11 quotes
Science is what we know, and philosophy is what we don't know.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
A fanatical belief in democracy makes democratic institutions impossible.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Philosophers, for the most part, are constitutionally timid, and dislike the unexpected. Few of them would be genuinely happy as pirates or burglars.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
Change is one thing, progress is another.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
A man might say, with enough truth to justify a joke: "Science is what we know, and philosophy is what we don't know." But it should be added that philosophical speculation as to what we do not yet know has shown itself a valuable preliminary to exact scientific knowledge.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment.
Unpopular Essays (1950)
All movements go too far.
Unpopular Essays (1950)