“The secular university is scandalized by the claims of revelation. Those who have, for whatever historical reasons, become seekers-on-principle, cannot tolerate the allegation that truth is a gift. To have to receive offends those who have determined to take.” ReasonChristianityPrinciplesTruth IsClaimsHistoricalUniversityDeterminedRevelationsTolerateSecularSeekersAllegations Author:Louis Mackey
“The highest truth is daiji, translated as dai jiki in Chinese scriptures. This is the subject of the question the emperor asked Bodhidharma: "What is the First Principle?" Bodhidharma said, "I don't know." "I don't know" is the First Principle.” KnowsFirstsSaidPrinciplesSubjectsTruth IsHighestScriptureChineseEmperor Author:Shunryu Suzuki
“Nor, in truth, is it of little importance to prevent the suspicion of any difference having arisen between us from being handed down in any way to our posterity; for it is worse than absurd that parties should be found disagreeing on the very principles, after we have been compelled to make our departure from the world.” WorldWayShouldLittlesHas BeensFoundDifferencesPartyPrinciplesTruth IsImportanceAbsurdSuspicionCompelledPosterityDeparture Author:John Calvin
“Science has been effective at furthering our understanding of nature because the scientific ethos is based on three key principles: (1) follow the evidence wherever it leads; (2) if one has a theory, one needs to be willing to try to prove it wrong as much as one tries to prove that it is right; (3) the ultimate arbiter of truth is experiment, not the comfort one derives from one's a priori beliefs, nor the beauty or elegance one ascribes to one's theoretical models.” IfsNeedsTryingHas BeensThreeBeliefUnderstandingCommonPrinciplesWillingTheoryKeysComfortTruth IsProveModelsEvidenceUltimateExperimentsCommon SenseEleganceTheoreticalProve ItEthosArbiterWilling To Try Book:A Universe From Nothing Source: A Universe From Nothing
“When the great religious and philosophical conceptions were alive, thinking people did not extol humility and brotherly love, justice and humanity because it was realistic to maintain such principles and odd and dangerous to deviate from them, or because these maxims were more in harmony with their supposedly free tastes than others. They held to such ideas because they saw in them elements of truth, because they connected them with the idea of logos, whether in the form of God or of a transcendental mind, or even of nature as an eternal principle.” PeopleThinkingMindIdeasFormHumanityReligiousJusticePrinciplesSawsAliveDangerousHumilityTasteTruth IsElementsEternalHarmonyPhilosophicalConnectedOddConceptionRealisticMaximsTranscendentalLogosBrotherlyBrotherly LoveDeviateGreat Religious Author:Max Horkheimer
“The principle of collective leadership is elementary for a proletarian party and for a party of the Lenin type. Nevertheless, we must emphasize this old truth, because for about 20 years we have had practically no collective leadership; there flourished the cult of the individual which was condemned first by Marx and then by Lenin. And this, of course, could not but reflect negatively on the position of the party and its work.” YearsFirstsCoursesIndividualPartyPrinciplesPositionTypeTruth IsCollectivesNeverthelessCult Author:Anastas Mikoyan
“Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic definition of truth is doomed to failure equally.” WayTruthSciencePrinciplesTruth IsUniqueMethodDefinitionsDoomedPragmaticScientific MethodPragmatism Book:Word and Object Source: Word and Object
“For an American to be patriotic is to be loyal to the principles of our Constitution, and the First Amendment. The truth is that the policies of the government is sometimes in conflict with that. In our country, patriotism should not be defined as obedience to an authority.” ShouldFirstsCountrySometimesGovernmentPrinciplesPolicyTruth IsConflictAuthorityConstitutionOur CountryDefinedObediencePatrioticLoyalAmendmentsFirst Amendment Author:Daniel Ellsberg
“The truth is that the materialistic paternalism of the present day, if allowed to go on unchecked, will rapidly make of America one huge "Main Street," where spiritual adventure will be discouraged and democracy will be regarded as consisting in the reduction of all mankind to the proportions of the narrowest and least gifted of the citizens. God grant that there may come a reaction, and that the great principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty may be rediscovered before it is too late!” IfsMayAmericaSpiritualLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyStreetsMankindAdventureHugeGoes OnCitizensTruth IsLateReactionsProportionToo LateGrantsGiftedDiscouragedReductionMaterialisticPresent DayMain StreetAnglo SaxonPaternalism Author:John Gresham Machen
“The separation of church and state is necessary partly because if religion is good then the state shouldn't interfere with the religious vision or with the religious prophet. There must be a realm of truth beyond political competence, that's why there must be a separation of churches, but if religion is bad and a bad religion is one that gives an ultimate sanctity to some particular cause. Then religion mustn't interfere with the state - so one of the basic Democratic principles as we know it in America is the separation of church and state.” IfsKnowsGivingStatesAmericaPoliticalCausesChurchReligiousVisionPrinciplesParticularTruth IsUltimateDemocraticSeparationRealmsProphetInterfereCompetenceChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateSanctity Author:Reinhold Niebuhr
“One of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence.” CountrySimpleLeaderPrinciplesTruth IsEvidenceBasesIraqIntuitionRhetoricExaggeratedSimple Truths Author:Wesley Clark
“It has to be simple, but then you deliver them a principle: The simple truth is, as a matter of principle, we cannot spend more than we take in. Something - that changes the tone of the debate.” MatterSimplePrinciplesTruth IsDebateToneSimple Truths Author:Frank Luntz