“False and doubtful positions, relied upon as unquestionable maxims, keep those who build on them in the dark from truth.”

— John Locke, book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Book IV, Ch. 7
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
Context: False and doubtful positions, relied upon as unquestionable maxims, keep those who build on them in the dark from truth. Such are usually the prejudices imbibed from education, party, reverence, fashion, interest, et cetera.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update March 13, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "False and doubtful positions, relied upon as unquestionable maxims, keep those who build on them in the dark from truth." by John Locke?

John Locke144

English philosopher and physician 1632–1704

Related quotes

“To be an ignorant man, to posses nothing but a fragile word, to find oneself as if relying upon darkness and nothingness: that is the position from which one must be constantly setting out.”

Jean Starobinski (1920–2019) Swiss writer

“Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it; doubt all, but do not doubt yourself.”

André Gide (1869–1951) French novelist and essayist

Ainsi soit-il; ou, Les Jeux sont faits
So be it; or, The chips are down
Gallimard
1952
174
Original: (fr) Croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité, doutez de ceux qui la trouvent; doutez de tout, mais ne doutez pas de vous-même.

“Keep the company of those who seek the truth- run from those who have found it”

Václav Havel (1936–2011) playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and 1st President of the Czech Republic

“It is a maxim deeply ingrafted in that dark system, that no character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false.”

Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804) Founding Father of the United States

Observations on Certain Documents http://books.google.com/books?id=Aemk203kBPoC&q=&quot;It+is+a+maxim+deeply+ingrafted+in+that+dark+system+that+No+character+however+upright+is+a+match+for+constantly+reiterated+attacks+however+false&quot;&pg=PA377#v=onepage, also known as The Reynolds Pamphlet (1797)

“Trust those who seek the truth but doubt those who say they have found it.”

André Gide (1869–1951) French novelist and essayist

Variant: Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it
Context: Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it; doubt all, but do not doubt yourself.