Quotes About Certainty

Human life is bounded by two chasms: fanaticism on one side, absolute skepticism on the other.

What does it mean, anyway, to 'retract' what you've said? How can anyone state categorically that a thought he once had is no longer valid? In modern times a thought can be refuted , yes, but not retracted . (p. 179)

En travaux pratiques de physique, n'importe quel collégien peut faire des expériences pour vérifier l'exactitude d'une hypothèse scientifique. Mais l'homme, parce qu'il n'a qu'une seule vie, n'a aucune possibilité de vérifier l'hypothèse par l'expérience de sorte qu'il ne saura jamais s'il a eu tort ou raison d'obéir à son sentiment. (partie I, ch. 16)

Humor: the divine flash that reveals the world in its moral ambiguity and man in his profound incompetence to judge others; humor: the intoxicating relativity of human things; the strange pleasure that conies of the certainty that there is no certainty. But humor, to recall Octavio Paz, is the great invention of the modern spirit. It has not been with us forever, and it won't be with us forever either. With a heavy heart, I imagine the day when Panurge no longer makes people laugh.

All predictions are wrong, that's one of the few certainties granted to mankind. But though predictions may be wrong, they are right about the people who voice them, not about their future but about their experience of the present moment.

DüÅŸüncenin yakla??kl??? ile gerçeÄŸin kesinliÄŸi aras?nda düÅŸlenemez olan?n yaratt??? küçük bir boÅŸluk vard? ve onun bir türlü peÅŸini b?rakmayan da bu boÅŸluktu.

Está pronta demais a prometer sem mostrar de maneira suficientemente clara que sua promessa não a obriga a nada.

Ao tomar a sua decisão, ela não escolhera a astúcia, mas a verdade. Decidira que as coisas eram de verdade assim.

Nie by? pewien, czy post?puje s?usznie, ale by? pewien, ?e post?puje tak, jak chce post?powa?.

A ironia irrita. Não porque escarnece ou ataca, mas porque nos priva das certezas, desvendando o mundo como ambiguidade.

é precisamente ao perder a certeza da verdade e o consentimento unânime dos outros que o homem se torna indivíduo.

O humor: o relâmpago divino que descobre o mundo na sua ambiguidade moral e o homem na sua profunda incompetência para julgar os outros; o humor: a embriaguez da relatividade das coisas humanas; o estranho prazer resultante da certeza de que não há certeza.

Non esiste alcuna certezza che Dio abbia affidato davvero all'uomo il dominio sulle altre creature. E' invece più probabile che l'uomo si sia inventato Dio per santificare il dominio che egli ha usurpato sulla mucca o sul cavallo

Y le dio pena que, en una situación como aquella, en la que un hombre de verdad sería capaz de tomar inmediatamente una decisión, él dudase, privando así de su significado al momento más hermoso que había vivido jamás

Sólo una cosa es segura: la contradicción entre peso y levedad es la más misteriosa y equívoca de todas las contradicciones.

People love to be told what they know already. It's not so much that what they say is wrong, though Ann Coulter does seem to be completely crazy.

A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and in love, will convince nobody.

Certainty and similar states of 'knowing what we know' arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that, like love or anger, function independently of reason.

Faith is what? Faith is to love something you have no idea about.

How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I'm certain I love?

La volupte unique et supre" me de l'amour g|"t dans la certitude de faire le mal. The unique, supreme pleasure of love consists in the certainty of doing evil.

The minute I knew I was in love was the minute when there was no question about it.

But we are not what the other one needs, still he is certain that I will find great love in my life someday. He is sure of it. After all, he says, beauty attracts beauty.

Doubt thou the stars are fire Doubt thou the sun doth moveDoubt truth to be a liar But never doubt I love