Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
It urges us never to doubt anything that no one is certain about.
In plain terms
Never doubt what nobody is sure about.
What can you take from it?
Accept uncertainty as a shared human condition.

Where it applies

  • philosophical discussion
  • personal reflection

Putting it to work

  • embrace ambiguity
  • avoid overconfidence

Questions to consider

  • What does it mean to doubt when certainty is absent?

Another view

Blind acceptance can lead to ignoring evidence.

More from Hilaire Belloc

  1. The Microbe is so very small You cannot make him out at all, But many sanguine people hope To see him through a microscope.

    Permalink to quote #15

  2. Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight, But Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right.

    Permalink to quote #17

  3. The moment a man talks to his fellows he begins to lie.

    Permalink to quote #14

Related quotes

  1. I don't know what God is, or what God had in mind when the universe was set in motion. In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I some…

    Jon KrakauerJon Krakauer quote #3

  2. I do know that there are some things that exist in this world that you just can't prove. That could be the case with God or whoever might be up there, but I do…

    Katie MeluaKatie Melua quote #7

  3. Ille potens sui laetusque deget, cui licet in diem dixisse 'vixi: cras vel atra nube polum pater occupato vel sole puro.'

    HoraceHorace quote #15