--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everybody liked better to conjecture how…" description: "\"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 mor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/george-eliot-84_allowance_everybody-liked-better-to-conjecture-how_443941.jpg" --- # Everybody liked better to conjecture how the thing was… ![“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.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/george-eliot-84_allowance_everybody-liked-better-to-conjecture-how_443941.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/george-eliot-84_allowance_everybody-liked-better-to-conjecture-how_443941.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/george-eliot-84_allowance_everybody-liked-better-to-conjecture-how_443941.jpg) > “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.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. 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. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [“When we tell God the things He tells us to, confident in the knowledge that He is listening, then everything changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-russell/when-we-tell-god-the-things-he-tells-us-to-confident-in-the-knowledge/) [Corey Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-russell/) > [Knowing that you have working with you a force, which never yet has failed in anything it has undertaken, you can go ahead in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-collier/knowing-that-you-have-working-with-you-a-force-which-never-yet-has/) [Robert Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-collier/) > [It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/it-is-not-so-much-our-friends-help-that-helps-us-as-the-confident/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [Those who have knowledge are more confident than those who have no knowledge, and they are more confident after they have learned than before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/those-who-have-knowledge-are-more-confident-than-those-who-have-no/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“It's nice to be liked, but it's better to be respected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/habeeb-akande/it-s-nice-to-be-liked-but-it-s-better-to-be-respected/) [Habeeb Akande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/habeeb-akande/) > [I liked her better for showing a little spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/i-liked-her-better-for-showing-a-little-spirit/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [I liked you better when you were drunk .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hardy/i-liked-you-better-when-you-were-drunk/) [Tom Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hardy/) > [“I was thinking that maybe, by this point, I liked it better broken.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/i-was-thinking-that-maybe-by-this-point-i-liked-it-better-broken/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [This is looking like a contest of who can act like they care less but I liked it better when you were on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/this-is-looking-like-a-contest-of-who-can-act-like-they-care-less-but/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [I liked Camille Paglia. I liked her even better when I heard her talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/i-liked-camille-paglia-i-liked-her-even-better-when-i-heard-her-talk/) [Leslie Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-fiedler/) > [Being single didnt have its drawbacks for me because Id never been with anyone I liked better than myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-joslan/being-single-didnt-have-its-drawbacks-for-me-because-id-never-been/) Azgraybebly Joslan > [It was a book to kill time for those who liked it better dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-was-a-book-to-kill-time-for-those-who-liked-it-better-dead/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Women are liked better when they lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-liked-better-when-they-lose/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [On the whole, Flora liked it better when they were silent, though it did rather give her the feeling that she was acting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-gibbons/on-the-whole-flora-liked-it-better-when-they-were-silent-though-it/) [Stella Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-gibbons/) > [“Y'know," I said, "I liked you better when I hated you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-tracey/y-know-i-said-i-liked-you-better-when-i-hated-you/) [Scott Tracey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-tracey/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Allowance quotes > [I like buying clothes, especially as I get a tax-deductible allowance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-cope/i-like-buying-clothes-especially-as-i-get-a-tax-deductible-allowance/) [Wendy Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-cope/) > [There's plenty of great stuff out there. I think it's just what we do is we all spend our allowance on the thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-englund/there-s-plenty-of-great-stuff-out-there-i-think-it-s-just-what-we-do/) [Robert Englund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-englund/) > [A realistic expectation also demands our acceptance that one's allotted time on earth must be limited to an allowance consistent with the continuity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/a-realistic-expectation-also-demands-our-acceptance-that-one-s/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [Anyhow, we obviously understand that, being a United States' ally and having a special relationship with it, the UK in its relations with Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/anyhow-we-obviously-understand-that-being-a-united-states-ally-and/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [If you want to be rich, don’t allow yourself the luxury of excuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/if-you-want-to-be-rich-don-t-allow-yourself-the-luxury-of-excuses/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [I'm a big advocate of a work-for-pay setup rather than an allowance that isn't attached to chores - it's a great way to impart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/i-m-a-big-advocate-of-a-work-for-pay-setup-rather-than-an-allowance/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [Few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/few-human-creatures-would-consent-to-be-changed-into-any-of-the-lower/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In regard to the amount of difference between the races, we must make some allowance for our nice powers of discrimination gained by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/in-regard-to-the-amount-of-difference-between-the-races-we-must-make/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Besides, there is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/besides-there-is-more-that-binds-us-to-bolshevism-than-separates-us/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Ain't trickin I just treat her like she need allowance .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/ain-t-trickin-i-just-treat-her-like-she-need-allowance/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [You have to learn how to take an allowance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakim/you-have-to-learn-how-to-take-an-allowance/) [Rakim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakim/) > [“modest allowance. 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