Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.
quote by Robert K. Merton

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Related quotes

I Hear It Was Charged Against Me
I HEAR it was charged against me that I sought to destroy
institutions;
But really I am neither for nor against institutions;
(What indeed have I in common with them?--Or what with the
destruction of them?)
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta, and in every city of These
States, inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel, little or large,
that dents the water,
Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.
poem by Walt Whitman

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Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
quote by Napoleon Bonaparte

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Skepticism, riddling the faith of yesterday, prepared the way for the faith of tomorrow.
quote by Romain Rolland

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The virtues of science are skepticism and independence of thought.
quote by Walter Gilbert

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We must surrender our skepticism only in the face of rock-solid evidence. Science demands a tolerance for ambiguity. Where we are ignorant, we withhold belief. Whatever annoyance the uncertainty engenders serves a higher purpose: It drives us to accumulate better data. This attitude is the difference between science and so much else. Science offers little in the way of cheap thrills. The standards of evidence are strict. But when followed they allow us to see far, illuminating even a great darkness.
Carl Sagan in Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

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Faith (live)
(HogarthKellyMosleyRotheryTrewavas)
What I have here in my heart
Is like faith, but not faith
For those without faith also have
What I have here in my heart
What I have here in my hand
Is like feeling but deeper
That's why I am here
What I have here in this room
Is knowledge without proof
What I have here in my hands
This is what I feel for you
It's why the Earth is alive
And makes electricity work
And fire dance in the sky
I feel inside the atoms
Where the science breaks down
What I have here in my hand
Is like faith, but not faith
For those without faith also have
What I have here in my hand
What I have here in my hand
Is like knowing but deeper
It's why I have faith
song performed by by Marillion

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The fate of institutions
If an institution must run
It must generate enough funds
To feed the people who run it.
If it must survive the founder,
Running it must be profitable
For the subsequent personals.
Otherwise, however noble
The cause is or however holy
The faith founded is,
The institution is bound to die.
The seed alone is helpless for its growth.
11.01.2009
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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The marriage of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored in all cultures and by every religious faith. It's in this institution that children are meant to be nurtured. We know this after thousands of years of human experience.
quote by Jeff Miller

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Education has failed in a very serious way to convey the most important lesson science can teach: skepticism.
quote by David Suzuki

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It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.
quote by Carl Sagan

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Its attitude, which it has preached and practiced, is skepticism. Now, it finds, the public is applying that skepticism to the press.
quote by Thomas Griffith

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It is evident that skepticism, while it makes no actual change in man, always makes him feel better.
quote by Ambrose Bierce

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Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of faith, for it assumes the permanence and uniformity of natural laws - a thing which can never be demonstrated.
quote by Tryon Edwards

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Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of faith, for it assumes the permanence and uniformity of natural laws - a thing which can never be demonstrated
quote by Tyron Edwards

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If I Ever Loose My Faith
You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do
I could be lost inside their lies
Without a trace
But everytime I close my eyes
I see your face
Never saw no miracle of science
That didn't go from a blessing to a curse
Never saw no military solution
That didn't end up as something worse but
Let me say this first
If I ever lose my faith in you
(If I ever lose my faith in you)
There'd be nothing left for me to do
(There'd be nothing left for me to do)
If I ever lose my faith
If I ever lose my faith
If I ever lose my faith
If I ever lose my faith...in you
song performed by by Sting

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By Faith By: Cay Thorne
By faith we are loved –
By those who care for us.
By faith we have a heart –
To love everything and everyone.
By faith we can show virtue and enlightenment –
To those who need to be enlightened.
By faith we live within peace –
Especially during time of war.
By faith we have courage –
To do something brave and heroic.
By faith we face discrimination –
In every form there is under the sun with gusto and understanding.
By faith we can do wonders –
Beyond any means needed.
By faith we can do anything –
That we set our mind and heart on it.
By faith we have encouragement –
To try anything new that comes our way in life.
By faith we have hope –
To fight through any struggle that comes our way in life.
By faith we have hope –
To stop all wars and fights;
That begins with hatred.
BY FAITH ITSELF WE CAN DO A LOT OF GOOD IN THIS WORLD WITHOUT TURNING TO VIOLENCE.
poem by Cay Thorne

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I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.
quote by Carl Sagan

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Faith, Hope, Trust
Faith is a feeling of misconception.
I have Faith in myself,
But should I have Faith in you?
The real challenge is retaining Faith in us.
Hope is a state that is unsteady.
I can Hope to find Faith,
But will Hope cure the fallacy that is us?
Hoping to have Faith gives life more demand.
Trust is an idea that troubles me.
I must Trust in my Hope of finding Faith,
But will that Trust finally induce our perfect peace?
Or should I Trust that your Faith in us is Hopeless?
In order to have Faith in us,
I must first show Faith in you.
Untill I believe you have Hope in us,
I'll keep the Hope that us is true.
And when you start to Trust in us,
You can Trust I will see it through.
poem by Blake Bishop

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When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others. It is much more nearly certain that we are assembled here tonight than it is that this or that political party is in the right. Certainly there are degrees of certainty, and one should be very careful to emphasize that fact, because otherwise one is landed in an utter skepticism, and complete skepticism would, of course, be totally barren and completely useless.
quote by Bertrand Russell

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When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others. It is much more nearly certain that we are assembled here tonight than it is that this or that political party is in the right. Certainly there are degrees of certainty, and one should be very careful to emphasize that fact, because otherwise one is landed in an utter skepticism, and complete skepticism would, of course, be totally barren and completely useless.
Bertrand Russell in Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic? (1947)

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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