--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable…" description: "\"Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have been right. The scientist is distinguished by a desire to be right.\" — Willard Van Orman Quine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg" --- # Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have… ![“Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have been right. The scientist is distinguished by a desire to be right.” quote by Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg) > “Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have been right. The scientist is distinguished by a desire to be right.” [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientists seek truth, while non‑scientists cling to being right for its own sake. **In simple terms:** Science values truth over ego. Key Takeaway Prioritize truth over being right. Themes philosophy science epistemology Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research projects - academic debates - policy making - personal decisions Key Concepts Objectivity humility critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle being wrong in public? - What steps help you stay objective? A Different Perspective Being right can be socially rewarding, complicating pure objectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Unscientific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unscientific/) ## Related quotes > [A discussion between Haldane and a friend began to take a predictable turn. The friend said with a sigh, 'It's no use going on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-s-haldane/a-discussion-between-haldane-and-a-friend-began-to-take-a-predictable/) [John B. S. Haldane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-s-haldane/) > [Science is not a system of certain, or -established, statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances towards a state of finality... And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [It is embarrassingly unscientific to speak of anything creating itself from nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/it-is-embarrassingly-unscientific-to-speak-of-anything-creating/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [To picture world history as advancing smoothly and steadily without sometimes taking gigantic strides backward is undialectical, unscientific and theoretically wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/to-picture-world-history-as-advancing-smoothly-and-steadily-without/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [The 'science' for which the United States is respected has nothing to do with the unscientific and baseless theory of evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/the-science-for-which-the-united-states-is-respected-has-nothing-to/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [Since most scientists are just a bit religious, and most religious are seldom wholly unscientific, we find humanity in a comical position. His scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/since-most-scientists-are-just-a-bit-religious-and-most-religious-are/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [When science starts to be interpretive it is more unscientific even than mysticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/when-science-starts-to-be-interpretive-it-is-more-unscientific-even/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [I am as non-accepting of medical quackery and unscientific approaches as anybody else. I've grown up as a card-carrying scientist, and I know the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-ornish/i-am-as-non-accepting-of-medical-quackery-and-unscientific-approaches/) [Dean Ornish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-ornish/) > [I think that the theory of evolution is the most unscientific, faith-based, fundamentally brainless idea that ever had the misfortune to come out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/i-think-that-the-theory-of-evolution-is-the-most-unscientific-faith/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [Please don't make the mistake of thinking that the arts and sciences are at odds with one another. That is a recent, stupid and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-minchin/please-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-thinking-that-the-arts-and-sciences/) [Tim Minchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-minchin/) > [Some may claim that is it unscientific to speak of the operations of nature as "miracles." But the point of the title lies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisha-gray/some-may-claim-that-is-it-unscientific-to-speak-of-the-operations-of/) [Elisha Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisha-gray/) > [Even if we don't have a precise idea of exactly what took place at the beginning, we can at least see that the origin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/even-if-we-don-t-have-a-precise-idea-of-exactly-what-took-place-at/) [Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/) > [Begin where you are. It would be unscientific to begin anywhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/begin-where-you-are-it-would-be-unscientific-to-begin-anywhere-else/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [“Evil may be 'unscientific' but so is a song or a smile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/evil-may-be-unscientific-but-so-is-a-song-or-a-smile/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“There is a curious idea among unscientific men that in scientific writing there is a common plateau of perfectionism. Nothing could be more untrue.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/there-is-a-curious-idea-among-unscientific-men-that-in-scientific/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More by Willard Van Orman Quine > [It is one of the consolations of philosophy that the benefit of showing how to dispense with a concept does not hinge on dispensing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/it-is-one-of-the-consolations-of-philosophy-that-the-benefit-of/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Theory may be deliberate, as in a chapter on chemistry, or it may be second nature, as in the immemorial doctrine of ordinary enduring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/theory-may-be-deliberate-as-in-a-chapter-on-chemistry-or-it-may-be/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The line that I am urging as today's conventional wisdom is not a denial of consciousness. It is often called, with more reason, arepudiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-line-that-i-am-urging-as-today-s-conventional-wisdom-is-not-a/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Our talk of external things, our very notion of things, is just a conceptual apparatus that helps us to foresee and control the triggerings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/our-talk-of-external-things-our-very-notion-of-things-is-just-a/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The mastery of one's phonemes may be compared to the violinist's mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-mastery-of-one-s-phonemes-may-be-compared-to-the-violinist-s/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [“Believing is a disposition. We could tire ourselves out thinking, if we put our minds to it, but believing takes no toll.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/believing-is-a-disposition-we-could-tire-ourselves-out-thinking-if-we/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The strategy of semantic ascent is that it carries the discussion into a domain where both parties are better agreed on the objects (viz.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-strategy-of-semantic-ascent-is-that-it-carries-the-discussion/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic definition of truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/scientific-method-is-the-way-to-truth-but-it-affords-even-in/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [ Some have said that the thesis \[of indeterminacy\] is a consequence of my behaviorism. Some have said that it is a reductio ad absurdum… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-have-said-that-the-thesis-of-indeterminacy-is-a-consequence-of/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Some may find comfort in reflecting that the distinction between an eliminative and an explicative physicalism is unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-may-find-comfort-in-reflecting-that-the-distinction-between-an/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [We must not leap to the fatalistic conclusion that we are stuck with the conceptual scheme that we grew up in. We can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-must-not-leap-to-the-fatalistic-conclusion-that-we-are-stuck-with/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-word-definition-has-come-to-have-a-dangerously-reassuring-sound/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Logic chases truth up the tree of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/logic-chases-truth-up-the-tree-of-grammar/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Science is not a substitute for common sense, but an extension of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/science-is-not-a-substitute-for-common-sense-but-an-extension-of-it/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The variables of quantification, 'something,' 'nothing,' 'everything,' range over our whole ontology, whatever it may be; and we are convicted of a particular ontological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-variables-of-quantification-something-nothing-everything-range/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) [Explore all 67 Willard Van Orman Quine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have been right. The scientist is distinguished by a desire to be right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willard Van Orman Quine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorable-desire-to-have-been-right/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorable-desire-to-have-been-right/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_desire_unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorabl_1006581.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unscientific man is beset by a deplorable desire to have been right. The scientist is distinguished by a…” — Willard Van Orman Quine", "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": "Willard Van Orman Quine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Unscientific man is beset by a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorable-desire-to-have-been-right/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/unscientific-man-is-beset-by-a-deplorable-desire-to-have-been-right/#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 } } ] } ```