
“In the end, a theory that can’t be shown to be wrong can never be shown to be right.”
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. 34
Source: “And there aren’t any.”
“Mmm,” I said. “Awkward.”
“That’s defeatist talk. I’ll cobble something together. A scholar can never let mere wrongness get in the way of the theory.”
Source: Embassytown (2011), Chapter 0.3 (p. 37)
“In the end, a theory that can’t be shown to be wrong can never be shown to be right.”
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. 34
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis (2000), Chapter 7 : The Indo-European Homeland
Source: 1990s and beyond, The Book of Probes : Marshall McLuhan (2011), p. 362
Paris Review interview (1958)
Context: Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him.
Reported in Jay Babcock, " MUSIC IS NEVER WRONG: A visit with Josh Homme & John Paul Jones of Them Crooked Vultures http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/10/15/them-crooked-vultures/", Arthur Magazine (October 15, 2009).
SModcast
as quoted by John Horgan, The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age (1996)