“He was guided by what he saw rather than by what he wanted to believe.”

— Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep (1st edition)

Source: A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), Chapter 11 (p. 109).

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 "He was guided by what he saw rather than by what he wanted to believe." by Vernor Vinge?

Vernor Vinge34

American mathematician, computer scientist, and science fic… 1944

Related quotes

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

George Santayana book Scepticism and Animal Faith

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

“Would you rather die, or be unwound? Now he finally knows the answer. Maybe this is what he wanted. Maybe it's why he stood there and taunted Roland. Because he'd rather be killed with a furious hand than dismembered with cool indifference.”

Neal Shusterman book Unwind

Source: Unwind

“After he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein, he (Gaddafi) did not want to be Saddam Hussein. He gave up his nuclear program.”

Donald Rumsfeld (1932) U.S. Secretary of Defense

Rumsfeld doesn't support sending U.S. troops into Libya http://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/08/rumsfeld.interview/index.html March 9, 2011. <br class="br">2010s

“One must dare to show what he wants. You have to go and ask for things rather than wait for them to happen.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

(Crillon Hotel, Paris, November 1998).

“He wanted what he didn’t know and he didn’t know how to get what he wanted.’ (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

“To believe something, one must imagine that it is more probable than not. Unless you show him what is probable or he realizes it himself, he may tell you that he believes and yet he will not believe.”

Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1655) French novelist, dramatist, scientist and duelist

Sun-being to the court
The Other World (1657)
Context: O just ones, hear me! You cannot condemn this man, monkey or parrot for saying that the moon is the world he comes from. If he is a man, all men are free. Is he then not free to imagine what he wants, even if he does not come from the moon? Can you force him to have only your visions? Impossible! You may make him say that he believes that the moon is not a world, but still he will not believe it. To believe something, one must imagine that it is more probable than not. Unless you show him what is probable or he realizes it himself, he may tell you that he believes and yet he will not believe.

“Verily learned to live with constant deception, hiding what he was and what he saw and what he felt and what he did from everyone around him. It was only natural that he should be drawn to the study of law.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Alvin Journeyman (1995), Chapter 9.

“He knows what he wants, he's a good Jesuit, and the Jesuits know exactly what they want.”

Oswald Gracias (1944) Catholic cardinal

Source: Cardinal Gracias: curial reform is nearing the 'end of the tunnel' https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36820/cardinal-gracias-curial-reform-is-nearing-the-end-of-the-tunnel (14 September 2017)

“The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary

“He didn’t want to be what he wasn’t, he didn’t know how to be what he was.”

Michael Chabon (1963) Novelist, short story writer, essayist

Source: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007), Chapter 46

“He was guided by what he saw rather than by what he wanted to believe.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Vernor Vinge34

Related quotes

Related topics