Doubt And Certainty Quotes

• If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

  Francis Bacon

  Inspirational, Success, Wisdom

  The Advancement of Learning bk. 1, ch. 5, sec. 8 (1605)

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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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• If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.

  Rene Descartes

  Life, Truth, Real

  "Principles of Philosophy". Book by Rene Descartes, 1644.

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

  William Butler Yeats

  Passionate, Anarchy, Conviction

  "The Second Coming" l. 1 (1921)

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• The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.

  Charles Bukowski

  Faith, Confidence, Stupid

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• I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.

  Richard P. Feynman

  Badass, Knowledge, Science

  Richard P. Feynman (2005). “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman”, p.21, Hachette UK

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• Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it; doubt all, but do not doubt yourself.

  Andre Gide

  Truth, Believe, Profound

  "Ainsi soit-il; ou, Les Jeux sont faits". Book by André Gide, p. 174, 1952.

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• The opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty.

  Anne Lamott

  Opposites, Doubt, Certainty

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• To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.

  Stanisław I Leszczyński

  Faith, Believe, Doubt

  "Maxims and Moral Sentences". Book by François de La Rochefoucauld, pp. 153-186, No. 61, 1851.

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• Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.

  William Shakespeare

  Wise, Doubt, Beacons

  William Shakespeare (2016). “The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition: The Complete Works”, p.1931, Oxford University Press

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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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• Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.

  Bertrand Russell

  Thinking, Essentials, Rationality

  Bertrand Russell (2016). “Why I Am Not a Christian”, p.21, Lulu Press, Inc

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• To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

  Love, Life, Sex

  "Ideals and Doubts" by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Illinois Law Review, 1915.

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• Fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves.

  Bertrand Russell

  Foolish Man, Wisest Man, Thought Provoking

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

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• If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.

  Lord Byron

  Self, Envy, Doubt

  "Letters and Journals of Lord Byron". Book by Thomas Moore, Vol III, Chap. XVII, p. 208, 1830.

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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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• I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.

  Wilson Mizner

  Faith, Education, Teacher

  Quoted in Edward Dean Sullivan, The Fabulous Wilson Mizner (1935)

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• One must verify or expel his doubts, and convert them into the certainty of Yes or NO.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Doubt, Certainty, Converting

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• The neurotic has problems; the psychotic has solutions.

  Thomas Szasz

  Psychosis, Doubt, Neurosis

  Thomas Szasz (2017). “Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary”, p.141, Routledge

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• Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions.

  Thomas Szasz

  Psychosis, Doubt, Neurosis

  Thomas Stephen Szasz (1973). “The second sin”, Anchor

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• The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

  Bertrand Russell

  Inspirational, Success, Confidence

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• When prayer removes distrust and doubt and enters the field of mental certainty, it becomes faith; and the universe is built on faith.

  Ernest Holmes

  Faith, Prayer, Doubt

  Ernest Holmes (2010). “Living Without Fear”, p.24, Penguin

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• It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.

  H. L. Mencken

  Faith, Men, Dull

  H.L. Mencken (1920). “Prejudices Second Series”

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• both doubt and certainty are as contagious as the common cold

  Kathryn Schulz

  Doubt, Common, Cold

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