“In the end, a theory that can’t be shown to be wrong can never be shown to be right.”
Jerry Coyne book Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible
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.”
Jerry Coyne book Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. 34
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Shrikant Talageri (1958) Indian author
The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis (2000), Chapter 7 : The Indo-European Homeland
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …
Source: 1990s and beyond, The Book of Probes : Marshall McLuhan (2011), p. 362
William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer
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.
Josh Homme (1973) American musician
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).
Edward Witten (1951) American theoretical physicist
as quoted by John Horgan, The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age (1996)