Knowledge is so comforting, but so is mystery.

Deeply convinced of the reality of the divine will, he (Lincoln) had no patience at all with any who were perfectly sure they knew the details of the divine will.

Like the body craves oxygen, the mind is desperate for certainty. It believes that without a safe foothold on reality, it will die.But the fascinating thing is that the illusion of certainty is exactly the opposite of safety because it hardens and narrows the vision to make everything fit its own scope. Then when new...

All life is preoccupied with death. Death is the only certain future. Yet in the face of reason, everyone holds out hope for the highly improbable.

The great systems that inform the world about the truth and life invariably claim to be absolutely truthful and well-balanced. In reality they are quaking bridges built out of yearning.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.

My confidence is in the idea that I may be wrong on this or that. No man in this life should ever have to bear the burden of perfection.

There you go again, declaring the exact inverse of your experience. You human pups are so full of the things you’re sure of. Sit down and listen for a change.

If you build the faith to trust a friend as God, then your heart can never be broken.

I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine—it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess.

We know with all the certainty that Poles were among the oppressors and assassins.

A no has a different frequency than a yes, and a maybe is all vibration, oscillating between no and yes. My favorite answers have no movement.

Certain words roll off the tongue like frozen balls of saliva. Words like sure, positive, and definite—you know, words that are certain.

I remember, in no particular order:—a shiny inner wrist;—steam rising from a wet sink as a hot frying pan is laughingly tossed into it;—gouts of sperm circling a plughole, before being sluiced down the full length of a tall house;—a river rushing nonsensically upstream, its wave and wash lit by half a dozen chasing torchbeams;—another...

I could see it all. The hand on the shoulder, then the hug. The mouths that find each other through the tears, the moment when guilt and the certainty that things must go no further gives way to lust and the certainty that they cannot stop.

The Greeks made Space the subject-matter of a science of supreme simplicity and certainty. Out of it grew, in the mind of classical antiquity, the idea of pure science. Geometry became one of the most powerful expressions of that sovereignty of the intellect that inspired the thought of those times. At a later epoch, when...

A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional objectivity. It would be more nearly true to say that it is based upon wonder, adventure and hope.

You never really know. Lately Kevin has been bothering himself with the idea that nothing is certain, nothing can be proven. Not one thing, not in all the world. The sun will rise tomorrow. Prove it. The sun rose this morning. Prove it. The sun is in the sky. Prove it. There’s a sun at...

The future is certain. It is just not known.

We ought to regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its antecedent state and as the cause of the state that is to follow. An intelligence knowing all the forces acting in nature at a given instant, as well as the momentary positions of all things in the universe, would be...

Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.

I always make sure that the world will prove me right. It gives me the freedom to contradict myself.

That’s very significant to us to have certainty around the pension funding.

If anyone doesn’t agree with you, the truth is on your side.

These measures should restore consumer confidence and bring certainty to the market,

The scientist believes in proof without certainty, the bigot in certainty without proof.

Of what use, however, is a general certainty that an insect will not walk with his head hindmost, when what you need to know is the play of inward stimulus that sends him hither and thither in a network of possible paths?

The very desire to be certain, to be secure, is the beginning of bondage. It’s only when the mind is not caught in the net of certainty, and is not seeking certainty, that it is in a state of discovery.

The market lacks certainty and awaits something or someone to take the lead.

We need to see greater predictability and certainty before the stock would look attractive again. I think earnings estimates are going to come down substantially this year and probably next year if, in fact, they go ahead with the de-mothballing of two rigs.

When we get our spiritual house in order, we’ll be dead. This goes on. You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your way, but it is making it in darkness. Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.

Experiment is the sole source of truth. It alone can teach us something new; it alone can give us certainty.

There is nobody who can, with any certainty, forecast demand. But there is definitely not a need for increased capacity for custom manufacturing. Speculative investment of several hundred million dollars is not the wisest move.

One thing, however, is certain in life. No one survives it.

If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.

Doubt is not a pleasant mental state, but certainty is a ridiculous one.

Peaceful disputes are maintained when men sincerely believe that they are morally, logically correct about the issues at hand. It is when neither side is really certain that wars are instigated.

In a race between danger and indecision, the difference between life and death comes down to confidence. Faith in our abilities, certainty in ourselves and the trust we put in others.

Certainty follows uncertainty.

The human spirit glows from that small inner light of doubt whether we are right, while those who believe with certainty that they possess the right are dark inside and darken the world outside with cruelty, pain, and injustice.

Things happen, and nothing is for sure, but you just have to keep going, believing that one day, you’ll find something that is.

I have no information whatsoever that tells me with certainty that any of the accusations, allegations, rumors, that have taken place are true.

In this sad world I can never be sure. Of that I am certain.

The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.

To better understand God we must first shatter our own idea of God – maybe even day after day. Maybe he’s too great to stay compressed in the human mind. Maybe he splits it wide open; this is why pretentious intellectualism so often fails to comprehend the concept of God: it is only accepting of...

It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.

Why do people resist [engines, bridges, and cities] so? They are symbols and products of the imagination, which is the force that ensures justice and historical momentum in an imperfect world, because without imagination we would not have the wherewithal to challenge certainty, and we could never rise above ourselves.

I’m a girl.”When Deryn opened her eyes, the lady boffin was staring at her with no change of expression. “Indeed,” she said.Deryn’s mouth feel open. “You mean you…Did you barking know?””I had no idea at all. But I make it a policy never to appear surprised.” Dr. Barlow sighed, staring out the window. “Though on...

There is not merely a chance, but a full certainty that we will win the parliamentary elections.