--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am not afraid of the priests in the…" description: "\"I am not afraid of the priests in the long-run. Scientific method is the white ant which will slowly but surely destroy their fortifications. And the i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/thomas-huxley-1183_ants_i-am-not-afraid-of-the-priests-in-the-lo_626319.png" --- # I am not afraid of the priests in the long-run. Scientific… ![“I am not afraid of the priests in the long-run. Scientific method is the white ant which will slowly but surely destroy their fortifications. And the importance of scientific method in modern practical life--always growing and increasing--is the guarantee for the gradual emancipation of the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/thomas-huxley-1183_ants_i-am-not-afraid-of-the-priests-in-the-lo_626319.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/thomas-huxley-1183_ants_i-am-not-afraid-of-the-priests-in-the-lo_626319.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/thomas-huxley-1183_ants_i-am-not-afraid-of-the-priests-in-the-lo_626319.png) > “I am not afraid of the priests in the long-run. Scientific method is the white ant which will slowly but surely destroy their fortifications. And the importance of scientific method in modern practical life--always growing and increasing--is the guarantee for the gradual emancipation of the ignorant upper and lower classes, the former of whom especially are the strength of the priests.” [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific method gradually dismantles dogma, freeing all social classes from intellectual oppression. **In simple terms:** Science weakens religious authority over time. Key Takeaway Embrace scientific thinking to challenge entrenched power. Themes science freedom education social change Mood hopeful determined critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public policy debates - education reform - media analysis - community organizing Key Concepts empiricism critical thinking secularism Questions to Reflect On - How can scientific literacy be increased among marginalized groups? - What role should ethics play alongside science? A Different Perspective Science alone cannot address moral or emotional needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afraid Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afraid-priests-4131303/) [Ants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Clergy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clergy/) [Emancipation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation/) [Former](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/former/) [Fortification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortification/) [Growing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing/) [Guarantees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guarantees/) [Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant/) [Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance/) [Importance Scientific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance-scientific-5057218/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long runs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-runs/) [Lower class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lower-class/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Not afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-afraid/) [Practical life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practical-life/) [Practicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practicals/) [Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-method/) [Slowly but surely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slowly-but-surely/) [Strength Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength-priests-5057217/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) ## Related quotes > [One can measure the importance of a scientific work by the number of earlier publications rendered superfluous by it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/one-can-measure-the-importance-of-a-scientific-work-by-the-number-of/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [... I am not afraid of priests. They have tried upon me all their various batteries of pious whining, hypocritical canting, lying and slandering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-not-afraid-of-priests-they-have-tried-upon-me-all-their-various/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am not afraid of the priests. They have tried upon me all their various batteries, of pious whining, hypocritical canting, lying and slandering,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-not-afraid-of-the-priests-they-have-tried-upon-me-all-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [No delusion is greater than the notion that method and industry can make up for lack of mother-wit, either in science or in practical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-delusion-is-greater-than-the-notion-that-method-and-industry-can/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Sure! A relationship with the Almighty is not impossible. We must realize that one's approach to the Presence of Almighty Being, who is absolutely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-atta-ullah-faizani/sure-a-relationship-with-the-almighty-is-not-impossible-we-must/) [Muhammad Atta-ullah Faizani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-atta-ullah-faizani/) > [An extensive empire must be supported by a refined system of policy and oppression; in the centre, an absolute power, prompt in action and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/an-extensive-empire-must-be-supported-by-a-refined-system-of-policy/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel the enemy seek a solution elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/if-you-entrench-yourself-behind-strong-fortifications-you-compel-the/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Mussolini is quite humiliated because our troops have not moved a step forward. Even today they have not succeeded in advancing and have halted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galeazzo-ciano/mussolini-is-quite-humiliated-because-our-troops-have-not-moved-a/) [Galeazzo Ciano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galeazzo-ciano/) > [Those eyes, they've got a history with mine. They were the first things I saw when I came to, after being hit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/those-eyes-they-ve-got-a-history-with-mine-they-were-the-first-things/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Regardless of what challenge you are facing right now, know that it has not come to stay. It has come to pass. During these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-brown/regardless-of-what-challenge-you-are-facing-right-now-know-that-it/) [Les Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-brown/) > [Schoolhouses are the republican line of fortifications.