Our minds have the need to know. When we don’t know we make assumptions – they make us feel safer than not knowing. And we are pretty much always making assumptions.
—Miguel Angel Ruiz (b.1952) Mexican Author, Spiritualist
If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe in the truth of what it demonstrates.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact casus non faederis to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits. Without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
There are two times in a man’s life when he shouldn’t speculate: when he can afford to and when he can’t.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Theories are always very thin and insubstantial, experience only is tangible.
—Hosea Ballou (1771–1852) American Theologian
Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.
—Marshall Mcluhan (1911–80) Canadian Writer, Thinker, Educator
Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
A theory is the more impressive the greater is the simplicity of its premises, the more different are the kinds of things it relates and the more extended the range of its applicability.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
No theory is good unless it permits, not rest, but the greatest work. No theory is good except on condition that one use it to go on beyond.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough, a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
A young man is a theory, an old man is a fact.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
The world can doubtless never be well known by theory: practice is absolutely necessary; but surely it is of great use to a young man, before he sets out for that country, full of mazes, windings, and turnings, to have at least a general map of it, made by some experienced traveler.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
You must stick to your conviction, but be ready to abandon your assumptions.
—Denis Waitley (1933–2025) American Speaker, Consultant, Self-help Pioneer
The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art-forms.
—J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964) British Scientist, Geneticist
Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.
—Karl Popper (1902–94) Austrian-born British Philosopher
It is always better to ask then to make an assumption.
—Miguel Angel Ruiz (b.1952) Mexican Author, Spiritualist
It is theory that decides what can be observed.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
A theory is no more like a fact than a photograph is like a person.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Let us work without theorizing, ‘Tis the only way to make life endurable.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The way to keep yourself from making assumptions is to ask questions.
—Miguel Angel Ruiz (b.1952) Mexican Author, Spiritualist
A conception not reducible to the small change of daily experience is like a currency not exchangeable for articles of consumption; it is not a symbol, but a fraud.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
When speculation has done its worst, two and two still make four.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I never guess. It is a shocking habit—destructive to the logical faculty.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in.
—Alan Alda (b.1936) American Actor, TV Personality, Screenwriter
The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth—that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Society is based on the assumption that everyone is alike and no one is alive.
—Hugh Kingsmill (1889–1949) British Biographer, Anthologist
We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be. And our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
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