Materialists and madmen never have doubts.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Chesterton asserts that materialists and madmen share a lack of doubt, implying that absolute certainty is a hallmark of delusion.
- In plain terms
- Materialists and mad people never doubt themselves.
- What can you take from it?
- Absolute certainty is often a sign of flawed thinking.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is doubt always healthy?
- When does certainty become dangerous?
Another view
It dismisses reasonable conviction as madness.
More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the really sane man knows that he…
Permalink to quote #120 Spiritual doctrines do not actually limit the mind as do materialistic denials. Even if I believe in immortality I need not think about it. But if I disbelieve…
Permalink to quote #122 There is a very special sense in which materialism has more restrictions than spiritualism. Mr. McCabe thinks me a slave because I am not allowed to believe in…
Permalink to quote #119
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