---
title: "1 Closed Book Quotes By Willard Van Orman Quine"
description: "1 Closed Book quotes by Willard Van Orman Quine. Plus more from Willard Van Orman Quine and more Closed Book sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_another-man_one-man-s-observation-is-another-man-s-c_2696401.jpg"
---

> [One man's observation is another man's closed book or flight of fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/one-man-s-observation-is-another-man-s-closed-book-or-flight-of-fancy/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_another-man_one-man-s-observation-is-another-man-s-c_2696401.jpg)

## More by Willard Van Orman Quine

> [It is one of the consolations of philosophy that the benefit of showing how to dispense with a concept does not hinge on dispensing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/it-is-one-of-the-consolations-of-philosophy-that-the-benefit-of/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Theory may be deliberate, as in a chapter on chemistry, or it may be second nature, as in the immemorial doctrine of ordinary enduring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/theory-may-be-deliberate-as-in-a-chapter-on-chemistry-or-it-may-be/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [The line that I am urging as today's conventional wisdom is not a denial of consciousness. It is often called, with more reason, arepudiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-line-that-i-am-urging-as-today-s-conventional-wisdom-is-not-a/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Our talk of external things, our very notion of things, is just a conceptual apparatus that helps us to foresee and control the triggerings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/our-talk-of-external-things-our-very-notion-of-things-is-just-a/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [The mastery of one's phonemes may be compared to the violinist's mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-mastery-of-one-s-phonemes-may-be-compared-to-the-violinist-s/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [“Believing is a disposition. We could tire ourselves out thinking, if we put our minds to it, but believing takes no toll.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/believing-is-a-disposition-we-could-tire-ourselves-out-thinking-if-we/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [The strategy of semantic ascent is that it carries the discussion into a domain where both parties are better agreed on the objects (viz.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-strategy-of-semantic-ascent-is-that-it-carries-the-discussion/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic definition of truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/scientific-method-is-the-way-to-truth-but-it-affords-even-in/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [ Some have said that the thesis \[of indeterminacy\] is a consequence of my behaviorism. Some have said that it is a reductio ad absurdum… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-have-said-that-the-thesis-of-indeterminacy-is-a-consequence-of/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Some may find comfort in reflecting that the distinction between an eliminative and an explicative physicalism is unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-may-find-comfort-in-reflecting-that-the-distinction-between-an/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [We must not leap to the fatalistic conclusion that we are stuck with the conceptual scheme that we grew up in. We can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-must-not-leap-to-the-fatalistic-conclusion-that-we-are-stuck-with/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-word-definition-has-come-to-have-a-dangerously-reassuring-sound/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Logic chases truth up the tree of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/logic-chases-truth-up-the-tree-of-grammar/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [Science is not a substitute for common sense, but an extension of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/science-is-not-a-substitute-for-common-sense-but-an-extension-of-it/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

> [The variables of quantification, 'something,' 'nothing,' 'everything,' range over our whole ontology, whatever it may be; and we are convicted of a particular ontological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-variables-of-quantification-something-nothing-everything-range/)

[Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/)

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