Quotes About Doubt

Once you've condoned faith in general, you've condoned any crazy shit done because of faith.

Det hade jag emot Människosonen. Man ville ju inte säga det rakt ut, men man kunde inte riktigt lita på honom. Han hade liksom för många att ta hand om. Man hade hela tiden en känsla av att när det var som värst, då var det någon annan som kanske hade det värre. Och då blev man ju efterlämnad.

I should have said the right thing just then, but I did not know what that would be, if such a thing existed, I did not think so, and those who said it did, knew nothing. So I said the first thing that came into my head. "Are you afraid?". I said.

Perhaps to protect me from the bright light of God. If there was a God, he or she was no good at its job. Apparently there was just too much to do, listening to the prayers of all those who actually mattered, the faithful, the pious, the deluded, the stupid.

It's a bitch, ain't it? The things we assume.

I had never heard such bullshit in my life. I opened my mouth and said, "I have never heard such bullshit in my life.

Why are you still a priest?" Eigen asked, not letting the subject go. "My dear girl," Karras said. "I remain a goddamn cleric because in this world one needs something to hide behind. I have chosen this fucking collar. You have chosen mathematics.

The wilderness has a mysterious tongue Which teaches awful doubt, or faith so mild, So solemn, so serene, that man may be, But for such faith, with nature reconciled;

IF [GOD] HAS SPOKEN, WHY IS THE UNIVERSE NOT CONVINCED?

Fear will always step in the moment we choose to let faith go.

Notions of absolute truth and ultimate authority are fiercely attacked, and the Bible itself is no longer accorded unconditional respect in Western societies.

I never investigate; sometimes the most terrible thing of all is to confirm what you have only imagined.

Do you still believe in God, Rabbi?", she said at last. His face looked drained and pale. He shook his head from side to side. "I believe in sin," he said and finished his wine. I believe in evil.

see the world as a skeptic, not a cynic, while allowing for the wan possibility of human decency.

How do you know it's not true if you don't believe in it?

Do they really think that attending mass will make them better, or happier, or save them from an eternity of hellfire? Maybe they do. But there are something like ten thousand religions in the world. What makes them think that they happen to have been born into the right one? I have asked this question several times. So far, I haven't heard a good answer. Better to start your own religion, I think. That way you get to be your own pope.

The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.

It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth.

There is no such thing as a fixed and reliable truth (except for the statement that this is so, presumably

I regard posterity as vulgar as success. I don't trust posterity. I don't think what's good is necessarily recognized in the long run. Too many good writers have disappeared.

Today the theatre of doubting, of unease, of trouble, of alarm, seems truer than the theatre with a noble aim.

Sometimes I envy religious people for the comfort of believing. It would make everything so much easier.

You're so young... Are you sure that's what you want your life to be, forever and ever? That job? That career? That girlfriend?

Ho solo diciotto anni. Come faccio a sapere cosa vorrò nella vita? Come faccio a sapere cosa mi servirà?