--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the way that scepticism is sometimes…" description: "\"In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg" --- # In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues… ![“In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the sceptics, are trying to figure out…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg) > “In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the sceptics, are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. Their motives are in many cases consonant with science. If their culture has not given them all the tools they need to pursue this great quest, let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped.” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticism of pseudoscience should be tempered with empathy because believers are human with genuine feelings and often share scientific motives but lack resources. **In simple terms:** Be kind when challenging false beliefs because people are human. Key Takeaway Offer empathy before critique. Themes empathy criticism science belief kindness Mood thoughtful compassionate Type ethical reflective When to use this quote - public debates - online discussions - educational settings - personal conversations Key Concepts human psychology cognitive bias science communication Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance truth‑telling with compassion? - What tools help people evaluate claims? A Different Perspective Kindness may not change deeply held beliefs without evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Belittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belittle/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Like Sceptics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-sceptics-2072168/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Pseudoscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pseudoscience/) [Pursue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursue/) [Quests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quests/) [Rage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rage/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-feelings/) [Roles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roles/) [Sceptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sceptic/) [Scepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scepticism/) [Scepticism Applied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scepticism-applied-3778122/) [Sceptics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sceptics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Superstition Pseudoscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstition-pseudoscience-1950501/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) [Supporter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supporter/) [Temper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temper/) [Tendencies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tendencies/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the skeptics, are trying to figure out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/deluded-or-not-supporters-of-superstition-and-pseudoscience-are-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: 'Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/what-i-like-about-sceptics-is-that-in-good-science-you-need-critics/) [James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/) > [It is no defense of superstition and pseudoscience to say that it brings solace and comfort to people. . . . If solace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-is-no-defense-of-superstition-and-pseudoscience-to-say-that-it/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I always got a bit pissed off with those broadsheet sceptics who make their living being passionately angry about homeopathy, God, synchronicity or whatever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/i-always-got-a-bit-pissed-off-with-those-broadsheet-sceptics-who-make/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [The sceptics, like bees, give their one sting and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sceptics-like-bees-give-their-one-sting-and-die/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing fortifies scepticism more than that there are some who are not sceptics; if all were so, they would be wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/nothing-fortifies-scepticism-more-than-that-there-are-some-who-are/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known. This was the sound conclusion of the Academic sceptics, who were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/human-affairs-are-so-obscure-and-various-that-nothing-can-be-clearly-2/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) > [Sceptics are yet the most credulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/sceptics-are-yet-the-most-credulous/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Materialism prevails in Europe today. You may pray for the salvation of the modern sceptics, but they do not yield, they want reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/materialism-prevails-in-europe-today-you-may-pray-for-the-salvation/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The sceptics assert, though absurdly, that the origin of all religious worship was derived from the utility of inanimate objects,as the sun and moon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-sceptics-assert-though-absurdly-that-the-origin-of-all-religious/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The problems with this world cannot possibly be solved by sceptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-problems-with-this-world-cannot-possibly-be-solved-by-sceptics-or/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/many-orthodox-people-speak-as-though-it-were-the-business-of-sceptics-2/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [It is effectively BBC policy to ignore climate change sceptics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sissons/it-is-effectively-bbc-policy-to-ignore-climate-change-sceptics/) [Peter Sissons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sissons/) > [I note that warmists are often banging on about the fact that sceptics like Christopher Booker and myself 'only' have arts degrees. But actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-delingpole/i-note-that-warmists-are-often-banging-on-about-the-fact-that/) [James Delingpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-delingpole/) > [The sceptics end in the infidelity which asserts the problem to be insoluble, or in the atheism which denies the existence of any orderly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-sceptics-end-in-the-infidelity-which-asserts-the-problem-to-be/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the sceptics, are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. Their motives are in many cases consonant with science. If their culture has not given them all the tools they need to pursue this great quest, let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes-applied-to-issues-of-public/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atheism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes-applied-to-issues-of-public/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/carl-sagan-160_atheism_in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes_2333438.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to…” — Carl Sagan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carl Sagan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the way that scepticism is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes-applied-to-issues-of-public/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-way-that-scepticism-is-sometimes-applied-to-issues-of-public/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```