Richard Dawkins Quotes

He that believes all misseth; he that believes nothing, hits not.

You mustn’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.

People should be more passive with what they consider trustworthy.

What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

I'm not an extremist, you know.

I always try to have an open mind, but there is a difference between having an open mind and having a hole in the head.

Credulity without enquiry is a sure way to deceive oneself.

By nature, I am someone who hews to the middle. I need to hear all sides of a story. Unless I am engaged in a tough round of dominoes or Scrabble, I think of myself as unreasonably reasonable.

Why is it that common sense is seldom common practice?

Common sense, proportionality, and judgment are the skills we must seek in those we choose to regulate our lives.

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

You must be wise, but not too wise.

Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.

I believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.

Reason is a harmonising, controlling force rather than a creative one.

I think that we must find some way to get more common sense, more rationality, in our decisions and less emotion.

I don't consider myself to be that credulous.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

If one age believes too much it is natural that another believes too little.

Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision.

Part of the scientific temperament is this tolerance for holding multiple hypotheses in mind at the same time.

Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either.

I take what I see work. I'm a strict believer in the scientific principle of believing nothing, only taking the best evidence available at the present time, interpreting it as best you can, and leaving your mind open to the fact that new evidence will appear tomorrow.

I always try to be reasonable and effective.

Neither truth, reason, nor justice consists in stubbornness of assertion, nor in the repetition of error.