quotations about doubt
Nothing is more durable than the dynasty of Doubt; for he reigns in the hearts of all his people, but gives satisfaction to none of them, and yet he is the only despot who can never die, while any of his subjects live.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
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Lacon
Truth lies within the Holy of Holies, in the temple of knowledge, but doubt is the vestibule that leads unto it. Luther began by having his doubts, as to the assumed infallibility of the Pope, and he finished by making himself the corner stone of the reformation. Copernicus, and Newton, doubted the truth of the false systems of others, before they established a true one of their own; Columbus differed in opinion with all the old world, before he discovered a new one; and Galileo's terrestrial body was confined in a dungeon, for having asserted the motion of those bodies that were celestial. In fact, we owe almost all our knowledge, not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed; and those who have finished by making all others think with them, have usually been those who began by daring to think with themselves; as he that leads a crowd, must begin by separating himself some little distance from it.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Doubt is a sentinel on the watch-tower of the brain, charged with the duty of sounding an alarm, whenever its enemies--superstition, falsehood, ignorance and unreason--attempt to invade the citadel of truth.
HENRY M. TABER
Faith or Fact
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
"The Triumph of Stupidity,", Mortals and Others
To doubt is never pleasant, often painful, sometimes agonizing. And in so far as this prompts to inquiry and urges us to decision, it is very useful; but when it induces us to decide without inquiry or evidence, or without the proper use of them, the result is like declaring victory before fighting the battle. If we were so constituted that we could not doubt, what security would there be for the truth? What could more cripple the mind than to deprive it either of the power doubting or the power of believing? To face frankly and fairly the terrors of uncertainty requires courage. Indeed, to think at all, responsibly, rationally, and with absolute fidelity to truth, upon many subjects requires the highest degree of courage. It is easier, perhaps, to stand before a loaded cannon and see the match applied, than to adopt a conclusion utterly destructive to past convictions long cherished, and to the authority upon which they rested.
LOGAN E. BLECKLEY
The Green Bag, Feb. 1892
Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous.
G.C. LICHTENBERG
"Notebook F,", Aphorisms
My soul's poisonous doubt is all-consuming. My soul is like the dead sea, over which no bird can fly; when it gets halfway, it sinks down spent to its death and destruction.
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
Either/or
Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can't believe; unbelief is won't believe. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content with darkness.
HENRY DRUMMOND
How to Learn How
Doubt is excellent when it is a question of securing what we already possess, but it can be fatal if it impedes us in pursuit of what we seek.
CARLOS FUENTES
Terra Nostra
I must doubt everything, or realize my faith by exterminating every obstacle.
SABINE BARING-GOULD
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief: Christianity
Doubt is a surly, envious, egotistic emotion, a bitter denial of everything but the sullen self.
RUSSELL KIRK
The Conservative Mind
Doubt is often but as the putting away of childish things, preparatory to the reception of the deeper things of manhood.
ALEXANDER HENRY CRAUFURD
Enigmas of the Spiritual Life
Suspect suspicion, and doubt only doubt.
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX
"Deceit"
Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions.
THOMAS SZASZ
"Mental Illness,", The Second Sin
Doubt, indeed, is the disease of this inquisitive, restless age. It is the price we pay for our advanced intelligence and civilization. It is the dim night of our resplendent day. But as the most beautiful light is born of darkness, so the faith which springs from conflict is often the strongest and the best.
ROBERT TURNBULL
Life Pictures from a Pastor's Notebook
My Master said, on another Occasion, that those who doubt most, always erred least.
SAMUEL RICHARDSON
Pamela
Doubt comes in at the window when inquiry is denied at the door.
BENJAMIN JOWETT
Scripture and Truth
When a doubt is once received, men labour rather how to keep it a doubt still, than how to solve it; and accordingly bend their wits.
FRANCIS BACON
The Advancement of Learning
Doubt is not the opposite of confidence. Doubt can actually be a virtue; it is a form of self-reflection that anyone in a leadership position should exercise now and again. Having doubts about a course of action is a manifestation of a creative and lively mind, one that is engaged in the pursuit of a goal. The ability to question that pursuit means that you are open to change and circumstance. You may change or you may not, but at least you are open to the real world and the twists and turns it may toss you.
JOHN BALDONI
Lead By Example
Doubt is often as that angel that troubled the waters of old, so that they might become a source of healing to the crippled and diseased.
ALEXANDER HENRY CRAUFURD
Enigmas of the Spiritual Life