“It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”

Letter From Thomas Jefferson to the Rev. James Madison, 19 July 1788
1780s

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 "It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong." by Thomas Jefferson?
Thomas Jefferson photo
Thomas Jefferson 456
3rd President of the United States of America 1743–1826

Related quotes

Edward de Bono photo
H.L. Mencken photo

“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

"What I Believe" in The Forum 84 (September 1930), p. 139; some of these expressions were also used separately in other Mencken essays.
1930s
Context: I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind — that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty and the democratic form is as bad as any of the other forms.
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech — alike for the humblest man and the mightiest, and in the utmost freedom of conduct that is consistent with living in organized society.
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I —But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

Orson Scott Card photo
Mike Krzyzewski photo
Pope Urban VIII photo

“In cases which concern private revelations, it is better to believe than not to believe, for, if you believe, and it is proven true, you will be happy that you have believed, because our Holy Mother asked it. If you believe, and it should be proven false, you will receive all blessings as if it had been true, because you believed it to be true.”

Pope Urban VIII (1568–1644) Pope

Pope Urban VIII on Private Revelation http://www.medjugorje.org/purban.htm (2001).
Whether or not Urban VIII said this is debated. He did make a public statement about private revelations and their dissemination in the Catholic Church in his Constitution, Sanctissimus Dominus Noster of 1625-03-13.
Misattributed quotes

David Letterman photo

“Nothing—believe me—nothing is more satisfying to me personally than getting a great idea and then beatin' it to death.”

David Letterman (1947) American comedian and actor

Late Night with David Letterman (5 March 1993).

Christopher Paolini photo
Henry David Thoreau photo

“Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
George Santayana photo

“[The empiricist] thinks he believes only what he sees, but he is much better at believing than at seeing.”

"Objections to Belief in Substance", p. 201
Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923)

Neil deGrasse Tyson photo

Related topics