--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be…" description: "\"“Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be shown wrong, but that has not happened — yet. And I admit that the reason I'm unable to accept the claims of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/james-randi-12614_atheism_yes-i-m-a-materialist-i-m-willing-to-be_2375934.png" --- # Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be shown wrong, but… ![“Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be shown wrong, but that has not happened — yet. And I admit that the reason I'm unable to accept the claims of psychic, occult, and/or supernatural wonders is because I'm locked into a world-view that demands evidence rather than blind faith, a view that…” quote by James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/james-randi-12614_atheism_yes-i-m-a-materialist-i-m-willing-to-be_2375934.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/james-randi-12614_atheism_yes-i-m-a-materialist-i-m-willing-to-be_2375934.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/james-randi-12614_atheism_yes-i-m-a-materialist-i-m-willing-to-be_2375934.png) > ““Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be shown wrong, but that has not happened — yet. And I admit that the reason I'm unable to accept the claims of psychic, occult, and/or supernatural wonders is because I'm locked into a world-view that demands evidence rather than blind faith, a view that insists upon the replication of all experiments — particularly those that appear to show violations of a rational world — and a view which requires open examination of the methods used to carry out those experiments.”” [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker asserts that belief requires evidence and reproducibility, rejecting claims lacking empirical support. **In simple terms:** Belief needs proof, not faith. Key Takeaway Demand evidence before accepting extraordinary claims. Themes skepticism science critical thinking Mood inquisitive analytical skeptical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - evaluating paranormal claims - scientific research - public debates - education - policy making Key Concepts empiricism methodology burden of proof Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance open inquiry with skepticism? - What standards should govern scientific verification of anomalous phenomena? A Different Perspective Extraordinary claims may be dismissed prematurely if evidence is scarce. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/) [Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment/) [Materialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialism/) [Materialist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialist/) [Naturalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalism/) [Paranormal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paranormal/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-method/) [Superstition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstition/) ## Related quotes > [“Oz had access to information the rest of the world didn't know existed. His dad was the director of an organization called CHAOS-Central Headquarters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-s-lewis/oz-had-access-to-information-the-rest-of-the-world-didn-t-know/) [Jon S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-s-lewis/) > [Religion is based upon blind faith supported by no evidence. Science is based upon confidence that results from evidence - and that confidence can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/religion-is-based-upon-blind-faith-supported-by-no-evidence-science/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [I'm not a materialist, I don't care for things. I don't like cars, I hate things that can be exploited. I live a simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/i-m-not-a-materialist-i-don-t-care-for-things-i-don-t-like-cars-i/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [ “The materialist thinks me a slave because I am not allowed to believe in determinism. I think \[the materialist\] a slave because he is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-materialist-thinks-me-a-slave-because-i-am-not-allowed-to-believe/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Don't be a spiritualist and don't be a materialist: be both. Don't be a Zorba and don't be a Buddha; be both: Zorba the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/don-t-be-a-spiritualist-and-don-t-be-a-materialist-be-both-don-t-be-a/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [The classics of Marxism, while fully appreciating the significance of the Darwinian theory, pointed out the errors of which Darwin was guilty. 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Schneider > [West is too materialist; East is too spiritual; North is too cold; South is too loose!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/west-is-too-materialist-east-is-too-spiritual-north-is-too-cold-south/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Make more money and you'll be happier, get a bigger house and you'll feel satisfied, buy fancier clothes and people will admire you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/make-more-money-and-you-ll-be-happier-get-a-bigger-house-and-you-ll/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Watching a whole cluster of friends, and my own mother, die over quite a short space of time convinced me that purely materialist 'explanations'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-n-wilson/watching-a-whole-cluster-of-friends-and-my-own-mother-die-over-quite/) [A. N. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-n-wilson/) > [“When going out of your material body, after the return, the courage becomes so great that you can tread on things that can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/when-going-out-of-your-material-body-after-the-return-the-courage/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“For the genuine materialist there is no fundamental, but only a gradual, an “evolutionary” difference, between man and a pest, a noxious insect”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/for-the-genuine-materialist-there-is-no-fundamental-but-only-a/) [Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/) > [“According to the materialist conception of history, the ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/according-to-the-materialist-conception-of-history-the-ultimately/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“Uncorked materialism is new cannibalism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/uncorked-materialism-is-new-cannibalism/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by James Randi > [Escapology has one thing going for it that probably made Harry Houdini such a superstar in his day and a legend in the present.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/escapology-has-one-thing-going-for-it-that-probably-made-harry/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [Religion is based upon blind faith supported by no evidence. Science is based upon confidence that results from evidence - and that confidence can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/religion-is-based-upon-blind-faith-supported-by-no-evidence-science/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [One thing that has made a big comeback just recently is this business of speaking with the dead. 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We in the USA have been depending on prayers, pleading, and self-abasement to a deity to bring us magical advantages, and have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/we-in-the-usa-have-been-depending-on-prayers-pleading-and-self/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [Magicians are the most honest people in the world; they tell you they're gonna fool you, and then they do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/magicians-are-the-most-honest-people-in-the-world-they-tell-you-they/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/science-is-best-defined-as-a-careful-disciplined-logical-search-for/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [gods are children's blankets that get carried over into adulthood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/gods-are-children-s-blankets-that-get-carried-over-into-adulthood/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) > [The only difference is that religion is much better organized and has been around much longer, but it's the same story with different characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/the-only-difference-is-that-religion-is-much-better-organized-and-has/) [James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) [Explore all 54 James Randi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/) ## More Atheism 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/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. 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Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? 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Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Yes, I'm a materialist. I'm willing to be shown wrong, but that has not happened — yet. 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