David Byrne Quotes

The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, seek simplicity and distrust it.

Seek simplicity but distrust it.

People are always trying to draw simplistic dialectics that can capture things.

Truth suffers from too much analysis.

The more one-dimensional an explanation of something complex and far reaching, the greater the grounds for skepticism.

… steer clear of bogus simplicity

You should never assume anything coming from a critical standpoint. You should go into everything assuming you're going to get crushed.

Frankly, I’m suspicious of anyone who has a strong opinion on a complicated issue.

It's not a silly question if you can't answer it.

Always seek the general and never quite trust it.

At the very smallest wheel of our reasoning it is possible for a handful of questions to break the bank of our answers.

Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.

Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce.

Too much trust is folly, in an imperfect world.

We must strive for literacy and education that teach us to never quit questioning and probing at the assumptions of the day.

The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanation of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be ''Seek simplicity and distrust it.''

Things are always more complicated than most people believe.

Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labor-saving device in the face of complexity.

Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason.

Like everybody and trust no one.

This matter of two sides to every question is bad logic and bad practice: sometimes there are no sides; sometimes there are a hundred.

The best defence against bullshit is vigilance. So if you smell something, say something.

In my view, the argument from parsimony is really no argument at all - it typically functions only to shut down more interesting discussion. If history is any guide, it's never a good idea to assume that a scientific problem is cornered.

I try to encourage people to think for themselves, to question standard assumptions... Don't take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can't. Be willing to ask questions about what is taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself.

I guess if you want to know one single thing I'm about, it's that I'm against easy answers.