Quotes About Skepticism

In the same way that it makes sense for the airport security screeners to give my father extra scrutiny every time he flies because his skin is brown and his first name is Muhammad?

Carl Sagan put it best: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Some people see the glass as half-empty, while others see it as half-full. But Jones stares at it and tries to figure out who drank the damn water.

and although he doubted they would try anything that drastic again,

Most grandiose gestures are suspect—the couple who renew their vows just before divorce or the politician who publicly swears he's clean, then enters rehab.

I began to question NWF's position on killer whale displays and I became more skeptical of NWF's pro-captivity arguments, which parroted SeaWorld's talking points. After all, NWF openly supported hunting and trapping; they were hardly in a good position to suddenly get maudlin about the suffering of orcas in captivity.

I do like dating cynics - they tend to be incredibly funny.

But what if it's a trap?' she repeated. Joe gave her a hard stare.'Of course it's a fucking trap,' he said.

Because that's the thing about Scooby-Doo: the bad guys in every episode aren't monsters, they're liars... The very first rule of Scooby-Doo, the single premise that sits at the heart of their adventures, is that the world is full of grown-ups who lie to kids, and that it's up to those kids to figure out what those lies are and call them on it, even if there are other adults who believe those lies with every fiber of their being.

Do I look like I could have thrown a goddamn piano out a window?" She waved her hand. "Does he?

He'd had a dark, angry moment when he thought they might not have fallen for the ad he'd placed in the classified section.

Mr. Grote doesn't believe in government telling him what to do. Tell the truth, he doesn't believe in government at all. He has never been to school a day in his life and doesn't see the point. But he'll send me to school if that's what it takes to keep the authorities out of his hair.

We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry thirsty roots?

Jean asked her sister, "Am I?" "Are you?" she asked back.

3 people get stranded on a remote Island A Banker, a Daily Mail reader & an Asylum seeker All they have to eat is a box of 10 Mars bars The Banker says "Because of my expertise in asset management, I''ll look after our resources" The other 2 agree So the Banker opens the box, gobbles down 9 of the Mars bars and hands the last one to the Daily Mail reader He then says " I'd keep an eye on that Asylum seeker, he's after your Mars Bar

I mean, I've known you a few days longer than she has and I don't fucking trust you." "Yeah, but you're paid not to trust me." "I wouldn't trust you in my spare time either.

There is no point in arguing if you are not susceptible to reason. Embrace your cynicism. Hug it.

Some of my colleagues…acknowledge that the earth is warming, but insist that such warming (and cooling) is nothing unusual, and it's not catastrophic. The end result is that the skeptics tend to be tolerant of dispute and dissent because we do not necessarily agree among ourselves. The believers are not only intolerant of dissent—they are convinced that all skeptics must be motivated by greed or other evil forces….

since 'nothing can be begun with certainty, it's better we begin with doubt'.

I know now that I'm not trusting anyone or anything any more. And that it is hard to live for long periods without trusting anyone or anything. It's like living without sleep; eventually it will kill you.

Never trust a husband too far, nor a bachelor too near.

Never trust a husband too far or a bachelor too near.

I look suspiciously at the half-empty glass in my hand.

I have written too much history to have faith in it and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined to agree with him.