SKEPTICISM QUOTES
quotations about skepticism
A universal skepticism is limited by its own criteria. If we assume it to be true, then it is false.
PAUL KURTZ
Exuberant Skepticism
You cannot knock a man down who will not stand up, nor argue with a skeptic.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them -- the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you're sensible, you'll listen to us; and if not, to hell with you. This is nonconstructive. It does not get our message across. It condemns us to permanent minority status.
CARL SAGAN
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
I would say skepticism is always warranted. I don't care who it is. You should be skeptical. In a sense, that's our job.
STEVE HAYS
"The Weekly Standard's Steve Hayes on rebuilding the public's trust", Poynter, May 15, 2017
It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.
CARL SAGAN
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything.
THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY
Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley
Skepticism took it's toll
Closed the windows to my soul
DC TALK
"Fearless"
Skepticism is the sadism of embittered souls.
EMIL CIORAN
History & Utopia
Much of the skepticism that we meet with is necessarily affectation or conceit, for it is as likely that the ignorant, weak, and indolent should become mathematicians as reasoning unbelievers. Patient study and perfect impartiality must precede rational conviction, whether ending in faith or doubt.
RICHARD SHARP
Letters and Essays in Prose and Verse
Is it possible to be skeptical and optimistic and ambitious, open, excited to possibility and willing to change the world as well? I think so.
GWEN IFILL
"Your Remembrances of Gwen Ifill", PBS Newshour, November 15, 2016
In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son
I had one more stupid question
ALANIS MORISSETTE
"Forgiven"
Skepticism is in fact the wholly self-abrogating contradiction.
MICHAEL N. FORSTER
Hegel and Skepticism
Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them. Some minds are incapable of skepticism.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
"Montaigne; or, the Skeptic", Representative Men
You must develop the habit of skepticism, not swallow every piece of superstition you are told by witch-doctors and professors.
CHINUA ACHEBE
Anthills of the Savannah
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.
GEORGE SANTAYANA
attributed, Business Wit & Wisdom
The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom.
CLARENCE DARROW
Why I Am an Agnostic and Other Essays
The path to sound credence is through the thick forest of skepticism.
GEORGE JEAN NATHAN
Materia Critica
Skepticism literally means a thoughtful inquiry, the looking at a problem in a disinterested spirit, the surveying of a question from many sides. In this sense it is the very essence of philosophy and science.
JOSEPH ALEXANDER LEIGHTON
The Field of Philosophy
Skeptics always have more questions to ask, but we are willing to be persuaded to the honesty of an alternate point of view, even if we don't share it.
GWEN IFILL
"Your Remembrances of Gwen Ifill", PBS Newshour, November 15, 2016
Skepticism has never founded empires, established principles, or changed the world's heart; the great doers in history have always been men of faith.
EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN
Characters in the Gospels: Illustrating Phases of Character at the Present Day