from the shipwreck, will find that the treasures which he bears about him will only sink him deeper in the abyss.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Infidelity, Depth, Treasure

  Charles Caleb Colton (1836). “Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think”, p.109

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• Not in vain is Ireland pouring itself all over the earth. The Irish, with their glowing hearts and reverent credulity, are needed in this cold age of intellect and skepticism.

  Lydia M. Child

  Heart, Glowing, Age

  "Letters from New York". Book by Lydia Maria Child, Letter No. 33, 1843.

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• The Americans are clever. They thoroughly understand things that have to do with money, war, death, sickness. And there is also a real tradition of skepticism in this country.

  Gore Vidal

  Country, Clever, Real

  "The End of Gore Vidal". Interview with Lila Azam Zanganeh, www.guernicamag.com. August 15, 2012.

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• I go to church because I am a skeptic in regard to my own skepticism.

  Henryk Sienkiewicz

  Church, Regard, My Own

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• I just think that the skepticism about truth has almost completely flipped - from being something associated with generally left-leaning progressives to being something which is a tool of right-wing populists and demagogues. I think a lot of those people writing books ten years ago would now think those books are no longer needed, they've kind of been vindicated.

  Julian Baggini

  Book, Writing, Thinking

  Source: www.3ammagazine.com

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• A lot of people hate my skepticism, and I think I understand why. The psychics offer wonders and endless possibilities in a world that often seems difficult and mundane. They promise health, wealth, wisdom, eternal life. But if you examine the record, it's not the psychics but the hard-nosed scientists who have actually delivered the things that improve human life. And, to me, science describes a world far more interesting than any psychic fantasy. It's a good world -- not perfect -- but it's ours. So we'd better learn to live with it, the way it is.

  James Randi

  Hate, Thinking, Psychics

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• Skepticism turns to cynicism, which leads to apathy and despair, which can cause sleeplessness, dry-mouth, and loss of sex drive?

  Al Franken

  Sex, Loss, Despair

  "Why Not Me?". Book by Al Franken, www.cnn.com. January 12, 1999.

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• As a man of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any man can be, is often more miserable than most men are, so the sceptic, in a vain attempt to be wise beyond what is permitted to man, plunges into a darkness more deplorable, and a blindness more incurable than that of the common herd, whom he despises, and would fain instruct.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Wise, Men, Darkness

  Charles Caleb Colton (1837). “Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words : Addressed to Those who Think”, p.97

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• the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock.

  Margaret Halsey

  Competition, Quality, Clock

  Margaret Halsey (1952). “The Folks at Home”

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• Trust is tough. Once trust has been broken by multiple people on multiple occasions, believing in anyone or anything becomes increasingly difficult. Much of the skepticism of our world can be traced back to broken trust.

  Dillon Burroughs

  Believe, Our World, People

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• The implication was that if you had any skepticism whatsoever, you were anti-science. I think there's a difference between having skepticism about science and having skepticism about the pharmaceutical industry.

  Marianne Williamson

  Thinking, Differences, Pharmaceutical

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• A person whose financial requirements are modest and whose curiosity, skepticism, and indifference to reputation are outsized is a person at risk of becoming a journalist.

  Louis Menand

  Risk, Curiosity, Requirements

  "Browbeaten". www.newyorker.com. September 5, 2011.

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• A proclivity for science is embedded deeply within us, in all times, places, and cultures. It has been the means for our survival. It is our birthright. When, through indifference, inattention, incompetence, or fear of skepticism, we discourage children from science, we are disenfranchisin g them, taking from them the tools needed to manage their future.

  Carl Sagan

  Children, Mean, Survival

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• Skepticism is not an end in itself; it is a tool for the discovery of truths.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Truth, Discovery, Tools

  Sydney J. Harris (1953). “Strictly personal”

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• Radical skepticism is no more critical than is credulity.

  Craig A. Evans

  Radical, Critical, Credulity

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• I just witnessed an event so mysterious that it shook my skepticism.

  Michael Shermer

  Events, Mysterious

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• Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. Belief is natural; disbelief, skepticism, science, is not natural.

  Michael Shermer

  Motivation, Believe, Inspiration

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• How much simpler it would be all around if you could put your mind in a cast, like a broken ankle, and elicit murmurings of sympathy from other people instead of skepticism (“You can’t really be feeling as bad as all that”) and in some cases outright hostility (“Maybe if you stopped thinking about yourself so much ”).

  Daphne Merkin

  Thinking About You, People, Broken

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• There is no skepticism without science and the scientific method. It's about how we know what we know.

  Steven Novella

  Scientific Method, Method, Knows

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• It's frightening that skepticism has to be a movement, because you're just arguing that reality is reality. What a waste of energy, in a way.

  Graham Linehan

  Reality, Energy, Movement

  "The TAM London 2010 live blog" by Martin Robbins, www.theguardian.com. October 25, 2010.

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• The most striking development of the great depression of 1929 is a profound skepticism of the future of contemporary society among large sections of the American people.

  C. L. R. James

  Depression, People, Profound

  "In the International Tradition:Tasks Ahead for American Labor" by C. L. R. James, 1944.

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• Advances are Made by Answering Questions. Discoveries are Made by Questioning Answers.

  Bernard Haisch

  Wisdom, Science, Discovery

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