--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hypotheses are what we lack the least." description: "\"Hypotheses are what we lack the least.\" — Henri Poincare" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg" --- # Hypotheses are what we lack the least. ![“Hypotheses are what we lack the least.” quote by Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg) > “Hypotheses are what we lack the least.” [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hypotheses are abundant, but testing and evidence are scarce. **In simple terms:** Many hypotheses, few proofs. Key Takeaway Prioritize rigorous testing. Themes science philosophy uncertainty Mood analytical thoughtful Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - laboratory - academic study - policy making Key Concepts hypothesis formation validation research methodology Questions to Reflect On - How do you choose which hypothesis to test? - What criteria ensure a hypothesis is worth pursuing? A Different Perspective Abundance of ideas can overwhelm resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hypotheses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypotheses/) [Hypotheses Lack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypotheses-lack-2259148/) [Lack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack/) ## Related quotes > [It is the simple hypotheses of which one must be most wary; because these are the ones that have the most chances of passing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/it-is-the-simple-hypotheses-of-which-one-must-be-most-wary-because/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [“Everything you do in customer development is centered around testing hypotheses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-alvarez/everything-you-do-in-customer-development-is-centered-around-testing/) [Cindy Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-alvarez/) > [Unfortunately, in the field of evolution most explanations are not good. As a matter of fact, they hardly qualify as explanations at all; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macbeth/unfortunately-in-the-field-of-evolution-most-explanations-are-not/) [Norman Macbeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macbeth/) > [The physicist can never subject an isolated hypothesis to experimental test, but only a whole group of hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-duhem/the-physicist-can-never-subject-an-isolated-hypothesis-to/) [Pierre Duhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-duhem/) > [Better our hypotheses die for our errors than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/better-our-hypotheses-die-for-our-errors-than-ourselves/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [“At first he found it amusing. He coined a law intended to have the humor of a Parkinson’s law that "The number of rational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pirsig/at-first-he-found-it-amusing-he-coined-a-law-intended-to-have-the/) [Robert Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pirsig/) > [I feign no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-feign-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Hypotheses are the scaffolds which are erected in front of a building and removedd when the building is completed. They are indispensable to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/hypotheses-are-the-scaffolds-which-are-erected-in-front-of-a-building/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Philosophy, like science, is only a collection of hypotheses, introduced for the usefulness of the ensemble, or for economy of thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/philosophy-like-science-is-only-a-collection-of-hypotheses-introduced/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [We are sorry to confess that biological hypotheses have not yet completely got out of the second phase, and that ghost of ‘vital force’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-buchner/we-are-sorry-to-confess-that-biological-hypotheses-have-not-yet/) [Ludwig Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-buchner/) > [Hypotheses non fingo. I frame no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/hypotheses-non-fingo-i-frame-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [In science, each new result, sometimes quite surprising, heralds a step forward and allows one to discard some hypotheses, even though one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-prusiner/in-science-each-new-result-sometimes-quite-surprising-heralds-a-step/) [Stanley B. Prusiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-b-prusiner/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/) [Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/) ## More by Henri Poincare > [The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/the-mathematical-facts-worthy-of-being-studied-are-those-which-by/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [. . . by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the external world. It has adopted the geometry most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/by-natural-selection-our-mind-has-adapted-itself-to-the-conditions-of/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [If we knew exactly the laws of nature and the situation of the universe at the initial moment, we could predict exactly the situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/if-we-knew-exactly-the-laws-of-nature-and-the-situation-of-the/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Absolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary to refer the earth to know whether it really moves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/absolute-space-that-is-to-say-the-mark-to-which-it-would-be-necessary/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Science is facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/science-is-facts/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Absolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary to refer the earth to know whether it really moves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/absolute-space-that-is-to-say-the-mark-to-which-it-would-be-necessary-2/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [All of mathematics is a tale about groups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/all-of-mathematics-is-a-tale-about-groups/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [A