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
About This Quote

The importance of skepticism and critical thinking is that it keeps the world from becoming a place where we all believe in infallible authority figures. Without skepticism and critical thinking, we would all believe in superstitions and make irrational decisions. We would also be less likely to challenge the beliefs of others, which means we’d be more likely to accept what they tell us as truth.

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  1. We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.
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