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There is in the true man of science a desire stronger than the wish to have his beliefs upheld; namely, the desire to have them true.

— William Kingdon Clifford

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More quotes by William Kingdon Clifford

It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

The Ethics of Belief (1877)

Our lives are guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by society for social purposes.

The Ethics of Belief (1877)

No mathematician can give any meaning to the language about matter, force, inertia used in current text-books of mechanics.

It is the sense of power attached to a sense of knowledge that makes men desirous of believing, and afraid of doubting.

The Ethics of Belief (1877)

Force is not a fact at all, but an idea embodying what is approximately the fact.

The Common Sense of the Exact Sciences (1885)

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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

H. P. Lovecraft The Call of Cthulhu (1926)

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

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

Henri Poincaré Science and Hypothesis (1901)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Kingdon Clifford (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.