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Doubt Quotes

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Doubt Quotes

“Doubt is the vestibule which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom; therefore, when we are in doubt and puzzle out the truth by our own exertions, we have gained a something that will stay by us, and which will serve us again. But, if to avoid the trouble of the search we avail ourselves of the superior information of a friend, such knowledge will not remain with us; we have not bought but borrowed it.”

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Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“In an age of enormities, the emotions are naturally weakened. We are continually called upon to have feelings - about genocide, for instance, or about famine or the blowing up of passenger planes - and we are all aware that we are incapable of reacting appropriately. A guilty consciousness of emotional inadequacy or impotence makes people doubt their own human weight.”

PeopleHumansFeelingsAgeEmotionConsciousnessDoubtEmotionalWeightGuiltyInstancePlanesGenocideIncapableFaminePassengersReactingImpotenceInadequacyBlowing Up
Book:It All Adds Up: From the Dim Past to the Uncertain Future
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“The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom. That the fall of slavery is predetermined in the counsels of Omnipotence I cannot doubt; it is a part of the great moral improvement in the condition of man, attested by all the records of history. But the conflict will be terrible, and the progress of improvement perhaps retrograde before its final progress to consummation.”

MenFactsFallLibertyMoralPrinciplesIssuesDoubtRecordsProgressConditionsTerribleConflictApproachSlaveryFinalsImprovementOmnipotencePredeterminedRetrograde
Book:Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848
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“There is a virtuous fear, which is the effect of faith; and there is a vicious fear, which is the product of doubt. The former leads to hope, as relying on God, in whom we believe; the latter inclines to despair, as not relying on God, in whom we do not believe. Persons of the one character fear to lose God; persons of the other character fear to find Him.”

BelievePersonsCharacterFearLosesDoubtEffectsProductsDespairFormerLatterVirtuousViciousInclineRelying On God
Author:Blaise Pascal
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“In the first place, lawyers better remember they are human beings, and a human being who hasn't his periods of doubts and distresses and disappointments must be a cabbage, not a human being. That is number one.”

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Book:Proceedings in honor of Mr. Justice Frankfurter and distinguished alumni at the meeting of the Council, Harvard Law School Association in Cambridge, April 30, 1960
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“Absurdism, like methodical doubt, has wiped the slate clean. It leaves us in a blind alley. But, like methodical doubt, it can, by returning upon itself, open up a new field of investigation, and in the process of reasoning then pursues the same course. I proclaim that I believe in nothing and that everything is absurd, but I cannot doubt the validity of my proclamation and I must at least believe in my protest.”

BelieveCoursesI BelieveProcessDoubtFieldsBlindCleanI Believe InAbsurdPursueReasoningProtestInvestigationAlleysValiditySlateProclamationMethodical
Book:The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt
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“One does not learn anything except by believing something, and -- conversely -- if one doubts everything one learns nothing. On the other hand, believing everything uncritically is the road to disaster. The faculty of doubt is essential. But as I have argued, rational doubt always rests on faith and not vice versa. The relationship between the two cannot be reversed.”

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Author:Lesslie Newbigin
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“The blessed Paul argues that we are saved by faith, which he declares to be not from us but a gift from God. Thus there cannot possibly be true salvation where there is no true faith, and, since this faith is divinely enabled, it is without doubt bestowed by his free generosity. Where there is true belief through true faith, true salvation certainly accompanies it. Anyone who departs from true faith will not possess the grace of true salvation.”

BeliefDoubtGraceBlessedSalvationArguingSavedBeing TrueGenerosityAccompanyGift From GodTrue Faith
Author:Fulgentius of Ruspe
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“Straight away, remove yourself from the field of spiritual progression , stay away from contemplation and skillful discourse, do not do research or meditate on the divinities, and stop concentrating and reciting textbooks! Tell me, what is the absolute nature of reality which allows no room for doubt? Listen carefully! Stop holding on to this or that, inhabit your true absolute nature, and peacefully enjoy the essence of what it is to be alive!”

LifeWisdomRealitySpiritualFaithEnjoyRoomsDoubtMeditationAliveAwarenessHuman NatureFieldsInspirational LifeListeningMindfulnessMusicianResearchEssenceAbsolutesCarefulAwakeningBuddhistLive LifeContemplationDivinityRemoveAllowingSpiritual WisdomDiscourseStoppingLiving My LifeEnjoy LifeTheologianHolding OnProgressionSpiritual AwakeningTextbooksConcentratingSkillfulReciting
Author:Abhinavagupta
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“There is rest in this world nowhere except in Christ, the manifested love of God. Trust in excellence, and the better you become, the keener is the feeling of deficiency. Wrap up all in doubt, and there is a stern voice that will thunder at last out of the wilderness upon your dream.”

