--- title: "2 Agnosticism Quotes By Thomas Henry Huxley" description: "2 Agnosticism quotes by Thomas Henry Huxley. Plus more from Thomas Henry Huxley and more Agnosticism sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and_538722.jpg" --- > [“When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an idealist; a Christian or a freethinker, I found that the more I learned and reflected, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and-began-to-ask-myself-whether/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and_538722.jpg) > [“Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That principle is of great antiquity; it is as old as Socrates; as old as the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/agnosticism-in-fact-is-not-a-creed-but-a-method-the-essence-of-which-2/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b86/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_agnosticism-in-fact-is-not-a-creed-but-a_585788.jpg) ## Other authors on Agnosticism - [Bangambiki Habyarimana 33 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/bangambiki-habyarimana/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charles-darwin-22208.jpg) Charles Darwin 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/charles-darwin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-h-l-mencken-39886.jpg) H. L. Mencken 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/h-l-mencken/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-hume-27582.jpg) David Hume 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/david-hume/) - [Criss Jami 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/criss-jami/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-huxley-90412.jpg) Thomas Huxley 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/thomas-huxley/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-a-edison-90208.jpg) Thomas A. Edison 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/thomas-a-edison/) ## More by Thomas Henry Huxley > [“In Paley's famous illustration, the adaptation of all the parts of the watch to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/in-paley-s-famous-illustration-the-adaptation-of-all-the-parts-of-the/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“It is my conviction that, with the spread of true scientific culture, whatever may be the medium, historical, philological, philosophical, or physical, through which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/it-is-my-conviction-that-with-the-spread-of-true-scientific-culture/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, whether you like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/perhaps-the-most-valuable-result-of-all-education-is-the-ability-to/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a super inducing of an artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/it-is-because-the-body-is-a-machine-that-education-is-possible/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“There can be no doubt that the existing Fauna and Flora is but the last term of a long series of equally numerous contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/there-can-be-no-doubt-that-the-existing-fauna-and-flora-is-but-the/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and-began-to-ask-myself-whether/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“For these two years I have been gravitating towards your doctrines, and since the publication of your primula paper with accelerated velocity. By about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/for-these-two-years-i-have-been-gravitating-towards-your-doctrines-2/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“The publication of the Darwin and Wallace papers in 1858, and still more that of the 'Origin' in 1859, had the effect upon them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/the-publication-of-the-darwin-and-wallace-papers-in-1858-and-still/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/agnosticism-in-fact-is-not-a-creed-but-a-method-the-essence-of-which-2/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“Those who are ignorant of Geology, find no difficulty in believing that the world was made as it is; and the shepherd, untutored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/those-who-are-ignorant-of-geology-find-no-difficulty-in-believing/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [Logical consequences are the scare-crows of fools and the beacons of wise men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/logical-consequences-are-the-scare-crows-of-fools-and-the-beacons-of/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“The question of the position of man, as an animal, has given rise to much disputation, with the result of proving that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/the-question-of-the-position-of-man-as-an-animal-has-given-rise-to/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“Very few, even among those who have taken the keenest interest in the progress of the revolution in natural knowledge set afoot by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/very-few-even-among-those-who-have-taken-the-keenest-interest-in-the/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“All organisms vary. It is in the highest degree improbable that any given variety should have exactly the same relations to surrounding conditions as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/all-organisms-vary-it-is-in-the-highest-degree-improbable-that-any/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“And those who will carefully study the so-called 'Mosaic code' contained in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, will see that, though Jahveh's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/and-those-who-will-carefully-study-the-so-called-mosaic-code/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agnosticism/thomas-henry-huxley/#itemlist", "name": "2 Agnosticism Quotes By Thomas Henry Huxley", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an idealist; a Christian or a freethinker, I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer; until at last I came to the conclusion that I had neither art nor part with any of these denominations, except the last. The one thing in which most of these good people were agreed was the one thing in which I differed from them. They were quite sure that they had attained a certain 'gnosis'--had more or less successfully solved the problem of existence; while I was quite sure I had not, and had a pretty strong conviction that the problem was insoluble. And, with Hume and Kant on my side, I could not think myself presumptuous in holding fast by that opinion ... So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of 'agnostic'. It came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the 'gnostic' of Church history, who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant; and I took the earliest opportunity of parading it at our Society, to show that I, too, had a tail, like the other foxes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Henry Huxley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and-began-to-ask-myself-whether/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and_538722.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and_538722.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_agnostic_when-i-reached-intellectual-maturity-and_538722.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a…” — Thomas Henry Huxley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That principle is of great antiquity; it is as old as Socrates; as old as the writer who said, 'Try all things, hold fast by that which is good'; it is the foundation of the Reformation, which simply illustrated the axiom that every man should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him, it is the great principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the agnostic position, which if a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall not be ashamed to look the universe in the face, whatever the future may have in store for him. The results of the working out of the agnostic principle will vary according to individual knowledge and capacity, and according to the general condition of science. That which is unproved today may be proved, by the help of new discoveries, tomorrow. The only negative fixed points will be those negations which flow from the demonstrable limitation of our faculties. And the only obligation accepted is to have the mind always open to conviction. That it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty. 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