QuoteProject
To speculate without facts is to attempt to enter a house of which one has not the key, by wandering aimlessly round and round, searching the walls and now and then peeping through the windows. Facts are the key.
Julian Huxley
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Speculating without factual information is ineffective and leads to confusion.

Julian Huxley's quote highlights the importance of facts in understanding and exploring complex ideas or situations. Without solid evidence or data, any attempt to form conclusions is merely guesswork, akin to trying to enter a locked house without a key. The allegory emphasizes that knowledge and understanding require a foundation built on verifiable information, as facts provide the clarity and direction needed for informed decision-making and exploration.

Themes

FactsSpeculationKnowledgeUnderstandingTruth

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate, I might use this quote to emphasize the need for factual evidence.

More from Julian Huxley

Sooner or later, false thinking brings wrong conduct.
Julian HuxleyRead
...any belief in supernatural creators, rulers, or influencers of natural or human process introduces an irreparable split into the universe, and prevents us from grasping its real unity. Any belief in Absolutes, whether the absolute validity of moral commandments, of authority of revelation, of inner certitudes, or of divine inspiration, erects a formidable barrier against progress and the responsibility of improvement, moral, rational, and religious.
Julian HuxleyRead
Today the god hypothesis has ceased to be scientifically tenable, has lost its explanatory value and is becoming an intellectual and moral burden to our thought. It no longer convinces or comforts, and its abandonment often brings a deep sense of relief.
Julian HuxleyRead
Will our Philosophy to later Life_x000D_ _x000D_ Seem but a crudeness of the planet's youth,_x000D_ _x000D_ Our Wisdom but a parasite of Truth?
Julian HuxleyRead
The scientific doctrine of progress is destined to replace not only the myth of progress, but all other myths of human earthly destiny. It will inevitably become one of the cornerstones of man's theology, or whatever may be the future substitute for theology, and the most important external support for human ethics.
Julian HuxleyRead

Similar quotes

I daren't come and drink," said Jill. Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion. Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer."I suppose I must go and look for another stream then." There is no other stream," said the Lion.
C. S. LewisRead
Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with a man.
Anne Morrow LindberghRead
When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.
Elie WieselRead
Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as what they most want to do.
W. H. AudenRead
What you put your attention on grows strong in your life.
Maharishi Mahesh YogiRead
No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences, so-called trauma - but we make out of them just what suits our purposes.
Alfred AdlerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.