cat is witty, he has nerve, he knows how to do precisely the right thing at the right moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/a-cat-is-witty-he-has-nerve-he-knows-how-to-do-precisely-the-right/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [In the old days when people invented a new function they had something useful in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/in-the-old-days-when-people-invented-a-new-function-they-had/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Intuition is more important to discovery than logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/intuition-is-more-important-to-discovery-than-logic/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Mathematics has a threefold purpose. It must provide an instrument for the study of nature. But this is not all: it has a philosophical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/mathematics-has-a-threefold-purpose-it-must-provide-an-instrument-for/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [Experiment is the sole source of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/experiment-is-the-sole-source-of-truth/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [“ Qu'une goutee de vin tombe dans un verre d'eau; quelle que soit la loi du movement interne du liquide, nous verrons bientôt se…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/qu-une-goutee-de-vin-tombe-dans-un-verre-d-eau-quelle-que-soit-la-loi/) [Henri Poincaré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [If that enabled us to predict the succeeding situation with the same approximation, that is all we require, and we should say that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/if-that-enabled-us-to-predict-the-succeeding-situation-with-the-same/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [“ Le savant doit ordonner ; on fait la science avec des faits comme une maison avec des pierres ; mais une accumulation de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/le-savant-doit-ordonner-on-fait-la-science-avec-des-faits-comme-une/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) [Explore all 130 Henri Poincare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) ## More Hypotheses quotes > [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/) [Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [In science, each new result, sometimes quite surprising, heralds a step forward and allows one to discard some hypotheses, even though one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-prusiner/in-science-each-new-result-sometimes-quite-surprising-heralds-a-step/) [Stanley B. Prusiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-b-prusiner/) > [Hypotheses non fingo. I frame no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/hypotheses-non-fingo-i-frame-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [We are sorry to confess that biological hypotheses have not yet completely got out of the second phase, and that ghost of ‘vital force’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-buchner/we-are-sorry-to-confess-that-biological-hypotheses-have-not-yet/) [Ludwig Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-buchner/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [“Philosophy, like science, is only a collection of hypotheses, introduced for the usefulness of the ensemble, or for economy of thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/philosophy-like-science-is-only-a-collection-of-hypotheses-introduced/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Hypotheses are the scaffolds which are erected in front of a building and removedd when the building is completed. They are indispensable to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/hypotheses-are-the-scaffolds-which-are-erected-in-front-of-a-building/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I feign no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-feign-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [“At first he found it amusing. He coined a law intended to have the humor of a Parkinson’s law that "The number of rational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pirsig/at-first-he-found-it-amusing-he-coined-a-law-intended-to-have-the/) [Robert Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pirsig/) > [Better our hypotheses die for our errors than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/better-our-hypotheses-die-for-our-errors-than-ourselves/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [The physicist can never subject an isolated hypothesis to experimental test, but only a whole group of hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-duhem/the-physicist-can-never-subject-an-isolated-hypothesis-to/) [Pierre Duhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-duhem/) > [Unfortunately, in the field of evolution most explanations are not good. As a matter of fact, they hardly qualify as explanations at all; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macbeth/unfortunately-in-the-field-of-evolution-most-explanations-are-not/) [Norman Macbeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macbeth/) > [“Everything you do in customer development is centered around testing hypotheses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-alvarez/everything-you-do-in-customer-development-is-centered-around-testing/) [Cindy Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-alvarez/) > [... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-of-significance-at-which-from/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) [Browse all 95 Hypotheses quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypotheses/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Hypotheses are what we lack the least.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henri Poincare" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hypotheses" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/henri-poincare-3339_hypotheses_hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least-26_2639897.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Hypotheses are what we lack the least.” — Henri Poincare", "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": "Henri Poincare", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Hypotheses are what we lack the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/hypotheses-are-what-we-lack-the-least/#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 } } ] } ```