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About this quote

What does it mean?
Questioning assumptions is the starting point for discovering truth.
In plain terms
Doubt is the first step to finding truth.
What can you take from it?
Start truth-seeking by questioning what you believe.

Where it applies

  • studying philosophy
  • scientific inquiry
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • question your beliefs
  • encourage critical thinking

Questions to consider

  • What do you accept without question?
  • How does doubt help you learn?

Another view

Excessive doubt can hinder progress or trust.

More from Denis Diderot

  1. Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.

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  2. To prove the Gospels by a miracle is to prove an absurdity by something contrary to nature.

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  3. Only passions, and great passions, can raise the soul to great things. Without them there is no sublimity, either in morals or in creativity. Art returns to in…

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