Joseph Epstein Quotes

I wouldn't say Jamie is an evil genius. I'm not sure he's evil and I'm not sure he's a genius.

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

I used to think there was a scientific way to do things. Like a proper way to answer a question or that kind of stuff. It's like, there's not! There's not a method, there's not a science to it.

The older I get, the less I know. By that I mean the less I am sure of. I view people with strong opinions on the big stuff with distrust. I don't think we should have certain certainties on faith and politics; I think we should be open-minded.

I'm kind of a sloppy feminist. Any ideology makes me a little nervous because there's some point where it doesn't allow for the complexity of things.

You have to test your hypothesis against other theories. Certainty in the face of complex situations is very dangerous.

Seek simplicity but distrust it.

If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'

There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them

I'm not ideological. I think sometimes when people are ideological, the world's a lot easier. Because it falls into either right or wrong, or black or white, or whatever. To me, I'm still trying to figure out a lot of things.

The greater the knowledge, the greater the doubt.

Cautious age suspects the flattering form, and only credits what experience tells.

Too much doubt is better than too much credulity.

I think we all ought to be careful about too much generalization on this issue, even as I confess to painting with a pretty broad brush myself!

I think that life is a paradox and you have to embrace that in your work and your belief systems... You can't be a literalist, and that's the trouble that people always find themselves in. That's why people always hit a wall with any of my stuff, because you can't take it literally.

Too much trust is folly, in an imperfect world.

We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!

Trust resides squarely between faith and doubt.

Trust not one night's ice.

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

Assumption Theory: The only safe assumption in life is that the person who assures you that everything is all right is all wrong.

Believe flatterers and you're lost; believe your enemies and you despair.

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting.

With knowledge comes more doubt.

The other guys are selling certainty. Not me. I'm on the corner with doubt.