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Doubt Quotes

“What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of one's knowledge, and what is to be their end? What can be more deeply disheartening than to wonder whether one's soul is, perhaps, a material thing, like a stone or a reptile, corruptible like these base creatures? Is there not more strength and greatness of mind in admitting the idea of a being superior to all other beings, who has made them all and to whom all owe their existence; of a being supremely perfect, who is pure, who had no beginning and can have no ending, of whom our soul is the image and, so to speak, a portion, being a spiritual and immortal thing?”

IfsMenMindMayDoeMadeIdeasSoulEndsAbleSpiritualPerfectDoubtSubjectsMaterialsPureProveCreaturesAll ThingsStonesCorruptionSuperiorsImmortalDiscouragingGrandeurStrength Of MindReptiles
Author:Jean de la Bruyere
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“Ideas, like men, can become dictators. We Americans have so far escaped regimentation by our rulers, but have we escaped regimentation by our own ideas? I doubt if there exists today a more complete regimentation of the human mind than that accomplished by our self-imposed doctrine of ruthless utilitarianism.”

IfsMenMindHumansIdeasSelfTodayDoubtDoctrineAccomplishedHuman MindRulersDictatorRuthlessUtilitarianismRegimentation
Book:Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238)
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“The strange and wonderful Book of Job treats of the same subject as we are discussing; its contents are a fiction, conceived for the purpose of explaining the different opinions which people hold on Divine Providence. ...This fiction, however, is in so far different from other fictions that it includes profound ideas and great mysteries, removes great doubts, and reveals the most important truths. I will discuss it as fully as possible; and I will also tell you the words of our Sages that suggested to me the explanation of this great poem.”

PeopleImportantBookIdeasDifferentJobsPurposeFictionOpinionDoubtWonderfulMysterySubjectsDivineStrangeTreatsProfoundExplanationRemoveProvidenceSageExplainingDiscussingDivine ProvidenceDifferent Opinions
Author:Maimonides
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“The reason why Matthew Arnold, to my feeling, fails entirely as a poet (though no doubt his ideas were good - at least, I am told they were) is that he had no sense of touch whatsoever. Nothing made any impression on his skin. He could feel neither the shape nor the texture of a poem with his hands.”

FeelsMadeIdeasReasonFeelingsHandsDoubtFailingPoetShapesSkinsImpressionReason WhyNo DoubtTextureMatthew
Book:Ser. Milton and the Augustan Age
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“All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is the master of all who are uncertain or wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world.”

MenWorldBelieveIdeasActionFaithStrongForceClearDoubtHe ManMastersWeakConvictionPossessedUncertainUnseenWavering
Book:Common-sense in Religion: A Series of Essays
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“I was brought up to believe in free will. Although I came to doubt all revelation, I can never accept the idea that the Universe is a physical or chemical accident, a result of blind evolution. Even though I learned to recognize the lies, the clichés and the idolatries of the human mind, I still cling to some truths which I think all of us might accept some day.”

ThinkingMindBelieveHumansStillsI CanIdeasMightLyingUniverseResultsAcceptingDoubtEvolutionBlindAccidentsRevelationsFree WillHuman MindChemicalsIdolatry
Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer
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“The patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan. In the first we see the folded bud; in the second the expanded leaf; in the third the blossom and the fruit. And now, how sublime the idea of a religion thus commencing in the earliest dawn of time; holding on its way through all the revolutions of kingdoms and the vicissitudes of the race; receiving new forms, but always identical in spirit; and, finally, expanding and embracing in one great brotherhood the whole family of man! Who can doubt that such a religion was from God?”

MenWayFirstsIdeasWholeChristianFormSpiritRaceChristianityDoubtPlansRevolutionThirdsFruitKingdomsDawnBrotherhoodReceivingSublimeLeafsExpandingHolding OnIdenticalBudUnfoldingWhole FamilyVicissitudes
Book:Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity
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“No doubt that anarchist ideas are frightening to those in power. People in power can tolerate liberal ideas. They can tolerate ideas that call for reforms, but they cannot tolerate the idea that there will be no state, no central authority. So it is very important for them to ridicule the idea of anarchism to create this impression of anarchism as violent and chaotic. It is useful for them.”

PeopleImportantIdeasStatesDoubtAuthorityViolentImpressionReformNo DoubtFrighteningTolerateRidiculeAnarchismAnarchistChaotic
Author:Howard Zinn
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“Faith always presented to the mind the idea of an abnormal intellectual condition, of the subversion or suspension of the critical faculties. It sometimes comprised more than this, but it always included this. It was the opposite of doubt and of the spirit of doubt. What irreverent men called credulity, reverent men called faith; and although one word was more respectful than the other, yet the two words were with most men strictly synonymous.”

