Skip to content

Left Quote by Alan Sokal

“In this atmosphere of general discouragement, it is tempting to attack something that is sufficiently linked to the powers-that-be so as not to appear very sympathetic, but sufficiently weak to be a more-or-less accessible target (since the concentration of power and money are beyond reach)…” quote by Alan Sokal — Download Open image

““In this atmosphere of general discouragement, it is tempting to attack something that is sufficiently linked to the powers-that-be so as not to appear very sympathetic, but sufficiently weak to be a more-or-less accessible target (since the concentration of power and money are beyond reach). Science fulfills these conditions, and this partly explains the attacks against it.””

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.1 out of 5 (5 ratings)

Left Money Postmodernism Science

More by Alan Sokal

Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the windows of my…

Image

“The relativists’ stance is extremely condescending: it treats a complex society as a monolith, obscures the conflicts within it, and takes its most obscurantist…

Image

Why should self-indulgent nonsense - whatever its professed political orientation - be lauded as the height of scholarly achievement?

Image

“Each religion makes scores of purportedly factual assertions about everything from the creation of the universe to the afterlife. But on what grounds can…

Image

“We have seen in this book numerous ambiguous texts that can be interpreted in two different ways: as an assertion that is true but…

Image

And I'm a stodgy old scientist who believes, naively, that there exists an external world, that there exist objective truths about that world, and…

Image

A mode of thought does not become 'critical' simply by attributing that label to itself, but by virtue of its content.

Image

“Thus, by science I mean, first of all, a worldview giving primacy to reason and observation and a methodology aimed at acquiring accurate knowledge…

Image

Explore all 9 Alan Sokal quotes

More Left quotes

Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…

Image

Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…

Image

The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…

Image

My feeling has always been that 'Good Eats' would have never happened had it been left to a committee.

Image

I always step on the plane with my right foot and touch the outside of the plane with my left hand. Sometimes you know…

Image

[Islam] Leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left…

Abul A'la Maududi

Image

Nobody has a crystal ball, and part of evolving a business plan is to say, 'I might have said we're going left, but I…

Image

The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…

Image

In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Image

Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.

David Ogden Stiers

Image

Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…

Image

So I concentrated on the rhythmic side of things, and therefore left a lot of holes. I didn't want to use big pad chords…

Image

Browse all 8,989 Left quotes