An aphorism is nothing else but the slightest
QUOTES AND APHORISMS ON DOUBT
True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.
Akhenaton (1375 BC, Egyptian king, monotheist)
Philosophy when superficially studied, excites doubt, when thoroughly explored, it dispels it.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626, British philosopher, essayist, statesman)
Suspicion amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds, they never fly by twilight.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626, British philosopher, essayist, statesman)
Suspicions that the mind, of itself, gathers, are but buzzes; but suspicions that are artificially nourished and put into men's heads by the tales and whisperings of others, have stings.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626, British philosopher, essayist, statesman)
Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way.
Hosea Ballou (1771-1852, American theologian, founder of "Universalism")
Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is -- it is her shadow.
Philip James Bailey (1816-1902, British poet)
I wish I could be half as sure of anything as some people are of everything.
Gerald Barzan
Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts.
Bhagavad Gita (c. BC 400-, Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata)
If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out.
William Blake (1757-1827, British poet, painter)
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
John Christian Bovee (1820-1904, American author, lawyer)
There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
Buddha (568-488 BC, Indian born, founder of Buddhism)
There was a castle called Doubting Castle, the owner whereof was Giant Despair.
John Bunyan (1628-1688, British author)
Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797, British political writer, statesman)
Our self-conceit sustains, and always must sustain us.
Samuel Butler (1612-1680, British poet, satirist)
Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by action alone.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, author)
The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, author)
Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom.
Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832, British sportsman writer)
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.
Clarence Darrow (1857-1938, American lawyer)
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650, French philosopher, scientist)
Despair is the conclusion of fools.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, British statesman, Prime Minister)
Despair is the conclusion of fools.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, British statesman, Prime Minister)
Despair is the damp of hell, as joy is the serenity of heaven.
John Donne (1572-1632, British metaphysical poet)
Doubt, indulged and cherished, is in danger of becoming denial; but if honest, and bent on thorough investigation, it may soon lead to full establishment of the truth.
Tryon Edwards (1809-1894, American theologian)
There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.
George Eliot (1819-1880, British novelist)
To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894, American author, wit, poet)
Soon after a heart-wrung decision, something inevitably occurs to cast doubt on your choice. Holding steady against that doubt usually proves your decision.
R.I. Fitzhenry
Doubt is the father of invention.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, Italian astronomer, mathematician)
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931, Lebanese poet, novelist)
Doubt can only be removed by action.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
Doubt grows with knowledge.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
I will listen to anyone's convictions, but pray keep your doubts to yourself.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
Only when we know little do we know anything; doubt grows with knowledge.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
Doubt breeds doubt.
Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872, Austrian dramatic poet)
He that knows nothing doubts nothing.
George Herbert (1593-1632, British metaphysical poet)
He that knows nothing doubts nothing.
George Herbert (1593-1632, British metaphysical poet)
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.
George Iles
There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order. This lukewarmness arises partly from fear of their adversaries who have the law in their favor; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.
Niccolo Macbiavelli
An honest man can never surrender an honest doubt.
Walter Malone (1866-1915, American jurist)
To doubt is worse than to have lost; And to despair is but to antedate those miseries that must fall on us.
Philip Massinger (1583-1640, British dramatist)
Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956, American editor, author, critic, humorist)
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933, American author)
Doubt, the essential preliminary of all improvement and discovery, must accompany the stages of man's onward progress. The faculty of doubting and questioning, without which those of comparison and judgment would be useless, is itself a divine prerogative of the reason.
Albert Pike (1809-1891, American lawyer, Masonic author, historian)
The person who trusts is happy; the person who doubts is wise.
Hungarian Proverb (Sayings of Hungarian origin)
The person who doubts nothing, knows nothing.
Italian Proverb (Sayings of Italian origin)
Doubt is the key to knowledge.
Persian Proverb (Sayings of Persian origin)
The road to perseverance lies by doubt.
Francis Quarles (1592-1644, British poet)
When you start to doubt yourself, the real world will eat you alive!
Henry Rollins
The only limit of our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945, American President (32nd))
Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death
Author Unknown
In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970, British philosopher, mathematician, essayist)
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970, British philosopher, mathematician, essayist)
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616, British poet, playwright, actor)
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616, British poet, playwright, actor) Source: Measure For Measure
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 (1920-, American psychiatrist)
There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.
Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892, British poet)
Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could not doubt, I should not believe.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862, American essayist, poet, naturalist)
There is no rule more invariable than that we are paid for our suspicions by finding what we suspect.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862, American essayist, poet, naturalist)
Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death.
Miguel De Unamuno (1864-1936, Spanish philosophical writer)
When in charge ponder. When in trouble delegate. When in doubt mumble.
Author Unknown
When in doubt, ask. When not in doubt, ask.
Author Unknown
When you doubt, abstain.
Zoroaster (BC 628-551, Persian religious leader, founder of Zoroastrianism)
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