Franz Boas Quotes

Our understanding of the world around us is constantly being redefined and expanded, and so therefore, it is wiser to be passionate about seeking for truth than knowing it.

Between truth and the search for it, I choose the second.

As it is, lovers of inquiry must follow their beloved wherever it may lead.

The courage of the truth is the first condition of philosophic study.

An open mind is not an end in itself but a means to the end of finding truth.

When I was young my Father used to tell me that the two most worthwhile pursuits in life were the pursuit of truth and of beauty and I believe that Alfred Nobel must have felt much the same when he gave these prizes for literature and the sciences.

It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.

Clarity and consistency are not enough: the quest for truth requires humility and effort.

I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.

It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.

A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. To feel the burning itch of curiosity requires both that you be ignorant, and that you desire to relinquish your ignorance.

I was always one of those guys who was a seeker after truth. I want to know what's going on.

A philosopher goes where the truth leads and has no patience with mere emotion.

The attempt to discover and promulgate the truth is nevertheless an obligation upon all scientists, one that must be persevered in no matter what the rebuffs—for otherwise what is the point in being a scientist?

We need a world where the values of science are celebrated: free inquiry, free speech and a healthy skepticism, all coupled with a sense of wonder, a respect for truth and an ability to reason.

I just - I love my job. I love doing it. It's a passionate endeavor. And sometimes you can get close to something that you believe is the truth. The truth of something. Not all the time, but sometimes.

Truth never lost ground by enquiry.

To know how to wonder and question is the first step of the mind toward discovery.

We are born to inquire into truth; it belongs to a greater to possess it

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.

The drive toward knowledge has a moral origin.

Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was for. There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them. Become a child again, even now... You have gone wrong. Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth.

A man's duty is to find out where the truth is, or if he cannot, at least to take the best possible human doctrine and the hardest to disprove, and to ride on this like a raft over the waters of life.