Quotes About Doubt

Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person's lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one's soul.

The euphoric episode is protected and sustained by the will of those who are involved, in order to justify the circumstances that are making them rich. And it is equally protected by the will to ignore, exorcise, or condemn those who express doubts.

When people are least sure they are often most dogmatic. We

I don't know what God is, or what God had in mind when the universe was set in motion. In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty.

How can I go forward when I don't know which way I'm facing?

I was feeling insecure you might not love me anymore

For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.

It is so much easier to believe than to think; it is astounding how much more believing is done than thinking.

Which raises another question: How does one know when one knows? In turn this leads to more practical questions: How does one know when to continue to push an experiment? And how does one know when to abandon a clue as a false trail?

Uncertainty follows distrust, fear follows uncertainty, and, under conditions such as these, terror follows fear.

if it believes that it knows the truth and that it need not question its beliefs, then that society is more likely to enforce rigid decrees, and less likely to change. If it leaves room for doubt about the truth, it is more likely to be free and open. In

This answer involves not simply academic pursuits; it affects how a society governs itself, its structure, how its citizens live. If a society does set Goethe's "Word . . . supremely high," if it believes that it knows the truth and that it need not question its beliefs, then that society is more likely to enforce rigid decrees, and less likely to change. If it leaves room for doubt about the truth, it is more likely to be free and

They read all the books, but they can't find the answers.

Everyone is in awe of the lion tamer in a cage with half a dozen lions - everyone but a school bus driver.

I had a lot of trouble in school to begin with. I got left back in kindergarten, and I was in special education. My teachers didn't have very much faith in me.

Certitude is seized by some minds, not because there is any philosophical justification for it, but because such minds have an emotional need for certitude.

As usual, my mind is spinning in circles...is it me? Am I making mountains out of molehills? Being too analytical? Worrying about nothing? Being emotional?

We must, then, apply the principle of Doubt to Civilization; we must doubt its necessity, its excellence, and its permanence.

Underlying great doubt there is great satori, where there is thorough questioning there will be thoroughgoing experience of awakening.

To doubt the experience is to discourage it. Let it be developed, see what is in it.

My experience is that lots of people go to church, sing the songs, tell the story, etc but have profound ambivalence about God.

Doubt is merely a thought. When experience proves it wrong, it will quickly go away.

We all question our sanity. Everyone has had an experience of loss of control of something.

All a skeptic is is someone who hasn't had an experience yet.