Quotes About Doubt

One who claims to be a skeptic of one set of beliefs is actually a true believer in another set of beliefs." —PHILLIP E. JOHNSON

doubt.Therefore, it takes a lot more faith to be a non-Christian than it does to be a Christian.

As a young man he had not dared risk God's wrath by questioning His purpose. Now he did not give a damn. Fuck it. There was no Paradise and there was no Hell and if there was a God, He was worse than inscrutable. What did exist was the cold, cruel truth of a young man, dead—from cancer or a car accident or suicide or God knows what—at the obscene age of thirty-two.

My mind and gut are never simpatico: Every time I think somebody likes me, she doesn't; every time I think somebody doesn't like me, she does. This has never changed and I'm certain it never will.

Even the invisible are insecure. It's the most universal problem we have. It's so universal, it might not even count as a problem.

We're starting to behave as if we've reached the end of human knowledge. And while that notion is undoubtedly false, the sensation of certitude it generates is paralyzing.

And this, of course, is the central problem with conspiracy theorists — once you inflexibly accept that something is a conspiracy, any contrary evidence has the paradoxical effect of making your case stronger. Every contradiction deepens the conspiracy.

We must start from the premise that—in all likelihood—we are already wrong. And not "wrong" in the sense that we are examining questions and coming to incorrect conclusions, because most of our conclusions are reasoned and coherent. The problem is with the questions themselves.

Klosterman's Razor: the philosophical belief that the best hypothesis is the one that reflexively accepts its potential wrongness to begin with. _____________________________

Life is fucking confusing. I don't know anything, and neither do you.

It is impossible to examine questions we refuse to ask.

And I'm probably wrong. Maybe not completely, but partially. And maybe not today, but eventually.

The first moment someone calls for a revolution is usually the last moment I take them seriously.

even the groups who took advantage of the gold rush were dubious about what was happening.

Its easier to believe there's a monster under the bed if you've spent the last six months arguing with a monster.

Don't confuse disbelief and doubt. Doubt is healthy inquiry. Disbelief is a willful choice.

If you could be either God's worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?

After you find out all the things that can go wrong, your life becomes less about living and more about waiting.

What if reality is nothing but some disease?

I wish I had the courage not to fight and doubt everything... I wish, just once, I could say, 'This. This is good enough. Just because I choose it.

Why do I do anything?' she says. 'I'm educated enough to talk myself out of any plan. To deconstruct any fantasy. Explain away any goal. I'm so smart I can negate any dream.

Maybe we should always assume the worst.

Most guys will fight to know you. Some guys will deny you're a real person, and some will just ignore you. The zealot. The atheist. The agnostic.

We're the culture that cried wolf.