MenMindTwoIdeasSometimesSpiritDoubtAtheismConditionsIntellectualOppositesCriticalPositive AtheismFacultyOne WordRespectfulAbnormalCredulitySuspensionSubversionIrreverent
Book:History of the rise and influence of the spirit of rationalism in Europe
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“The source of Pyrrhonism comes from failing to distinguish between a demonstration, a proof and a probability. A demonstration supposes that the contradictory idea is impossible; a proof of fact is where all the reasons lead to belief, without there being any pretext for doubt; a probability is where the reasons for belief are stronger than those for doubting.”

IdeasReasonFactsBeliefDoubtImpossibleFailingSourceStrongerProofProbabilityContradictoryDemonstrationPretext
Author:Andrew Michael Ramsay
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“I presume that few who have paid any attention to the history of the Mathematical Analysis, will doubt that it has been developed in a certain order, or that that order has been, to a great extent, necessary -- being determined, either by steps of logical deduction, or by the successive introduction of new ideas and conceptions, when the time for their evolution had arrived.”

Has BeensIdeasCertainOrderAttentionStepsDoubtEvolutionPaidDeterminedMathematicalAnalysisLogicalConceptionNew IdeasIntroductionDeductionsMathematical Analysis
Book:A Treatise on Differential Equations
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“There is no doubt about it: we are judged by our language as much as (perhaps more than) we are judged by our appearance, our choice of associates, our behavior. Language communicates so much more than ideas; it reveals our intelligence, our knowledge of a topic, our creativity, our ability to think, our self-confidence, et cetera.”

ThinkingIdeasSelfChoicesLanguageLeadershipAbilityCreativityDoubtSpeechBehaviorCommunicateAppearanceSelf ConfidenceNo DoubtJudgedAssociatesTopicsOur Choices
Book:The Language of leadership
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“Properly conducted scientific studies . . . give us a pretty good idea of when something is likely to be correct. To me, pretty good is a linguistic statistic that falls somewhere in between more likely than not and beyond a reasonable doubt, et avoides the pitfalls arising from the belief in complete objectivity.”

GivingIdeasFallBeliefStudyDoubtHumilityReasonableGood IdeasObjectivityPitfallsReasonable DoubtBeyond A Reasonable Doubt
Author:Robert A. Burton
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“Every Man being conscious to himself, That he thinks, and that which his Mind is employ'd about whilst thinking, being the Ideas, that are there, 'tis past doubt, that Men have in their Minds several Ideas, such as are those expressed by the words, Whiteness, Hardness, Sweetness, Thinking, Motion, Man, Elephant, Army, Drunkenness, and others: It is in the first place then to be inquired, How he comes by them? I know it is a received Doctrine, That Men have native Ideas, and original Characters stamped upon their Minds, in their very first Being.”

ThinkingKnowsMenMindFirstsIdeasCharacterPastScienceConsciousnessDoubtConsciousArmyOriginalsEvery ManDoctrineNativeElephantsSweetnessDrunkennessWhitenessHardness
Author:John Locke
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“...there is no resistance to the idea that what is foreign can be known. Can be understood. Can be held in the embrace of love that holds the Universe. Given this Earth on which we live and grow, given its beauty and generosity, its majesty and comfort, how can one doubt that one is loved? That in fact there is an abundance, not a scarcity of love? It is all anyone ever wants, really, I believe, and it is all around us as we starve.”

WantBelieveIdeasFactsEarthUniverseGivenI BelieveGrowsKnownDoubtComfortUnderstoodEmbraceResistanceGenerosityAbundanceMajestyScarcity
Author:Alice Walker
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“Your doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking. Years ago you excepted flawed conclusions as correct, begin to live your life as if those warped ideas about your potential were true, and ceased the bold experiment in living that brought you many breakthrough behaviors as a child.”

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Book:You2: a high-velocity formula for multiplying your personal effectiveness in quantum leaps
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“There exists in society a very special class of persons that I have always referred to as the Believers. These are folks who have chosen to accept a certain religion, philosophy, theory, idea or notion and cling to that belief regardless of any evidence that might, for anyone else, bring it into doubt. They are the ones who encourage and support the fanatics and the frauds of any given age. No amount of evidence, no matter how strong, will bring them any enlightenment. They are the sheep who beg to be fleeced and butchered, and who will battle fiercely to preserve their right to be victimized.”

PersonsIdeasMatterPhilosophyMightAgeCertainBeliefStrongGivenAcceptingClassSupportDoubtSpecialTheoryAmountBattleEnlightenmentEvidenceNotionFolksBelieverChosenPreservesFraudSheepFanaticsPhilosophy Of ReligionStrong Will
Book:The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World's Most Famous Seer
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“As soon as we ask what faith is and what sort of mistreatment of faith causes doubt, we are led to the first major misconception about doubt-the idea that doubt is always wrong because it is the opposite of faith and the same thing as unbelief. What this error leads to is a view of faith that is unrealistic and a view of doubt that is unfair.”

FirstsIdeasAsksCausesViewsDoubtMajorsOppositesErrorsUnfairMisconceptionUnbeliefAlways WrongMistreatment
Author:Os Guinness
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“The most curious social convention of the great age in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected. Its evil effects must be plain enough to everyone. All it accomplishes is (a) to throw a veil of sanctity about ideas that violate every intellectual decency, and (b) to make every theologian a sort of chartered libertine. No doubt it is mainly to blame for the appalling slowness with which really sound notions make their way in the world.”

