Doubt is the feeling of uncertainty about something, calling into question whether something is true or possible. Uncertainty is a feeling or status where something is not known, and can also signal a lack of conviction. Doubt and uncertainty usually carry a connotation of less intensity than skepticism.
Do not worry about tomorrow’s trouble, for you do not know what the day may bring. Tomorrow may come and you will be no more, and so you will have worried about a world that is not yours!
Men are never convinced of your reasons, of your sincerity, of the seriousness of your sufferings, except by your death. So long as you are alive, your case is doubtful; you have a right only to their skepticism.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.
For nothing worthy proving can be proven,
Nor yet disproven: wherefore thou be wise,
Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt.
In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path — the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love.
It is better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.
I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me — that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.
Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery.
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
Expect the unexpected.
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 believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are so confident while the intelligent are full of doubt.
When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also add that some things are more nearly certain than others.
Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise.
To deny, to believe, and to doubt absolutely — this is for man what running is for a horse.
We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.
Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.
It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish useful ideas from the worthless ones.
But then arises the doubt, can the mind of man, which has, as I fully believe been developed from a mind as low as that possessed by the lowest animal, be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions?
I have always felt that doubt was the beginning of wisdom, and the fear of God was the end of wisdom.
The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom.
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
It would be better for us to have some doubts in an honest pursuit of truth, than it would be for us to be certain about something that was not true.
When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities.
Everything worth doing in the world is a desperate gamble, a game of chance, where nothing is certain.
What is love? Is it not a wild and sublime speculation that can end in ecstasy or despair?
What is courage? Is it not a hazardous risk of fortune that can end in victory or defeat?
What is adventure? Is it not a blind leap in the dark that can end in joy or disaster?
As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.
The great lesson here for all imaginatively gridlocked systems is that the acceptance and even cherishing of uncertainty is critical to keeping the human mind from voyaging into the delusion of omniscience.
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
