Certainty

Explore 11 quotes about Certainty

I know that I do not know.

Socrates

Quoted in Apology, by Plato

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Topic

Intellectual humility Certainty Ignorance

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Apology

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

399 BC 390s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plato. Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους [Apology of Socrates]. Speech of legal self-defence which Socrates spoke at his trial for impiety and corruption. 399 BC, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Plato. "Apology." Plato: Euthyphro; Apology; Crito; Phaedo, translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Harvard University Press, 2017.

Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?

William James

The Will to Believe

More information about this quote

Topic

Evidence Certainty

Author

William James

Source

The Will to Believe

Genre

Psychological literature Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1896 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

James, William. "The Will to Believe." Philosophical Club of Yale University. Apr. 1896, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Lecture.

Current Citation

James, William. "The Will to Believe." William James: Essays and Lectures, edited by Richard Kamber. Routledge, 2016.

There is no such thing as absolute certainty, but there is assurance sufficient for the purposes of human life.

John Stuart Mill

On Liberty

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Topic

Certainty

Author

John Stuart Mill

Source

On Liberty

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. London: J.W. Parker and Son, 1859, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Mill, John Stuart. "On Liberty." On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays, edited by Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen. Oxford University Press, 2015, ch. 1.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.

Voltaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Doubt vs. certainty Doubt and skepticism Certainty

Author

Voltaire

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1770 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Voltaire. Letter to Frederick William. 28 Nov. 1770.

'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but death and taxes.

Christopher Bullock

More information about this quote

Topic

Certainty Death Taxes

Speaker

Toby Guzzle

Author

Christopher Bullock

Source

The Cobler of Preston, a Farce

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedic play

Language

English

Time

1716 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bullock, Christopher. The Cobler of Preston. 24 Jan. 1716, Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, England, UK.

Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.

Laurens van der Post

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Topic

Certainty

Author

Laurens van der Post

Source

Lost World of the Kalahari

Genre

Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Post, Laurens van der. The Lost World of the Kalahari. William Morrow, 1958, ch. 3.

The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

Pliny the Elder

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Topic

Certainty Uncertainty Truth

Author

Pliny the Elder

Source

Historia Naturalis

Genre

Scientific literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Latin

Time

77 BC 70s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pliny the Elder. Historia Naturalis [Natural History]. 77 AD, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pliny the Elder. Natural History: A Selection, translated by John F. Healy. Penguin Classics, 1991, bk. 2.

Certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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Topic

Certainty

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Source

The Path of the Law

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "The Path of the Law." Address to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts at the dedication of the new hall of the Boston University School of Law. 8 Jan. 1897, Boston University School of Law, Boston, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "The Path of the Law." The Essential Holmes: Selections from the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, edited by Richard A. Posner. University of Chicago Press, 1997.

He is no wise man who will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.

Samuel Johnson

More information about this quote

Topic

Uncertainty Certainty Wisdom

Author

Samuel Johnson

Source

The Idler

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Idler." Universal Chronicle, 19 May 1759, no. 57.

What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.

Epictetus

Discourses

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More information about this quote

Topic

Intellectual humility Certainty Obstacles to learning Learning

Author

Epictetus

Source

Discourses

Medium

Lecture

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

108 100s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Epictetus. Ἐπικτήτου διατριβαί, Epiktētou diatribai [The Discourses of Epictetus]. c. 108, bk. 2, ch. 17.

Current Citation

Epictetus. "The Discourses." Discourses and Other Writings, edited and translated by Robert Dobbin. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 17.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

Francis Bacon

Read The Advancement of Learning at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Doubt vs. certainty Certainty Doubt and skepticism Beliefs Convictions

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

The Advancement of Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1605 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. London: Oxford: Rob Youn and Ed Forrest, 1605, bk. 1, ch. 5, sect. 11.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "The Advancement of Learning." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 1, ch. 5, sect. 11.