Quotes About Skepticism

Below the bust are carved these wise words from General Obregon's philosophy: Don't be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.

We are required to "bet our life" that the visible world, while real, is not reality itself.

They then easily moved on to the faith-destroying, even blasphemous idea that everything that happens in this world is caused by God.

You can't have the freedom to believe if you do not have the freedom not to believe.

To sum up: 1) There is no external historical confirmation for the Jesus story outside of the New Testament. 2) The New Testament accounts are internally contradictory. 3) There are many other plausible explanations for the origin of the myth that do not require us to distort or destroy the natural worldview. 4) The miracle reports make the story highly suspect.

Believe it or not, many Christians can make these statements with a straight face.

Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity.

Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history?

When multiple explanations exist, the simplest is usually correct.

You can point to the alleged miracles of the Bible, or any other religious text, but they are nothing but old stories fabricated by man and then exaggerated over time.

Langdon whispered to Vittoria. 'Ever fire anything other than a tranquilizer gun?' 'Don't you trust me?' 'Trust you? I barely know you.' Vittoria frowned. 'And here I thought we were newly-weds.

I've learned to expect the worst from people who hold power.

Widespread acceptance of an idea is not proof if its validity. -Robert Langdon

Widespread acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity.

Widespread acceptance of a fact is not a proof of its validity.

your skepticism is one of your greatest strengths as an academic. It is also your greatest weakness. I know you well enough to know you're not a man I can ask to believe . . . only to trust.

the minister would say something like: "We come from God and we're going to God," and the biologist would respond, "We evolved from apes and we're going extinct." They will prove nothing except that we viewers will watch anything if it's sufficiently hyped.

Or are we?" Langdon intoned overhead. "We consider ourselves modern rational individuals, and yet our species' most widespread religion includes a whole host of magical claims—humans inexplicably rising from the dead, miraculous virgin births, vengeful gods that send plagues and floods, mystical promises

A lot of people seem nice when you first meet them. Then later you find out that they are evil villains who plan to take over the world.

Francis Crozier believes in nothing. Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short . It has no plan, no point, no hidden mysteries that make up for the oh-so-obvious miseries and banalities. Nothing he has learned in the past six months has persuaded him otherwise. Has it?

Francis Crozier believes in nothing. Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It has no plan, no point, no hidden mysteries that make up for the oh-so-obvious miseries and banalities. Nothing he has learned in the last six months has persuaded him otherwise. Has it?

He had always distrusted people who asked to speak freely or who vowed to speak candidly or who used the expression "frankly.

All of our lives are governed by a certain degree of faith in bullshit.

The ultimate freedom for creative groups is the freedom to experiment with new ideas. Some skeptics insist that innovation is expensive. In the long run, innovation is cheap. Mediocrity is expensive—and autonomy can be the antidote."   TOM KELLEY General Manager, IDEO