WorldFeelingsDreamLastsVoiceChristDoubtThis WorldExcellenceGod LoveYour DreamsWildernessTrust In GodThunderWrapsDeficiency
Book:Sermons Preached at Brighton
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“It seems to me that had I not known Dostoevsky or Nietzsche or Freud or X or Z, I should have thought just as I did, and that I found in them rather an authorization than an awakening. Above all, they taught me to cease doubting, to cease fearing my thoughts, and to let those thoughts lead me to those lands that were not uninhabitable because after all I found them already there .”

ShouldSeemsFoundKnownDoubtLandTaughtShould HaveAwakeningCeaseMy ThoughtsLeading Me
Book:Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality
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“I love to read the dedications of old books written in monarchies for they invariably honor some (usually insignificant) knight or duke with fulsome words of sycophantic insincerity, praising him as the light of the universe (in hopes, no doubt, for a few ducats to support future work); this old practice makes me feel like such an honest and upright man, by comparison, when I put a positive spin, perhaps ever so slightly exaggerated, on a grant proposal.”

MenFeelsBookLightUniversePracticeSupportDoubtWrittenHonestHonorPraiseNo DoubtComparisonGrantsDedicationInsignificantProposalKnightsMonarchyExaggeratedDukesLove To ReadOld BooksInsincerityUpright ManFuture Work
Author:Stephen Jay Gould
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“The classical argument for why a supposedly decent and moral creature like Homo sapiens can mistreat and even extirpate other species rests upon an extreme position in a continuum. The Cartesian tradition, formulated explicitly in the seventeenth century, but developed in "folk" and other versions throughout human history no doubt, holds that other animals are little more than unfeeling machines, with only humans enjoying "consciousness," however defined.”

HumansLittlesEnjoyAnimalConsciousnessMoralDoubtCenturyPositionCreaturesArgumentTraditionMachinesSpeciesFolksExtremesVersionsDefinedDecentNo DoubtHuman HistoryHomo SapiensContinuumUnfeelingMistreat
Author:Stephen Jay Gould
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“It has long been observed, that an atheist has no just reason for endeavouring conversions; and yet none harass those minds which they can influence, with more importunity of solicitation to adopt their opinions. In proportion as they doubt the truth of their own doctrines, they are desirous to gain the attestation of another understanding: and industriously labour to win a proselyte, and eagerly catch at the slightest pretense to dignify their sect with a distinguished name.”

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Book:The Beauties of Samuel Johnson: Consisting of Maxims and Observations, Moral, Critical, and Miscellaneous
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“The student who would build his knowledge on solid foundations, and proceed by just degrees to the pinnacles of truth, is directed by the great philosopher of France to begin by doubting of his own existence. In like manner, whoever would complete any arduous and intricate enterprise, should, as soon as his imagination can cool after the first blaze of hope, place before his own eyes every possible embarrassment that may retard or defeat him. He should first question the probability of success, and then endeavour to remove the objections that he has raised.”

ShouldFirstsMayEyeImaginationExistenceDoubtStudentsTruth IsDegreesFoundationRaisedDefeatPhilosopherFranceEnterpriseRemoveProbabilityEmbarrassmentObjectionsEndeavourIntricatePinnacleRetardSolid FoundationGreat Philosophers
Book:The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752
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“There is no doubt that truth is to falsehood as light is to darkness; and so excellent a thing is truth that even when it touches humble and lowly matters, it still incomparably exceeds the uncertainty and falsehood in which great and elevated discourses are clothed; because even if falsehood be the fifth element of our minds, notwithstanding this, truth is the supreme nourishment of the higher intellects.”

IfsMindStillsMatterLightTruthDarknessDoubtHigherTruth IsElementsHumbleIntellectSupremeUncertaintyExcellentNo DoubtFalsehoodDiscourseFifthExceedNourishmentFifth Element
Book:Thoughts on art and life
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“The best recipe for happiness and contentment I've seen is this: dig a big hole in the garden of your thoughts and put into it all your disillusions, disappointments, regrets, worries, troubles, doubts, and fears. Cover well with the earth of fruitfulness. Water it from the well of contentment. Sow on top the seeds of hope, courage, strength, patience, and love. Then when the time for gathering comes, may your harvest be a rich and fruitful one.”

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Book:Staying Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down World: Daily Hope for the Daily Grind
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“I greatly doubt whether the men who become pirate chiefs are those who are filled with retrospective terror of their fathers, or whether Napoleon , at Austerlitz, really felt that he was getting even with Madame Mère. I know nothing of the mother of Attila , but I rather suspect that she spoilt the little darling, who subsequently found the world irritating because it sometimes resisted his whims.”

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Book:Power: A New Social Analysis
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