“I do not think anyone can read the letters which passed between Clarke and [Anthony] Collins without admitting that Collins, who writes with wonderful Power and closeness of reasoning, has by far the best of the argument, so far as the possible materiality of the soul goes; and that in this battle the Goliath of Freethinking overcame the champion of what was considered orthodoxy.”
Thomas Henry Huxley“History warns us ... that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley“The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley“The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley“I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley - Volume 1“The most considerable difference I note among men is not in their readiness to fall into error but in their readiness to acknowledge these inevitable lapses.”
Thomas Henry Huxley“The great end of life is not knowledge but action.”
Thomas Henry Huxley“Act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done by hesitation.”
Thomas Henry Huxley“The most considerable difference I note among men is not in their readiness to fall into error but in their readiness to acknowledge these inevitable lapses.”
Thomas Henry Huxley“Of moral purpose I see no trace in Nature. That is an article of exclusively human manufacture and very much to our credit.”
Thomas Henry Huxley