Voltaire Quotes

Doubt is not a very agreeable status, but certainty is a ridiculous one.

Only the fools are certain and assured.

One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.

The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything. The novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question. There is wisdom and tolerance in that attitude. In a world built on sacrosanct certainties the novel is dead.

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

I think that certainty is a closed door, It's the end of the conversation. Doubt is an open door.

The novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question. There is wisdom and tolerance in that attitude. In a world built on sacrosanct certainties the novel is dead.

Because a truly skeptical position would be a very uncertain one.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

I was raised with the notion that it was OK to ask questions, and it was OK to say, I'm not sure. I believe, but I'm not quite so certain about the resurrection.

The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything.

My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not about God alone, but agnosticism about everything.

Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.

We are not certain, we are never certain. If we were we could reach some conclusions, and we could, at last, make others take us seriously.

I'm always doubtful. Everything I do is always doubtful. When you're trying to differentiate, there's going to be this gut sense, is this right? If you're not having doubt, then you're not pushing it hard enough, or you're not looking at the details close enough. You need to be feeling that doubt every single day.

Do not feel certain of anything.

We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is no certainty.

I could be wrong. Not being certain is what being a philosopher is all about.

Skepticism may undermine beliefs, but never belief.

When in doubt, doubt the doubt!

I would say that I'm 98 percent skeptical, but the other 2 percent [is] open for the possibility of things.

I wish I were dumber so I could be more certain about my opinions. It looks fun.

Doubt was much more energy efficient than conviction.

if you don't have doubts you're either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants-in-the-pants of faith. They keep it alive and moving.

It is not that there are no certainties, it is that it is an absolute certainty that there are no certainties.