#skepticism

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

— John Dewey

#even #mark #mind #pose #skepticism

One special advantage of the skeptical attitude of mind is that a man is never vexed to find that after all he has been in the wrong. ↗

— William Osler

#truth #attitude

If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#freethought #skepticism #life

The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil. ↗

— Simone Weil

#becomes #diseases #hitherto #like #more

The virtues of science are skepticism and independence of thought. ↗

— Walter Gilbert

#science #skepticism #thought #virtues

Its attitude, which it has preached and practiced, is skepticism. Now, it finds, the public is applying that skepticism to the press. ↗

— Thomas Griffith

#attitude #finds #now #practiced #preached

The doctrine of the sacredness of the soul sounds vaguely uplifting, but in fact is highly malignant. It discounts life on earth as just a temporary phase that people pass through, indeed, an infinitesimal fraction of their existence…the gradual replacement of lives for souls as the locus of moral value was helped along by the ascendency of skepticism and reason ↗

— Steven Pinker

#life

The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin. ↗

— Thomas Huxley

#acknowledge #authority #blind #blind faith #duties

Skepticism is the sadism of embittered souls. ↗

— Emile M. Cioran

#sadism #skepticism #souls

The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense. ↗

— George Berkeley

#bring #certain #certain point #common #common sense