Francis Bacon Quotes

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.

My skepticism is strong, but my curiosity is stronger.

Doubt is the first step towards knowledge, not faith.

Inquiry is fatal to certainty.

Uncertainty is a very good thing: it's the beginning of an investigation, and the investigation should never end.

By doubting we are led to question, by questioning we arrive at the truth.

I love to doubt as well as know.

Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way.

If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things.

Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passion. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.

Skepticism may undermine beliefs, but never belief.

William James used to preach the "will-to-believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will-to-doubt." None of our beliefs are quite true; all at least have a penumbra of vagueness and error. What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

Questions are not scary. What is scary is when people don’t have any. What is tragic is faith that has no room for them.

The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found.

Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

The job is to ask questions-it always was-and to ask them as inexorably as I can. And to face the absence of precise answers with a certain humility.

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

I respect faith, but doubt is what gives you an education.

Religion asks you to believe things without questioning, and technology and science always encourage you to ask hard questions and why it is important in science and technology. So I was always interested in science and technology.

Doubt grows with knowledge.

Religion deals in certainties and philosophy deals more in un-answered questions.

I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

What do we believe? Why do we believe it?

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.