"

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

"

When two men of science disagree, they do not invoke the secular arm; they wait for further evidence to decide the issue, because, as men of science, ...more

"

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

"

Every man wherever he goes is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which move with him like flies on a summer day.

"

It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative, not dogmatic; they are b...more

"

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority o...more

"

William James used to preach the 'will to believe.' For my part, I should wish to preach the 'will to doubt' ... what is wanted is not the will to bel...more

"

I wish to propose for the reader's favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in qu...more

"

My desire and wish is that the things I start with should be so obvious that you wonder why I spend my time stating them. This is what I aim at becaus...more

"

I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian god may exist; so may the god...more