Evidence

Explore 9 quotes about Evidence

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

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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.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all of the evidence. It biases the judgement.

Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Scarlet

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Topic

Jumping to conclusions Evidence Judgment

Speaker

Sherlock Holmes

Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Source

A Study in Scarlet

Medium

Novel Magazine

Genre

Detective fiction

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. "A Study in Scarlet." Beeton's Christmas Annual. London: Ward Lock & Co., 1887.

Current Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. The Sherlock Holmes Collector's Library. Detective Fiction, 2012, pt. 1, ch. 3.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.

Christopher Hitchens

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

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Topic

Evidence

Author

Christopher Hitchens

Source

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

2007 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Twelve/Hachette Book Group, 2007, ch. 10.

It is wrong always, everywhere and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

W.K. Clifford

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Topic

Unjustified beliefs Beliefs Evidence

Author

W.K. Clifford

Source

The Ethics of Belief

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

English

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Clifford, William Kingdon. "The Ethics of Belief." Contemporary Review, 1877.

Current Citation

Clifford, William Kingdon. "The Ethics of Belief." The Ethics of Belief and Other Essays. Prometheus, 1999.

A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.

David Hume

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

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Topic

Beliefs Evidence

Author

David Hume

Source

Of Miracles An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1748 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hume, David. "Of Miracles." An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. London: A. Millar, 1748, sect. 10, pt. 1, para. 4.

Current Citation

Hume, David. "Of Miracles." An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford University Press, 2000, sect. 10, pt. 1, para. 4.

Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

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Topic

Doubt and skepticism Evidence Appearance vs. reality

Speaker

Mr. Jaggers

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

Great Expectations

Medium

Novel

Genre

Coming of age story

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1861 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "Great Expectations." All the Year Round. London: Chapman and Hall, 18 May 1861, ch. 40.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 40.

There are very few lovers of truth for truth-sake, even among those who persuade themselves that they are so. How a man may know whether he be so in earnest, is worth inquiry: and I think there is one unerring mark of it, viz. The not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant. Whoever goes beyond this measure of assent, it is plain, receives not truth in the love of it, loves not truth for truth-sake, but for some other by-end.

John Locke

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding

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Topic

Truth Evidence Reason

Author

John Locke

Source

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1690 1690s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. London: Thomas Basset, 1690, bk. 4, ch. 19, sect. 1.

Current Citation

Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, edited by Pauline Phemister. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 4, ch. 19, sect. 1.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Carl Sagan

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Topic

Evidence

Author

Carl Sagan

Source

Four Cosmic Questions Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sagan, Carl. "Four Cosmic Questions." Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. Random House, 1997, ch. 5.

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense.

Bertrand Russell

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Topic

Evidence

Author

Bertrand Russell

Source

Is There a God? The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Russell, Bertrand. "Is There a God?" The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, edited by John G. Slater and Peter Köllner. Vol. 11, Routledge, 1997. Originally commissioned by Illustrated magazine, 1952. Unpublished.