Skip to content

Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question — to doubt — to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.

— Richard Feynman

Another quote →

Topics

Science

More quotes by Richard Feynman

I don't know anything, but I do know that everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1999)

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.

I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.

What Do You Care What Other People Think? (1988)

Hell, if I could explain it to the average person, it wouldn't have been worth the Nobel prize.

statement (1965)

Tell your son to stop trying to fill your head with science — for to fill your heart with love is enough!

All Richard Feynman quotes →

You may also like

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: Richard Feynman (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.