Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is - it is her shadow.
Interpretation
Doubt is essential for discovering truth, as it signifies a deeper contemplation of beliefs.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce suggests that the presence of doubt is a critical component of belief and understanding. It emphasizes that certainty without doubt can lead to superficial belief, implying that true knowledge and insight require questioning and grappling with uncertainty. In this sense, doubt is portrayed as a necessary companion to truth, as it prompts a deeper exploration of the concepts we hold to be true.
In practice
In a philosophical discussion on the nature of truth, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of doubt.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.
We never see a tree except through the image that we have of it, the concept of that tree; but the concept, the knowledge, the experience, is entirely different from the actual tree. Look at a tree and you will find how extraordinarily difficult it is to see it completely, so that no image, no screen, comes between the seeing and the actual fact. By completely I mean with the totality of your mind and heart, not a fragment of it.
I'm offended by the kind of smarmy religiosity that's all around us, perhaps more in America than in Europe, and not really that harmful because it's not really that intense or even that serious, but just... you know after a while you get tired of hearing clergymen giving the invocation at various public celebrations and you feel, haven't we outgrown all this? Do we have to listen to this?
How does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?
Global markets must be balanced by global values such as respect for human rights and international law, democracy, security and sustainable economic and environmental development.
Special-interest publications should realize that if they are attracting enough advertising and readers to make a profit, the interest is not so special.
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