Every child should be taught to doubt, to inquire, to demand reasons. Every soul should defend itself - should be on its guard against falsehood, deceit, and mistake, and should beware of all kinds of confidence men, including those of the pulpit.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Ingersoll advocates for teaching children critical thinking and skepticism to protect them from falsehoods, including religious ones.
- In plain terms
- Teach children to question, demand reasons, and guard against deceit from any source.
- What can you take from it?
- Teach children to question authority and seek reasons.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What should children doubt?
- How do we teach reason?
Another view
Constant doubt can undermine trust and faith in community structures.
More from Robert G. Ingersoll
Every brain is a field where Nature sows the seeds of thought, and the crop depends upon the soil.
Permalink to quote #102 Every library is an arsenal.
Permalink to quote #104 Each soul is crowned. Each soul wears the purple and the tiara; and only those are good citizens of the intellectual world who give to every other human being …
Permalink to quote #101
Related quotes
De omnibus dubitandum
Rene DescartesRene Descartes quote #34 Que sais-je?
Michel de MontaigneMichel de Montaigne quote #1 It ain't necessarily so, It ain't necessarily so. De t'ings dat yo' li'ble To read in de Bible, It ain't necessarily so.
Ira GershwinIra Gershwin quote #4