All in all, I am not surprised that the people who want to unravel the social contract start with young adults. Those who are urged to feel afraid, very afraid, have both the greatest sense of independence and the most finely honed skepticism about government. - Ellen Goodman
Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, skeptically of skepticism. - Blaise Pascal
Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness. - George Santayana
Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency. - Stephen Jay Gould
Almost all arguments for skepticism make reference to seemingly ridiculous possibilities—we are being deceived by an evil demon, life is just a dream, we are brains in vats. You might propose psychoanalysis, rather than philosophical reflection, for anyone who worries about these possibilities. - Richard Feldman
She (historian Barbara Tuchman) draws on skepticism, not cynicism, leaving the reader not so much outraged by human ability as amused and saddened by human folly. - Robert K. Massie
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily. - George Santayana
Criticism alone can sever the root of materialism, fatalism, atheism, free-thinking, fanaticism, and superstition, which can be injurious universally; as well as of idealism and skepticism, which are dangerous chiefly to the Schools, and hardly allow of being handed on to the public. - Immanuel Kant
There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made. - Richard Feynman
Skepticism is my nature. Free Thought is my methodology. Agnosticism is my conclusion. Atheism is my opinion. Humanitarianism is my motivation. - Jerry DeWitt
Racism is, among other things, the unearned skepticism of one group of humans joined to the unearned sympathy for another. - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.
Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others... - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Simply to acquiesce in skepticism can never suffice to overcome the restlessness of reason. - Immanuel Kant