Skeptical Quotes
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite.
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for everyone takes a salutory pleasure in proving their falseness; and when this is done, one path toward errors is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.
I know of no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too desirous of evidence in support of their core beliefs.
Some philosophers can`t bear to say simple things, like "Suppose a dog bites a man." They feel obliged instead to say, "Suppose a dog d bites a man m at time t," thereby demonstrating their unshakable commitment to logical rigor, even though they don`t go on to manipulate any formulae involving d, m, and t.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
The greatest obstacle to knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.
Keeping an open mind is a virtue - but, as the space engineer James Oberg once said, not so open that your brains fall out. Of course we must be willing to change our minds when warranted by new evidence. But the evidence must be strong.
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.