
„It has been said that science is proof without certainty, where as religion is certainty without proof.“
— Varadaraja V. Raman American physicist 1932
page 305
Truth and Tension in Science and Religion
The second sentence is often misquoted as “Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.” or “Religion gives us certainty without proof; science gives us proof without certainty.”
Context: Bigotry and science can have no communication with each other, for science begins where bigotry and absolute certainty end. The scientist believes in proof without certainty, the bigot in certainty without proof. Let us never forget that tyranny most often springs from a fanatical faith in the absoluteness of one’s beliefs.
— Varadaraja V. Raman American physicist 1932
page 305
Truth and Tension in Science and Religion
— Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues French writer, a moralist 1715 - 1747
Source: Reflections and Maxims (1746), p. 184.
— Jordan Peterson Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology 1962
Twitter, November 25, 2013 ( archive http://archive.is/khKVm)
Other
— Henry Miller American novelist 1891 - 1980
The Books in My Life (1952) Chapter 11: The Story of My Heart (2nd edition. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1969, p. 192)
— Elbert Hubbard American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul 1856 - 1915
— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay British historian and Whig politician 1800 - 1859
Review of Aiken’s Life of Addison (1843)
— Claude Bernard French physiologist 1813 - 1878
Introduction à l'Étude de la Médecine Expérimentale (1865)
— Roger Bacon, book Opus Majus
Bk. 1, ch. 4. Translated by Robert B. Burke, in: Edward Grant (1974) Source Book in Medieval Science. Harvard University Press. p. 93
Opus Majus, c. 1267
— Richard Feynman, book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
It is not odd at all. You only think you know, as a matter of fact. And most of your actions are based on incomplete knowledge and you really don't know what it is all about, or what the purpose of the world is, or know a great deal of other things. It is possible to live and not know.
from lecture "What is and What Should be the Role of Scientific Culture in Modern Society", given at the Galileo Symposium in Italy (1964)
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1999)
— H.L. Mencken American journalist and writer 1880 - 1956
Source: 1910s, Prejudices, First Series (1919), Ch. 3
— Chris Bohjalian American novelist 1962
Source: Secrets of Eden
— Nikos Kazantzakis, book The Saviors of God
The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: The essence of our God is obscure. It ripens continuously; perhaps victory is strenghened with our every valorous deed, but perhaps even all these agonizing struggles toward deliverance and victory are inferior to the nature of divinity.
Whatever it might be, we fight on without certainty, and our virtue, uncertain of any rewards, acquires a profound nobility.
— Stanisław Leszczyński king of Poland 1677 - 1766
No. 61.
Maxims and Moral Sentences
— Andrew Wiles British mathematician 1953
Nova Interview
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, book On Certainty
Source: On Certainty
— William Hope Hodgson, book The Night Land
Source: The Night Land (1912), Chapter 11
— John Stuart Mill, book Utilitarianism
Source: Utilitarianism (1861), Ch. 1
Context: I shall, without further discussion of the other theories, attempt to contribute something towards the understanding and appreciation of the Utilitarian or Happiness theory, and towards such proof as it is susceptible of. It is evident that this cannot be proof in the ordinary and popular meaning of the term. Questions of ultimate ends are not amenable to direct proof. Whatever can be proved to be good, must be so by being shown to be a means to something admitted to be good without proof.
— Eric Temple Bell mathematician and science fiction author born in Scotland who lived in the United States for most of his life 1883 - 1960
Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 23-24. (1949), p. 161
Context: Euclid taught me that without assumptions there is no proof. Therefore, in any argument, examine the assumptions. Then, in the alleged proof, be alert for inexplicit assumptions. Euclid's notorious oversights drove this lesson home.
— Carl Friedrich Gauss German mathematician and physical scientist 1777 - 1855
As quoted in Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science (1955) by Guy Waldo Dunnington. p. 306
Source: Germania (98), Chapter 35