QuoteProject
Because a doubt is not a denial. Doubt is a powerful tool, and it should be applied to history.
Walter M. Miller, Jr.
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Doubt can serve as a valuable tool for understanding and assessing our beliefs and history.

In this quote, Walter M. Miller, Jr. emphasizes that doubt should not be equated with outright denial or rejection. Instead, he suggests that doubt can be a constructive force that prompts deeper inquiry and understanding, especially when reflecting on historical events and perspectives. By embracing doubt, one can critically evaluate the past and gain a more nuanced view of truth.

Themes

DoubtTruthHistoryReflectionUnderstanding

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about learning from history, you could say 'Because a doubt is not a denial.'

More from Walter M. Miller, Jr.

When you tire of living, change itself seems evil, does it not? for then any change at all disturbs the deathlike peace of the life-weary.
Walter M. Miller, Jr.Read
Listen, my dear Cors, why don't you forgive God for allowing pain? If He didn't allow it, human courage, bravery, nobility, and self-sacrifice would all be meaningless things.
Walter M. Miller, Jr.Read

Similar quotes

I don't like gurus. I don't like people who ask you to follow or believe. I like people who ask you to think independently.
A. S. ByattRead
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
Abba EbanRead
It ought not to be unpleasant to say that which one honestly believes or disbelieves. That it so constantly is painful to do so, is quite enough obstacle to the progress of mankind in that most valuable of all qualities, honesty of word or of deed.
Thomas HuxleyRead
You cannot get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have the facts, you cannot make proper judgments about what is going on.
Harry S. TrumanRead
A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous and then dismissed as trivial, until finally, it becomes what everybody knows.
William JamesRead
A wise man does not chatter with one whose mind is sick.
SophoclesRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.