Necessity Quotes by William of Ockham

Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate. A plurality (of reasons) should not be posited without necessity.

— William of Ockham

Entities should not be posited unnecessarily.

— William of Ockham

God's existence cannot be deduced by reason alone.

— William of Ockham

Whenever two hypotheses cover the facts, use the simpler of the two.

— William of Ockham

“Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate. (Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.)”

— William of Ockham

Intuitive cognition of a thing is cognition that enables us to know whether the thing exists or does not exist, in such a way…

— William of Ockham

Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.

— William of Ockham

Of two equivalent theories or explanations, all other things being equal, the simpler one is to be preferred.

— William of Ockham

Plurality should not be assumed without necessity.

— William of Ockham

3 is a prime, 5 is a prime, and 7 is a prime. Why bother with non-prime numbers when the primes can do everything?

— William of Ockham

For nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident (literally, known through itself) or known by experience or proved…

— William of Ockham

My God is the green tide in the spring leaves the redness of cherries high in the air the excitement of shooting stars the…

— William of Ockham

“It is futile to do with more what can be done with fewer.”

— William of Ockham

Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.

— William of Ockham

“Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.”

— William of Ockham