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/schoolhouses-are-the-republican-line-of-fortifications/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Our shipping and sea service is our best and safest defence as being the only fortification and rampart of England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-raleigh/our-shipping-and-sea-service-is-our-best-and-safest-defence-as-being/) [Walter Raleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-raleigh/) > [Forts, arsenals, garrisons, armies, navies, are means of security and defence, which were invented in half-civilized times and in feudal or despotic countries; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/forts-arsenals-garrisons-armies-navies-are-means-of-security-and/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Technically it was a victory for the British, who attacked the patriot fortifications but a Pyrrhic victory if ever there was: out of 2,200…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-wheatcroft/technically-it-was-a-victory-for-the-british-who-attacked-the-patriot/) [Geoffrey Wheatcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-wheatcroft/) > [Fortifications, artillery, foreign aid - will be of no value, unless the ordinary soldier knows that it is HE guarding his country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-gustaf-emil-mannerheim/fortifications-artillery-foreign-aid-will-be-of-no-value-unless-the/) [Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-gustaf-emil-mannerheim/) ## More by Thomas Huxley > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [There is nothing of permanent value (putting aside a few human affections) nothing that satisfies quiet reflection--except the sense of having worked according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/there-is-nothing-of-permanent-value-putting-aside-a-few-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/economy-does-not-lie-in-sparing-money-but-in-spending-it-wisely/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-not-to-be-forgotten-that-what-we-call-rational-grounds-for-our/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Only a scientific people can survive in a scientific future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/only-a-scientific-people-can-survive-in-a-scientific-future/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In science, as in art, and, as I believe, in every other sphere of human activity, there may be wisdom in a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-science-as-in-art-and-as-i-believe-in-every-other-sphere-of-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/science-is-simply-common-sense-at-its-best-that-is-rigidly-accurate/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Oh devil! truth is better than much profit. I have searched over the grounds of my belief, and if wife and child and name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/oh-devil-truth-is-better-than-much-profit-i-have-searched-over-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Let us have "sweet girl graduates" by all means. They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the "golden hair"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/let-us-have-sweet-girl-graduates-by-all-means-they-will-be-none-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-matters-of-the-intellect-do-not-pretend-that-conclusions-are/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [And you very soon find out, if you have not found it out before, that patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/and-you-very-soon-find-out-if-you-have-not-found-it-out-before-that/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [No one who has lived in the world as long as you & I have, can entertain the pious delusion that it is engineered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-one-who-has-lived-in-the-world-as-long-as-you-i-have-can-entertain/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/mix-salt-and-sand-and-it-shall-puzzle-the-wisest-of-men-with-his-mere/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [What are the moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people? They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/what-are-the-moral-convictions-most-fondly-held-by-barbarous-and-semi/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) [Explore all 278 Thomas Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## More Ants quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [Great God of the Ants, thou hast granted victory to thy servants. I appoint thee honorary Colonel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/great-god-of-the-ants-thou-hast-granted-victory-to-thy-servants-i/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There's a good case to be made that having fun is a key evolutionary advantage right next to opposable thumbs in terms of importance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raph-koster/there-s-a-good-case-to-be-made-that-having-fun-is-a-key-evolutionary/) [Raph Koster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raph-koster/) > [“THE FIGHTERS ARE TINY. INSECTS, REALLY. BUT ANTS CAN SLAY AN ELEPHANT, IF THERE ARE ENOUGH OF THEM. ESPECIALLY ANTS ARMED WITH HIGH-YIELD EXPLOSIVES…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amie-kaufman/the-fighters-are-tiny-insects-really-but-ants-can-slay-an-elephant-if/) [Amie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amie-kaufman/) > [We know of no behavior in ants or any other social insects that can be construed as play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-holldobler/we-know-of-no-behavior-in-ants-or-any-other-social-insects-that-can/) [Bert Holldobler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-holldobler/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. Cleo had this big magnifying glass on his desk, and we'd find centipedes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/albert-and-i-would-spend-hours-and-hours-looking-at-them-cleo-had/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Lies are like ants; there's never just one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ash/lies-are-like-ants-there-s-never-just-one/) [Julia Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ash/) > [There's a scientific hypothesis that every person's name is a primary suggestive command that contains the entire script of their life in highly concentrated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-pelevin/there-s-a-scientific-hypothesis-that-every-person-s-name-is-a-primary/) [Victor Pelevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-pelevin/) > [When I was little, I would burn ants with a magnifying glass. But now that I'm older, I'm more of a cat guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/when-i-was-little-i-would-burn-ants-with-a-magnifying-glass-but-now/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [If ants were the size of humans, they would be able to run twice as fast as a Lamborghini.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-ants-were-the-size-of-humans-they-would-be-able-to-run-twice-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 499 Ants quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am not afraid of the priests in the long-run. Scientific method is the white ant which will slowly but surely destroy their fortifications. 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