Skepticism Quotes - page 2

Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated. (Christopher Hitchens)
In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism and skepticism and humbug and we shall want to live more musically. View quote
Vincent van Gogh
Skepticism is like a microscope whose magnification is constantly increased: the sharp image that one begins with finally dissolves, because it is not possible to see ultimate things: their existence is only to be inferred. View quote
Stanisław Lem
Polarization is normal. Skepticism about liberal democracy is normal. And the appeal of authoritarianism is eternal. View quote
Anne Applebaum
The evidence of evolution pours in, not only from geology, paleontology, biogeography, and anatomy (Darwin's chief sources), but from molecular biology and every other branch of the life sciences. To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant - inexcusably ignorant, in a world where three out of four people have learned to read and write. Doubts about the power of Darwin's idea of natural selection to explain this evolutionary process are still intellectually respectable, however, although the burden of proof for such skepticism has become immense... View quote
Daniel Dennett
I think I've always had a certain amount of skepticism of this whole 'shut up and smile' theory. I haven't ever swallowed that pill so easily, although I tried. View quote
Amber Heard
Major problem for Black women, and all people of color, when we are challenged to oppose anti-Semitism, is our profound skepticism that white people can actually be oppressed. View quote
Barbara Smith
As a conservative, I maintain a healthy skepticism of the theory of man-made global warming. I also believe that more people enjoying the fruits of modernity and economic development is a good thing - as long as those people arrived legally and obey the law. View quote
Gary Bauer
My humor is my creativity, and my skepticism is a gift. View quote
J Tillman
Doing a movie about Steve Jobs is just generally a provocative thing to do, whoever does it, and it begs a lot of questioning and skepticism only in that, what is this going to be? What am I going to be looking at? And curiosity as well. I think thats all positive in any film, because you want people to be curious about it. View quote
Joshua Michael Stern
People have moved beyond apathy, beyond skepticism into deep cynicism. (Elliot Richardson)
Skepticism is an important historical tool. It is the starting point of all revision of hitherto accepted history. View quote
Samuel E. Morison
I'm the most cynical person, and I know what that sounds like when you say, I don't drink and drive, and I don't. But I know people look at that with skepticism, and I understand. View quote
Tracey Gold
[T]he traditional idea of divine perfection or infinity is hopelessly unclear or ambiguous and that persisting in that tradition is bound to cause increasing skepticism, confusion, and human suffering. It has long bred, and must evermore breed, atheism as a natural reaction. View quote
Charles Hartshorne
The natural cause of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what. View quote
Michael Shermer
Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind. View quote
John Dewey
I personally have great skepticism about the theories extolling the wonders of "Asian values." They are often based on badly researched generalizations and frequently uttered by governmental spokesmen countering accusations of authoritarianism and violations of human rights (as happened spectacularly at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993). View quote
Amartya Sen
The permanent mental attitude which the sensitive intelligence derives from philosophy is an attitude that combines extreme reverence with limitless skepticism. View quote
John Cowper Powys
Skepticism means not intellectual doubt alone, But moral doubt. View quote
Thomas Carlyle
As a transitional condition, skepticism is logical insurrection; as a system, it is anarchy. Skeptical method would therefore be much the same as rule by insurgents. (Friedrich Schlegel)
The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil. View quote
Simone Weil
I don't know of a case where we were discussing such a dramatic step where the federal government will legislatively mandate a specific type of technology to be incorporated in all of this material. Maybe the sky really is falling this time, but I think it is worth suggesting a little bit of skepticism, it's worth offering up a little doubt before we not just entertain this, but jump ahead to what exemptions were required. View quote
John E. Sununu
Tedium is the lack of a mithology. To whom has no beliefs, even doubt is impossible, even skepticism has no strength to suspect. View quote
Fernando Pessoa
Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency. View quote
Stephen Jay Gould