Allowance Quote by George Eliot
“Everybody liked better to conjecture how the thing was, than simply to know it; for conjecture soon became more confident than knowledge, and had a more liberal allowance for the incompatible.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch by George Eliot, 1871
People prefer speculation over facts because conjecture feels safer and less threatening than knowledge.
In simple terms: Speculation feels safer than truth.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions, seek evidence.
Themes
knowledge
certainty
confidence
Mood
skeptical
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
motivational
When to use this quote
- academic research
- media consumption
- personal decisions
- policy making
Key Concepts
epistemology
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we favor guesses?
- How can we value knowledge more?
A Different Perspective
Overreliance on conjecture can hinder progress.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
