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Facts
see also Theory
- The criterion which we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability.1910–89 English philosopher: Language, Truth, and Logic (1936) ch. 1
- I don't think that makes any difference. A door-opener for the Communist party is worse than a member of the Communist party. When someone walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, he's a duck.of Communist affiliations during the McCarthy eraHarris1911–73 American labour leader: in New York Times 3 September 1948; see
- In fact the a priori reasoning is so entirely satisfactory to me that if the facts won't fit in, why so much the worse for the facts is my feeling.after reading The Origin of Species1804–81 English physician: letter to Charles Darwin, 23 November 1859; F. Darwin (ed.) The Life of Charles Darwin (1902)
- Now, what I want is, Facts…Facts alone are wanted in life.Mr Gradgrind1812–70 English novelist: Hard Times (1854) bk. 1, ch. 1
- What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.1949–2011 English-born American journalist and writer: in Slate Magazine 20 October 2003
- Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.1894–1963 English novelist: Proper Studies (1927)
- Roundabout the accredited and orderly facts of every science there ever floats a sort of dust cloud of exceptional observations, of occurrences minute and irregular and seldom met with, which it always proves more easy to ignore than to attend to.1842–1910 American philosopher: The Will to Believe (1897)
- When the facts change, I change my mind.1883–1946 English economist: in the 1930s, attributed; Alfred L. Malabre Lost Prophets (1994)
- Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.1854–1912 French mathematician and philosopher of science: Science and Hypothesis (1905) ch. 9
- Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.1934–96 American scientist and writer: Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997)
- Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.1817–62 American writer: Journal 11 November 1850
- Get your facts first, and then you can distort 'em as much as you please.1835–1910 American writer: Rudyard Kipling From Sea to Sea (1899) letter 37