The moment we have a fixed idea, we cease to be curious. And the moment we cease to be curious, we have ceased to think. For thought, like water, must flow or it stagnates.

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. And yet there are persons who flatter themselves that they think very clearly, who in reality only think with the prejudices of their age.

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best — and therefore never scrutinize or question.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. And to ask the right question, one must first unlearn the comfortable certainty that one already knows.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. And to ask the right question is already to know the direction of the answer.

We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought. The majority of men and women are not aware of the process by which this happens.

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

The peculiarity of the evidence of mathematics is that all the argument is on one side. There are no objections, and no answers to objections. But on every subject on which difference of opinion is possible, the truth depends on a balance of two sets of reasons.

The multitude of men agree in this: that they equate thinking with reading, and spare themselves the trouble of thinking, because they are able to read. They thus very much resemble those who to escape from want have sold their heritage, and now hope to live by their wages from those who have acquired it.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. Decadence begins when questions are suppressed and we are left only with the comfort of old replies.

The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice. So long as men are not trained to withhold judgment in the absence of evidence, they will be led astray by cocksure prophets.

To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them; and the pleasure of waking up is so much more beautiful than that of dreaming, that it must never be desired to have the eyes closed.

It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative, not dogmatic; they are based on evidence, not on authority or intuition.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

The chief danger of our age is that all mankind should be sunk in a depression of the same kind, all held in the same mold by the oppressiveness of a system of thought in which there is neither criticism of life nor xiety about truth.

The purpose of an open mind, like an open mouth, is to close it on something solid.

The true function of philosophy is not to provide final answers, but to keep alive in us the sense of wonder at the world and our place in it.

The purpose of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to close it on something solid.

The chief wonder of education is that it does not destroy the mind of the pupil at all. When one considers the usual methods of teaching, this is indeed extraordinary. Yet it does happen, and I should say that in nine cases out of ten it happens by accident.

It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunnings achievements of science. The divorce of the two produces politicians without ideas and scientists without conscience.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.