Facts are ventriloquist’s dummies. Sitting on a wise man’s knee they may be made to utter words of wisdom; elsewhere, they say nothing, or talk nonsense, or indulge in sheer diabolism.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
I hate facts. I always say the chief end of man is to form general propositions—adding that no general proposition is worth a damn.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
Facts don’t cease to exist because they are ignored.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
Our esteem for facts has not neutralized in us all religiousness. It is itself almost religious. Our scientific temper is devout.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
She always says, my lord, that facts are like cows. If you look them in the face hard enough they generally run away.
—Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) British Crime Writer
There is nothing as deceptive as an obvious fact.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Comment is free but facts are sacred.
—C. P. Scott (1846–1932) British Journalist, Editor, Politician
If a man will kick a fact out of the window, when he comes back he finds it again in the chimney corner.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The fastidious are unfortunate; nothing satisfies them.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
Accuracy is to a newspaper what virtue is to a lady, but a newspaper can always print a retraction.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Obviously the facts are never just coming at you but are incorporated by an imagination that is formed by your previous experience. Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts.
—Philip Roth (1933–2018) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Only feeble minds are paralyzed by facts.
—Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British Scientist, Science-fiction Writer
A world of facts lies outside and beyond the world of words.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
A concept is stronger than a fact.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) American Feminist, Writer
The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business. He cannot accommodate his processes to the convenience of individuals.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Never forget the facts are important but it’s the opinion of the facts that causes comment.
—Unknown
But I hate things all fiction… there should always be some foundation of fact for the most airy fabric—and pure invention is but the talent of a liar.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
One precedent creates another.—They soon accumulate, and constitute law.—What yesterday was fact, today is doctrine.—Examples are supposed to justify the most dangerous measures; and where they do not suit exactly, the defect is supplied by analogy.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
General principles are not the less true or important because from their nature they elude immediate observation; they are like the air, which is not the less necessary because we neither see nor feel it.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian Head of State
The facts are always friendly, every bit of evidence one can acquire, in any area, leads one that much closer to what is true.
—Carl Rogers (1902–1987) American Psychologist
One does a whole painting for one peach and people think just the opposite—that particular peach is but a detail.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
There are no facts, only interpretations.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
—Unknown
I deal with the obvious. I present, reiterate and glorify the obvious—because the obvious is what people need to be told.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Facts are counterrevolutionary.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Facts are not truths; they are not conclusions; they are not even premises, but in the nature and parts of premises.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Conclusive facts are inseparable from inconclusive except by a head that already understands and knows.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
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