“It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
The complete political works. Rights of man: being an answer to Mr. Burke's attack on the French Revolution, p. 306
1790s
“A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.”
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Isaac Asimov303
American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston Uni… 1920–1992Related quotes
Stephen Jay Gould book The Panda's Thumb
"Bathybius and Eozoon", pp. 243–244
The Panda's Thumb (1980)
“An unsanctified temper is a fruitful source of error, and a mighty impediment to truth.”
Elias Lyman Magoon (1810–1886) American minister
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 13.
Benjamin Rush (1745–1813) American physician, educator, author
Provisions of the Last Will and Testament of Dr. James Rush http://books.google.com/books?id=lSowTqXCyyUC&pg=PA13&dq=%22dreaded+by+the+advocates+of+error%22&hl=en&ei=NCJGTP-fBJ-QnwfB8K2uBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CGQQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=%22dreaded%20by%20the%20advocates%20of%20error%22&f=false
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer
The Great Infidels (1881)
Context: All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule, establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth.
“There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.”
Marie Curie (1867–1934) French-Polish physicist and chemist
As quoted in The Commodity Trader's Almanac 2007 (2006) by Scott W. Barrie and Jeffrey A. Hirsch, p. 44
Og Mandino book The Greatest Salesman in the World
Source: The Greatest Salesman in the World (1968), Ch. 16 : The Scroll Marked IX, p. 95.
William Herschel (1738–1822) German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer
This being the case, it is evident that the onus probandi [burden of proof] ought to lie with those who are willing to establish such an hypothesis, for it does not appear that Nature is in the habit of using one and the same mechanism with any two of our senses. Witness the vibration of air that makes sound, the effluvia that occasion smells, the particles that produce taste, the resistance or repulsive powers that affect the touch—all these are evidently suited to their respective organs of sense.
Source: Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works (1880), Ch.4 "Life and Works" on his discovery of the infrared.
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) British naturalist, author of "On the origin of species, by means of natural selection"
Source: More Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol 2