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Book:Mencken Chrestomathy
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“People in general know not what wickedness there is in this pretended word of God. Brought up in habits of superstition, they take it for granted that the Bible is true, and that it is good; they permit themselves not to doubt of it, and they carry the ideas they form of the benevolence of the Almighty to the book which they have been taught to believe was written by his authority. Good heavens! It is quite another thing; it is a book of lies, wickedness, and blasphemy.”

PeopleKnowsBelieveHas BeensBookIdeasFormLyingHeavenDoubtWrittenTaughtHabitAuthorityGrantedPermitWord Of GodSuperstitionsAlmightyWickednessBenevolenceBlasphemy
Book:Citizen Paine: Thomas Paine's Thoughts on Man, Government, Society, and Religion
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“If we are to include the outer and the inner struggle in a conception more definite than that of conflict in general, we must employ some such phrase as 'spiritual force.' This will mean whatever forces act in the human spirit, whether good or evil, whether personal passion or impersonal principle; doubts, desires, scruples, ideas-whatever can animate, shake, possess, and drive a man's soul. [19]In a Shakespearean tragedy some such forces are shown in conflict.”

IfsMenHumansMeanIdeasSoulSpiritualSpiritDesirePassionEvilForcePrinciplesStruggleDoubtConflictTragedyPhrasesShakesConceptionDefiniteHuman SpiritScruplesInner StruggleShakespearean Tragedy
Book:Shakespearean Tragedy
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“Our first duty to liberty is to keep our own. But it is also our duty - as Europeans - to keep alive in the Eastern as well as the Western half of our continent those ideas of human dignity which Europe gave to the world. Let us therefore resolve to keep the lamps of freedom burning bright so that all who look to the West from the shadows of the East need not doubt that we remain true to those human and spiritual values that lie at the heart of European civilization.”

WorldNeedsFirstsHumansWellsLooksHeartIdeasSpiritualLyingValuesHalfLibertyDoubtAliveDutyCivilizationShadowEuropeDignityWestWesternEastBurningResolveContinentsEasternLampsHuman DignitySpiritual ValuesBurning Bright
Book:In defence of freedom: speeches on Britain's relations with the world 1976-1986
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“It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its beginnings was frankly authoritarian. It began quite openly as a reaction against the liberalism of the French Revolution. The French writers who laid its foundation had no doubt that their ideas could be put into practice only by a strong dictatorial government. The first of modern planners, Saint-Simon, predicted that those who did not obey his proposed planning boards would be 'treated as cattle'.”

FirstsIdeasGovernmentWould BeStrongPracticeDoubtModernRevolutionFoundationSaintPlanningReactionsSocialismTreatedRememberedBoardsNo DoubtLiberalismCattleFrench RevolutionPlanners
Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
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“Those who say they believe in God and yet neither love nor fear Him, do not in fact believe in Him but in those who have taught them that God exists. Those who believe that they believe in God, but without any passion in their heart, any anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only in the God-idea, not in God.”

MindBelieveHeartIdeasFactsPassionDoubtTaughtDespairElementsUncertaintyBelieve In GodAnguishConsolationGod Exists
Author:Miguel de Unamuno
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“It's the unlikely juxtaposition of creativity and logic which causes the wooliness and confusion around the term 'innovation'. Everybody wants to be innovative; many companies and ideas are proclaimed to be innovative and no one doubts that innovation is a money spinner. And, thus, we are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation.”

WantWellsIdeasCausesTermCompanyCreativityDoubtMagicDevelopmentLogicInnovationConfusionFormulasUnlikelyInnovativeJuxtapositionSpinner
Author:James Dyson
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“What is the result of our investigation of the Moslem idea of God? Is the statement of the Koran true, "Your God and our God is the same"? In as far as Moslems are monotheists and in as far as Allah has many of the attributes of Jehovah we cannot put Him with the false gods. But neither can there be any doubt that Mohammed's conception of God is inadequate, incomplete, barren and grievously distorted. It is vastly inferior to the Christian idea of the Godhead and also inferior to the Old Testament idea of God.”

IdeasChristianResultsDoubtStatementsConceptionAttributesInvestigationInferiorsTestamentInadequateIncompleteOld TestamentBarrenJehovahFalse Gods
Author:Samuel Marinus Zwemer
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“The whole idea of what is evidence for causation in epidemiology cannot be separated from tTindustry understood that if they could raise doubt about how you could conclude something caused cancer, that they put so much effort into getting so many receptive public health authorities to say, "Well, causation requires that these five things be met." So that is, in fact, nonsense.”

IfsWellsIdeasWholeFactsEffortDoubtFiveMetsAuthorityUnderstoodEvidenceRaisesCancerNonsensePublic HealthReceptiveCausationEpidemiology
Author:Devra Davis
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