Authority Quote by George Polya

“The popular view that scientists proceed inexorably from well-established fact to well-established fact, never being influenced by any unproved conjecture, is quite mistaken. Provided…

— Andrew Hodges

The entire annals of Observation probably do not elsewhere exhibit so extraordinary a verification of any theoretical conjecture adventured on by the human spirit!

— John Pringle Nichol

My reasons are the same as for any mathematical conjecture: (1) It is a legitimate mathematical possibility, and (2) I do not know.

— Jack Edmonds

Conjecture as to things useful, is good; but conjecture as to what it would be useless to know, is very idle.

— Samuel Johnson

I'm very happy for others to engage in conjecture, but if I was ever conscious of what I'm thinking about when I'm writing, oh…

— Peter Morgan

We all trust each other to some extent. We have to rely on experts to some extent, but we should learn to be sceptical.

— Lawrence M. Krauss

No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof.

— Henry David Thoreau

A felicitous but unproved conjecture may be of much more consequence for mathematics than the proof of many a respectable theorem.

— Atle Selberg

No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day…

— Henry David Thoreau

“Finiteness is not the only example in string theory of a conjecture that is widely believed but so far unproved.”

— Lee Smolin

The mind revels in conjecture. Where information is lacking, it will gladly fill in the gaps.

— James Geary

Never accept a fact until it has been verified by theory.

— Arthur Eddington