“I have ventured to bring together various dicta of the holy fathers, as they came to mind, and to formulate certain questions which were suggested by the seeming contradictions in the statements.”

— Peter Abelard , Sic et Non

Introduction as translated in Readings in European History, Vol. I (1904) edited by James Harvey Robinson, p. 451
Variant translation:
Constant and frequent questioning is the first key to wisdom … For through doubting we are led to inquire, and by inquiry we perceive the truth.
Prologue as translated in A History of Education During the Middle Ages and the Transition to Modern Times (1918) by Frank Pierrepont Graves; 2005 edition, p. 53
Sic et Non (1120)
Context: I have ventured to bring together various dicta of the holy fathers, as they came to mind, and to formulate certain questions which were suggested by the seeming contradictions in the statements. These questions ought to serve to excite tender readers to a zealous inquiry into truth and so sharpen their wits. The master key of knowledge is, indeed, a persistent and frequent questioning. Aristotle, the most clear-sighted of all the philosophers, was desirous above all things else to arouse this questioning spirit, for in his Categories he exhorts a student as follows: "It may well be difficult to reach a positive conclusion in these matters unless they be frequently discussed. It is by no means fruitless to be doubtful on particular points." By doubting we come to examine, and by examining we reach the truth.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I have ventured to bring together various dicta of the holy fathers, as they came to mind, and to formulate certain que…" by Peter Abelard?

Peter Abelard 20

French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent lo… 1079–1142

Related quotes

“Understand the problem. What kind of problem is it? There are three main types of problems:
‘Show that …’ or ‘Evaluate …’ questions, in which a certain statement has to be proved true, or a certain expression has to be worked out;
‘Find a…’ or ‘Find all…’ questions, which requires one to find something (or everything) that satisfies certain requirements;
‘Is there a …’ questions, which either require you to prove a statement or provide a counterexample”

Terence Tao (1975) Australian mathematician

and thus is one of the previous two types of problem
Source: Solving Mathematical Problems (2nd ed., 2006), Ch. 1 : Strategies in problem solving

“Hope is different from belief. Belief is a function of the mind. It is something which, on the mental level, appears to you to be true, valuable, magnetic, attractive – a set of ideas which together make an ideology in which you can believe. It seems to answer the problems of life, to provide answers to various questions which arise about the meaning, the purpose, of life, and so on. That is a very different thing from hope.”

Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) artist, author, esotericist

Source: Maitreya's Mission Vol. II (1993)

“Which statement seems more true: (1) I have a brain. (2) I am a brain.”

Douglas Hofstadter (1945) American professor of cognitive science

The Mind's I with Daniel C. Dennett (1981)

“Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness.”

William Bradford (1590–1657) English Separatist leader in Leiden, Holland and in Plymouth Colony (1590-1657)

Ch. 2.

“These inventors were elevating the formulation of entrepreneurial ideas to the status of a visionary activity. Though forced to justify their efforts in the pragmatic language of venture capital, they were at heart utopian thinkers intent on transforming the world.”

Alain de Botton (1969) Swiss writer

Source: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009), p. 281.

“[My father] impressed upon me from the first, that the manner in which the world came into existence was a subject on which nothing was known: that the question, “Who made me?””

John Stuart Mill book Autobiography

cannot be answered, because we have no experience or authentic information from which to answer it; and that any answer only throws the difficulty a step further back, since the question immediately presents itself, “Who made God?”
Source: Autobiography (1873), Ch. 2: Moral Influences in Early Youth. My Father's Character and Opinions.