Skeptical Quotes - Page 16

• I had carefully read the Balfour Declaration. I had familiarized myself with the history of the question of a Jewish homeland and the position of the British and the Arabs. I was skeptical, as I read over the whole record up to date, about some of the views and attitudes assumed by the 'striped-pants boys' in the State Department.

  Harry S. Truman

  Attitude, Boys, Views

  Harry S. Truman (2014). “1945: Year of Decision”, p.87, New Word City

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• Conservatives... are so opposed to government regulations that they are skeptical of anyone who identifies a problem that requires regulatory solutions - and they are inherently accepting of those who downplay such problems.

  Joseph J. Romm

  Government, Climate, Regulation

  Joseph J. Romm (2007). “Hell and high water: global warming - the solution and the politics - and what we should do”, William Morrow & Co

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• Think for yourself, and believe in yourself. Keep your skeptical antennae tuned in and in good working order at all times. We are free to develop our own hypotheses, which should be based in available evidence. When it comes to faith, have faith in yourself. And don't forget to love, laugh, be kind to each other. Don't take things so seriously, especially yourself. If the universe is a cosmic joke, remember to giggle. And remember to be astonished.

  Dennis McKenna

  Believe, Thinking, Order

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• For a scientist must indeed be freely imaginative and yet skeptical, creative and yet a critic. There is a sense in which he must be free, but another in which his thought must be very preceisely regimented; there is poetry in science, but also a lot of bookkeeping.

  Peter Medawar

  Science, Imagination, Creative

  Peter Brian Medawar (1996). “The Strange Case of the Spotted Mice and Other Classic Essays on Science”, p.63, Oxford University Press, USA

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• I think Hillary Clinton is more suspicious, clearly tougher on Russian policy in Ukraine, Georgia, Syria; more willing to support sanctions; not against negotiating with Putin, but I would say tougher and more skeptical. And Donald Trump has talked about revisiting policy towards Ukraine, revisiting policy about sanctions towards Russia, not as quick to criticize Putin for what he might be up to in Syria and propping up the regime there - so just seems to be more open to the possibilities of working out some kind of a - I guess you'd call a modus vivendi with Putin.

  Richard N. Haass

  Thinking, Ukraine, Russia

  "Examining The Foreign Policy Outlook Of Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump". "Morning Edition" with Renee Montagne, www.npr.org. September 2, 2016.

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• Because mothers make us, because they map our emotional terrain before we even know we are capable of having an emotional terrain, they know just where to stick the dynamite. With a few small power plays - a skeptical comment, the withholding of approval or praise - a mother can devastate a daughter. Decades of subtle undermining can stunt a daughter, or so monopolize her energy that she in effect stunts herself. Muted, fearful, riddled with self-doubt, she can remain trapped in daughterhood forever, the one place she feels confident she knows the rules.

  Rebecca Walker

  Daughter, Mother, Emotional

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• I don't myself believe in astrology. However, I think that's because I'm a Libra and Libras are always skeptical.

  Philip Greenspun

  Believe, Thinking, Astrology

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• Imagine if we started raising generations of children who stood uncompromisingl y on the Word of God, knew how to defend the Christian faith, could answer the skeptical questions of this age, and had a fervor to share the gospel from the authority of God's Word with whomever they met! This could change the world.

  Ken Ham

  Christian, Children, Age

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• I mean, I think everybody in the world, all the young people in the world, went to journalism school and wanted to investigate everything. And I think they overdid it. I think that you have to investigate things, you have to e skeptical, but you shouldn't be vengeful. You have to be fair and you have to be careful.

  Katharine Graham

  School, Mean, Thinking

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• It was so enticing from the beginning to be this woman who was entrenched in The Flash's world. She's not there to just tell him what a great job he's doing, she's also there to push him further and help him to be the best that he can be. She's often the first person to be a little bit skeptical of him, which is kind of nice. She really challenges him.

  Danielle Panabaker

  Jobs, Nice, Challenges

  Source: www.marieclaire.com

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• In terms of being a kind of popular artist figure and knowing how isolating that is, and knowing what it feels like to be skeptical of people, and to be taken advantage of, especially by your friends. That's a hard to pill to swallow, and we've been through that together, or watched each other go through it. It helps to have somebody that close to you who can relate. I can say with some confidence that I feel like Sky saved my life.

  Zachary Cole Smith

  Taken, Artist, Knowing

  Source: pitchfork.com

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• I'm always a little skeptical when I hear people promoting a film and they say it has something for everyone.

  Rachelle Lefevre

  People, Littles, Film

  Source: twilight.tribute.ca

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• I am pleased though that there's a possibility of a diplomatic solution [in Syria]. I remain somewhat skeptical, but I am pleased that it's a possibility and I think people like myself who've been arguing for delaying this bombing, have allowed this diplomatic possibility to occur.

  Rand Paul

  Thinking, People, Arguing

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• In the midst of my skeptical, cynical, often pessimistic nature exists a slender capacity to believe, if only temporarily, in a guiding, unseen power, and whenever this happens, I go with it. That's what inspiration is. You don't get it from the gods. You make it.

  Jeffrey Eugenides

  Believe, Inspiration, Cynical

  "How to believe in yourself - even if you sometimes don't" by Jeffrey Eugenides, www.cnn.com. October 18, 2012.

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• Ask courageous questions.
  Do not be satisfied with superficial answers.
  Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to intense skeptical scrutiny.
  Be aware of human fallibility.
  Cherish your species and your planet.

  Carl Sagan

  Answers, Courageous, Wonder

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• This does not mean that the profession is about to abandon Darwin forever or indorse [sic] my views publicly. The situation remains much as it was: the inner circles are full of doubt, but the public utterances are confident. The doubts may be greater now and the confidence less serene, but it will be a long time before the public is given the full dark picture. There is still need for a dissenting voice, a devil's advocate, a skeptical whistle-blower.

  Norman Macbeth

  Mean, Dark, Circles

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• When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect — but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate — may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical — always think for yourself.

  Linus Pauling

  Believe, Thinking, Years

  "Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker". Book edited by Clifford Mead and Thomas Hager, 2001.

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• Questioning our own motives, and our own process, is critical to a skeptical and scientific outlook. We must realize that the default mode of human psychology is to grab onto comforting beliefs for purely emotional reasons, and then justify those beliefs to ourselves with post-hoc rationalizations.

  Steven Novella

  Emotional, Comforting, Psychology

  "Skeptics' Guide to the Universe" Podcast #285, www.sgutranscripts.org. December 29, 2010.

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• At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes-an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.

  Carl Sagan

  Attitude, Heart, Science

  "The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark". Ch. 17 : The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder. Book by Carl Sagan, 1995.

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• I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where they two mutually inspire each other to live– if I’ m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.

  Hayao Miyazaki

  Girl, Boys, Expression

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