Certainty Quote by Bertrand Russell
““Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales. It is not good either to forget the questions that philosophy asks, or to persuade ourselves that we have found indubitable answers to them. To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Value of Philosophy, 1912
Philosophy teaches living amid uncertainty without paralysis, confronting deep questions despite discomfort.
In simple terms: Philosophy helps us act despite not knowing everything.
Key Takeaway
Embrace uncertainty, keep questioning.
Themes
uncertainty
philosophy
meaning
existence
Mood
thoughtful
serious
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- making decisions under doubt
- coping with fear
- seeking purpose
- academic study
Key Concepts
epistemology
ethics
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What questions do you avoid?
- How can you act without certainty?
A Different Perspective
Philosophy may not provide concrete answers.
![“[...] Traditionally these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” quote by Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e53/stephen-hawking-389_philosophy_traditionally-these-are-questions-for-ph_2486073.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)
![“[I]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics, in so far as disposed through it we are able to reach certainty in other sciences and truth by the exclusion of error.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d13/roger-bacon-15067_able_i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-a_24209.jpg)
