--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's…" description: "\"Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's blood from claims to have a good deal of knowledge. For example, your friends claim to know, 'Since every poss..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/191/william-lane-craig-8716_atheism_scepticism-ironically-draws-its-life-s-b_174125.jpg" --- # Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's blood from claims… ![“Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's blood from claims to have a good deal of knowledge. For example, your friends claim to know, 'Since every possible option has not been explored, nothing can be said for certain.' That statement is itself a claim to knowledge!” quote by William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/191/william-lane-craig-8716_atheism_scepticism-ironically-draws-its-life-s-b_174125.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/191/william-lane-craig-8716_atheism_scepticism-ironically-draws-its-life-s-b_174125.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/191/william-lane-craig-8716_atheism_scepticism-ironically-draws-its-life-s-b_174125.jpg) > “Scepticism, ironically, draws its life's blood from claims to have a good deal of knowledge. For example, your friends claim to know, 'Since every possible option has not been explored, nothing can be said for certain.' That statement is itself a claim to knowledge!” [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skepticism thrives on the paradox that claiming certainty about unknowns is itself a claim to knowledge. **In simple terms:** Skepticism can be contradictory when it asserts certainty. Key Takeaway Question the certainty of claims about knowledge. Themes skepticism knowledge paradox Mood inquisitive critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - debates - academic discourse - personal belief systems Key Concepts epistemology logic Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you accept without evidence? - How do you handle uncertainty? A Different Perspective Absolute certainty is rarely achievable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Scepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scepticism/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) ## Related quotes > [Never assume that you have attained truth. Don't make any claim to knowledge. Form no conclusion or evaluation concerning truth. The minute you do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mooji/never-assume-that-you-have-attained-truth-don-t-make-any-claim-to/) [Mooji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mooji/) > [“Humans may crave absolute certainty; they may aspire to it; they may pretend, as partisans of certain religions do, to have attained it. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-may-crave-absolute-certainty-they-may-aspire-to-it-they-may/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Scepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of scepticism. To be content with what we at present know, is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/scepticism-is-as-much-the-result-of-knowledge-as-knowledge-is-of/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of human reason,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a-flush-of-humour-after-intense/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. You can't all be correct. And what if all of you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-major-religions-on-the-earth-contradict-each-other-left-and-right-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The Greeks made Space the subject-matter of a science of supreme simplicity and certainty. Out of it grew, in the mind of classical antiquity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-weyl/the-greeks-made-space-the-subject-matter-of-a-science-of-supreme/) [Hermann Weyl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-weyl/) > [Scepticism is always a back road leading to some credo or other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/scepticism-is-always-a-back-road-leading-to-some-credo-or-other/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Scepticism is an ability, or mental attitude, which opposes appearances to judgments in any way whatsoever, with the result that,owing to the equipollence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sextus-empiricus/scepticism-is-an-ability-or-mental-attitude-which-opposes-appearances/) [Sextus Empiricus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sextus-empiricus/) > [The idea that the State is capable of solving social problems is now viewed with great scepticism – which foretells a coming change. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/the-idea-that-the-state-is-capable-of-solving-social-problems-is-now/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“The deepest, the only theme of human history, compared to which all others are of subordinate importance, is the conflict of scepticism with faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-deepest-the-only-theme-of-human-history-compared-to-which-all/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-you-are-only-skeptical-then-no-new-ideas-make-it-through-to-you/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“ Johnson is a radical skeptic, insisting, in the best Socratic tradition, that everything be put on the table for examination. By contrast, most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/johnson-is-a-radical-skeptic-insisting-in-the-best-socratic-tradition/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [Latter-day scepticism is fond of calling itself progressive; but scepticism is really reactionary. Scepticism goes back; it attempts to unsettle what has already been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/latter-day-scepticism-is-fond-of-calling-itself-progressive-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is, indeed a more mitigated scepticism or academical philosophy, which may be both durable and useful, and which may, in part, be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/there-is-indeed-a-more-mitigated-scepticism-or-academical-philosophy/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“. . . I don’t believe that celebrity spokeswomen get their hair colour from a box.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberta-pearce/i-don-t-believe-that-celebrity-spokeswomen-get-their-hair-colour-from/) [Roberta Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberta-pearce/) ## More by William Lane Craig > [Part of the broader task of Christian scholarship is to help create and sustain a cultural milieu in which the gospel can be heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/part-of-the-broader-task-of-christian-scholarship-is-to-help-create/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [The point is this: If God does not exist, then life is objectively meaningless; but man cannot live consistently and happily knowing that life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/the-point-is-this-if-god-does-not-exist-then-life-is-objectively/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [“By setting such strong, harsh dichotomies God taught Israel that any assimilation to pagan idolatry is intolerable. 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This is a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/richard-carrier-takes-the-extremist-position-that-jesus-of-nazareth/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [ I am an Orangeman first and a politician and member of this parliament \[Stormont\] afterwards. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/i-am-an-orangeman-first-and-a-politician-and-member-of-this/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [“In addition to these physical problems, sexually transmitted diseases are rampant among the homosexual population. 75% of homosexual men carry one or more sexually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/in-addition-to-these-physical-problems-sexually-transmitted-diseases/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [“Now how does all this relate to Islamic jihad? Islam sees violence as a means of propagating the Muslim faith. Islam divides the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/now-how-does-all-this-relate-to-islamic-jihad-islam-sees-violence-as/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) [Explore all 78 William Lane Craig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) ## 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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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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