William Kingdon Clifford

Notable quotes

“If God holds all mankind guilty for the sin of Adam, if he has visited upon the innocent the punishment of the guilty, if he is to torture any single soul for ever, then it is wrong to worship him.”
— [Lectures and essays (1879), vol. 2, p. 224]
“We ought not to teach to little children, as a known fact, that which is not a known fact.”
— [Lectures and essays (1879), vol. 2, p. 294]
“There is in the true man of science a desire stronger than the wish to have his beliefs upheld; namely, the desire to have them true.”
— [Lectures and essays (1879), vol. 2, p. 311]
“Force is not a fact at all, but an idea embodying what is approximately the fact.”
— Preface footnote, p. ix. Mr. R. Tucker searched Clifford's note books for Karl Pearson and sent him the above quote, in Clifford's handwriting.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.