#truth
"Don't ever be lazy enough, defeatist enough, cowardly enough to say “I don't understand it so it must be a miracle - it must be supernatural - God did it”. Say instead, that it's a puzzle, it's strange, it's a challenge that we should rise to. Whether we rise to the challenge by questioning the truth of the observation, or by expanding our science in new and exciting directions - the proper and brave response to any such challenge is to tackle it head-on. And until we've found a proper answer to the mystery, it's perfectly ok simply to say “this is something we don't yet understand - but we're working on it”. It's the only honest thing to do. Miracles, magic and myths, they can be fun. Everybody likes a good story. Myths are fun, as long as you don't confuse them with the truth. The real truth has a magic of its own. The truth is more magical, in the best and most exciting sense of the word, than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic - the magic of reality."
React to this quote
More by Richard Dawkins
See allResonant Thoughts
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"To think about reality we must use concepts, and certain truths about concepts may reveal, or reflect, trut…"
— Derek Parfit"What I say in the book is that rather than it being the death of journalism, this whole deluge of informati…"
— Heather Brooke"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that …"
— Neil Gaiman"He seeks order, not truth. Suppose truth defies order, will he accept it? Will you? I think not."
— Robert A. Heinlein"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."
— Hunter S. Thompson"As President Bush just said, a great nation doesn’t shy from the truth. It strengthens us. It emboldens us.…"
— Barack Obama
