--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The slow, the never ending approach to…" description: "\"The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to fit t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/james-g-frazer-17815_accepting_the-slow-the-never-ending-approach-to-tr_772652.jpg" --- # The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in… ![“The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to fit the facts and rejecting the others.” quote by James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/james-g-frazer-17815_accepting_the-slow-the-never-ending-approach-to-tr_772652.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/james-g-frazer-17815_accepting_the-slow-the-never-ending-approach-to-tr_772652.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/james-g-frazer-17815_accepting_the-slow-the-never-ending-approach-to-tr_772652.jpg) > “The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to fit the facts and rejecting the others.” [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth is pursued by continuously forming, testing, and discarding hypotheses, adapting to the best fit with current evidence. **In simple terms:** Keep testing ideas, discard the wrong ones. Key Takeaway Embrace ongoing inquiry. Themes science philosophy critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research projects - policy making - personal decision making Key Concepts hypothesis testing epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What methods ensure hypotheses are tested efficiently? - How do we know when to stop testing? A Different Perspective Risk of endless doubt without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Never ending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never-ending/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-mondrian/i-wish-to-approach-truth-as-closely-as-is-possible-and-therefore-i/) [Piet Mondrian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piet-mondrian/) > [Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas; its aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/science-does-not-aim-at-establishing-immutable-truths-and-eternal/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“The truth is always the best approach when saying no. Keep it simple. People don't need to hear your sob story. A five-minute exposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glynnis-whitwer/the-truth-is-always-the-best-approach-when-saying-no-keep-it-simple/) [Glynnis Whitwer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glynnis-whitwer/) > [My approach is the truth and aiming for the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-wright/my-approach-is-the-truth-and-aiming-for-the-truth/) [Letitia Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-wright/) > [Poetry is, above all, an approach to the truth of feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-rukeyser/poetry-is-above-all-an-approach-to-the-truth-of-feeling/) [Muriel Rukeyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-rukeyser/) > [“We approach truth only inasmuch as we depart from life. For what do we, who love truth, strive after in life? To free ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/we-approach-truth-only-inasmuch-as-we-depart-from-life-for-what-do-we/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [It's such a cliche thing to say. I want to choreograph, I want to direct, I want to act, I want to write music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-hough/it-s-such-a-cliche-thing-to-say-i-want-to-choreograph-i-want-to/) [Derek Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-hough/) > [You can be fully satisfied with where you are, understanding that you're eternally evolving. When you get into that place of feeling appreciation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/you-can-be-fully-satisfied-with-where-you-are-understanding-that-you/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [There are no choices that are really a detour that will take you far from where you're wanting to be - because your Inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-are-no-choices-that-are-really-a-detour-that-will-take-you-far/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [This too is a jihad. Yet we Americans find ourselves in the dangerous position of going to war not against a state but against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/this-too-is-a-jihad-yet-we-americans-find-ourselves-in-the-dangerous/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [When every memory has been made and the pages start to fade. And every prayer you ever prayed is heaven bound. When you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/when-every-memory-has-been-made-and-the-pages-start-to-fade-and-every/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [Make education a continuing, never-ending process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nido-r-qubein/make-education-a-continuing-never-ending-process/) [Nido R Qubein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nido-r-qubein/) > [When I started out at about 19, 20, it took me two years just to tell the difference between a jig and a reel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-gleeson/when-i-started-out-at-about-19-20-it-took-me-two-years-just-to-tell/) [Brendan Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-gleeson/) > [By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/by-the-time-you-get-into-other-kinds-of-music-r-b-country-or-whatever/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) ## More by James G. Frazer > [But once a fool always a fool, and the greater the power in his hands the more disastrous is likely to be the use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/but-once-a-fool-always-a-fool-and-the-greater-the-power-in-his-hands/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The man of science, like the man of letters, is too apt to view mankind only in the abstract, selecting in his consideration only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-man-of-science-like-the-man-of-letters-is-too-apt-to-view-mankind/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [Dwellers by the sea cannot fail to be impressed by the sight of its ceaseless ebb and flow, and are apt, on the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/dwellers-by-the-sea-cannot-fail-to-be-impressed-by-the-sight-of-its/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [In point of fact magicians appear to have often developed into chiefs and kings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/in-point-of-fact-magicians-appear-to-have-often-developed-into-chiefs/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [For when a nation becomes civilized, if it does not drop human sacrifices altogether, it at least selects as victims only such wretches as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/for-when-a-nation-becomes-civilized-if-it-does-not-drop-human/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [I am a plain practical man, not one of your theorists and splitters of hairs and choppers of logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/i-am-a-plain-practical-man-not-one-of-your-theorists-and-splitters-of/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The second principle of magic: things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-second-principle-of-magic-things-which-have-once-been-in-contact/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The consideration of human suffering is not one which enters into the calculations of primitive man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-consideration-of-human-suffering-is-not-one-which-enters-into-the/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [Some of the old laws of Israel are clearly savage taboos of a familiar type thinly disguised as commands of the Deity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/some-of-the-old-laws-of-israel-are-clearly-savage-taboos-of-a/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [For there are strong grounds for thinking that, in the evolution of thought, magic has preceded religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/for-there-are-strong-grounds-for-thinking-that-in-the-evolution-of/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [If mankind had always been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of folly and crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/if-mankind-had-always-been-logical-and-wise-history-would-not-be-a/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [Even the recognition of an individual whom we see every day is only possible as the result of an abstract idea of him formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/even-the-recognition-of-an-individual-whom-we-see-every-day-is-only/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The world cannot live at the level of its great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-world-cannot-live-at-the-level-of-its-great-men/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The temple of the sylvan goddess, indeed, has vanished, and the King of the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-temple-of-the-sylvan-goddess-indeed-has-vanished-and-the-king-of/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) > [The abundance, the solidity, and the splendor of the results already achieved by science are well fitted to inspire us with a cheerful confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-frazer/the-abundance-the-solidity-and-the-splendor-of-the-results-already/) [James G. Frazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) [Explore all 36 James G. Frazer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-g-frazer/) ## More Accepting 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/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to fit the facts and rejecting the others.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James G. 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