James Gleick Quotes

Progress is born of doubt and inquiry. The Church never doubts, never inquires. To doubt is heresy, to inquire is to admit that you do not know—the Church does neither.

Science begets knowledge; opinion, ignorance.

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.

Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.

True science teaches, above all, to doubt

The bedrock of science is the unwillingness to accept authority.

The wonderful thing about science is that in science, faith is shakable.

By doubting we come to questioning, and by questioning we perceive the truth.

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.

Great intellects are skeptical.

There is not a single truth of science upon which we ought to bet more than about a million of millions to one.

Thou shalt not take anything on faith

I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.

Doubt is the first step towards knowledge, not faith.

To argue that the gaps in knowledge which confront the seeker must be filled, not by patient inquiry, but by intuition or revelation, is simply to give ignorance a gratuitous and preposterous dignity.

Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.

Inquiry is fatal to certainty.

The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.

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

The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.

Doubt grows with knowledge.

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.

Education has failed in a very serious way to convey the most important lesson science can teach: skepticism.

Large skepticism leads to large understanding. Small skepticism leads to small understanding. No skepticism leads to no understanding.

The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it as such without a single doubt.