Charles Lyell Quotes

Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ASK. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds.

... in so many Muslim communities now, saving face trumps critical thinking and truth-telling. This is why reform from within Islam is so difficult.

The power to question is the basis of all human progress.

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.

Belief is the death of intelligence.

It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. It is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that…. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, "This is not enough.

Ask questions; don't make assumptions.

The people that were most interesting were always questioning the status quo.

Curiosity is life. Assumption is death.

Asking questions is the first way to begin change.

Be a sponge. Curiosity is life. Assumption is death. Look around.

It is wiser to find out than to suppose.

But Doc had one mental habit he could not get over. When anyone asked a question, Doc thought he wanted to know the answer.

Asking the proper question is the central act of transformation!

All human progress is preceded by new questions

We must strive for literacy and education that teach us to never quit questioning and probing at the assumptions of the day.

We make all sorts of assumptions because we don't have the courage to ask questions.

It’s so dangerous to idealize anything, or anyone, or any place, because it gives that thing or person or place a kind of permission to not have to change, and not have to evolve. It encourages us to bury our heads in the sand, or in values that are really morally neutral but that we pretend are moral goods: tradition, community and family for example.

The enemy of science is not religion... . The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma.

How will the world change if we do not question it?

A 'why' is a dangerous thing... It challenges old, comfortable ways, forces people to think about that they do instead of just mindlessly doing it. (Haplo) ... I think the danger is not so much in asking the 'why' as in believing you have come up with the only answer. (Alfred)

[Consider] a fence or gate erected across a road] The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

We are not sufficiently astonished by the fact that any science may be possible.

Children and scientists share an outlook on life. If I do this, what will happen? is both the motto of the child at play and the defining refrain of the physical scientist. ... The unfamiliar and the strange - these are the domain of all children and scientists.

Do you guys like impressions? "Why?" That was Socrates.