--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Skepticism is the highest duty and blind…" description: "\"Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.\" — Thomas Huxley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7e/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_skepticism-is-the-highest-duty-and-blind_644340.png" --- # Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one… ![“Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7e/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_skepticism-is-the-highest-duty-and-blind_644340.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7e/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_skepticism-is-the-highest-duty-and-blind_644340.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7e/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_skepticism-is-the-highest-duty-and-blind_644340.png) > “Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” [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. Questioning beliefs is essential; unexamined faith is a grave error. **In simple terms:** Ask, don't accept blindly. Key Takeaway Challenge assumptions regularly. Themes critical thinking faith responsibility Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - education - politics - personal decisions Key Concepts skepticism intellectual honesty Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify your beliefs? - What risks arise from uncritical acceptance? A Different Perspective Blind faith can provide comfort despite its flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith Unpardonable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-unpardonable-5166482/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) [Skepticism Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism-highest-5166481/) [Unpardonable Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unpardonable-sin-408993/) ## Related quotes > [The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-improver-of-natural-knowledge-absolutely-refuses-to-acknowledge/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [...the unpardonable sin is to be an unpleasant person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galen-starr-ross/the-unpardonable-sin-is-to-be-an-unpleasant-person/) [Galen Starr Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galen-starr-ross/) > [If nothing is to be done in the given situation, he must invent plausible reasons for doing nothing; and if something must be done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-edward-merriam/if-nothing-is-to-be-done-in-the-given-situation-he-must-invent/) [Charles Edward Merriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-edward-merriam/) > [The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-most-unpardonable-sin-in-society-is-independence-of-thought/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I still think sincere pessimism the unpardonable sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-still-think-sincere-pessimism-the-unpardonable-sin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The real secret of happiness is simply this: to be willing to live and let live, and to know very clearly in one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galen-starr-ross/the-real-secret-of-happiness-is-simply-this-to-be-willing-to-live-and/) [Galen Starr Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galen-starr-ross/) > [Success is the one unpardonable sin against our fellows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/success-is-the-one-unpardonable-sin-against-our-fellows/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Forgiveness is the one unpardonable sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/forgiveness-is-the-one-unpardonable-sin/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I grew up thinking there was one unpardonable sin – to be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/i-grew-up-thinking-there-was-one-unpardonable-sin-to-be-boring/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [there is only one unpardonable sin--deliberate cruelty. 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The unpardonable sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-foley/cruelty-is-the-only-thing-that-strikes-me-as-completely-unforgivable/) [Rae Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-foley/) > [“The unpardonable sin is the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not quite awake. —Joseph Campbell”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-tricarico/the-unpardonable-sin-is-the-sin-of-inadvertence-of-not-being-alert/) [Dan Tricarico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-tricarico/) > [“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-the-very-recent-past-we-have-seen-the-church-of-rome-befouled-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## 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. 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