Peter Abelard (1079–1142) French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician
Variant: The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.
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<!-- translation of Prima sapientiae clavis definitur, assidua scilicet seu frequens interrogatio … Dubitando enim ad inquisitionem venimus; inquirendo veritatem percipimus. -->
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.
Peter Abelard (1079–1142) French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician
Variant: The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.
“Self-examination is the practice of becoming your truth”
Caroline Myss (1952) author from the United States
Entering the Castle : An Inner Path to God and Your Soul (2007), p. 66
Context: Self-examination is the process of accountability to your soul... It is far better to "become" your truth than to speak your truth. Self-examination is the practice of becoming your truth.
“Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.”
Thomas Cooper (U.S. politician)
Lectures on the Elements of Political Economy, 1831.
“Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
Actually said by Thomas Cooper, a U.S. politician.
Misattributed
Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789) French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist
Good Sense without God, or, Freethoughts Opposed to Supernatural Ideas (London: W. Stewart & Co., ca. 1900) ( Project Gutenberg e-text http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/gsens10.txt), preface <br class="br">Translator unknown. Original publication in French at Amsterdam, 1772, as Le bon sens ("Common Sense"), and often attributed to John Meslier.
Indra Nooyi (1955) Indian-born, naturalized American, business executive
CEOs need to change: Indra Nooyi
Walter Scott book Chronicles of the Canongate
Chronicles of the Canongate (1828), Second Series, Ch. 1 http://books.google.com/books?id=lo8nAAAAMAAJ&q=%22There+is+a+vulgar+incredulity+which+in+historical+matters+as+well+as+in+those+of+religion+finds+it+easier+to+doubt+than+to+examine%22&pg=PA19#v=onepage