Voltaire Quotes

Deciding whether to trust or credit a person is always an uncertain task.

I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed

I never know how much of what I say is true.

Well, I - all cases to me have interest. Every case is important to somebody, the people litigating that case. But the most difficult case for me is the case where one person says a, the other person says b, and you just don't know for certain who is not telling you the truth.

Trust is a confusing thing. It seems so simple, but when you try to pin it down, it can be so elusive.

So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.

I believe it is impossible to be sure of anything.

You mustn't always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies, particularly when there is no answer.

There is only one thing about which I am certain, and that is that there is very little about which one can be certain.

There’s no institution that you can trust all the time.

Trust is very hard if you don't know what you're trusting.

I believe things when it comes out 'cause I know how it is - things change all the time.

Probability is not a mere computation of odds on the dice or more complicated variants; it is the acceptance of the lack of certainty in our knowledge and the development of methods for dealing with our ignorance.

Certainty is no guarantor of correctness.

I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too.

There was no protection, no quota system when it came to luck. It was like that moment in math when a child learns that the odds of heads or tails is always one-in-two, no matter how many times one has flipped the coin and gotten heads. Every flip, the odds are the same. Every day, you could be unlucky all over again.

Can you trust me, he said. Not will you. Can you. Can I trust him? What do I have to lose?

I failed math twice, never fully grasping probability theory. I mean, first off, who cares if you pick a black ball or a white ball out of the bag? And second, if you’re bent over about the color, don’t leave it to chance. Look in the damn bag and pick the color you want.

I am beginning to believe that nothing is quite so uncertain as facts. (Edward Curtis)

I have been too long acquainted with human nature to have great regard for human testimony; and a very great degree of probability, supported by various concurrent circumstances, conspiring in one point, will have much greater weight with me, than human testimony upon oath, or even upon honour; both of which I have frequently seen considerably warped by private views.

A prediction, in a field where prediction is not possible, is no more than a prejudice.

Science is uncertain.

Statistics may be defined as "a body of methods for making wise decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Everything Jack says is to be taken with considerable reserve.