Latest / the Daily Quote - Positive Daily Inspiration and Motivational Quote of the Day / André Gide - "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it."

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André Gide - "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." · the Daily Quote - Positive Daily Inspiration and Motivational Quote of the Day

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  Dot com. Welcome to the Daily Quote, the
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  podcast designed to kick start your day in a positive way.
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  I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, and this episode is brought to
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  you by the Great News Podcast. Why should you check it out?
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  Because good news should be heard and the link is in the
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  show notes. Today's quote comes from Andre
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  Gee, French Nobel Prize laureate, author of more than 50
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  books, described in his New York Times obituary as France's
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  greatest contemporary man of letters.
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  A lifelong advocate of intellectual freedom whose
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  writings were placed on the Vatican's Index of Forbidden
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  Books. A man who spent 8 decades
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  questioning, exploring and refusing to settle into
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  comfortable certainty. In his final book written in his
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  80s, he said. Believe those who are seeking
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  the truth, doubt those who find it. 2 sentences, each one a
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  compass bearing for how to navigate a world saturated with
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  people who are absolutely certain they are right.
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  Believe those who are seeking the truth is an act of trust
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  extended toward intellectual humility.
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  The seeker arrives with open hands.
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  They have more questions than answers.
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  They are willing to be wrong, willing to revise, willing to
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  follow the evidence wherever it leads, even when it leads
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  somewhere uncomfortable. That openness is the hallmark of
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  genuine inquiry, and it is, Gate argues, worthy of your trust.
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  Doubt. Those who find it is the harder
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  instruction and the more necessary one, Think about the
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  voices in the world that speak with absolute certainty.
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  The ideologue who has perfectly mapped the cause of all social
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  problems and knows precisely who is to blame.
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  The guru who has unlocked the definitive secret of a
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  meaningful life and will share it with you for a price.
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  The politician who has identified the complete truth
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  about a complex issue and feels no need to acknowledge its
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  complications. The algorithm that serves you
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  content confirming exactly what you already believe, until the
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  world looks simple and your certainty feels righteous.
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  Every one of them has found the truth.
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  And every one of them, he warns, deserves your doubt.
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  Because here's what the certainty of finding conceals.
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  Reality is complex. Human beings are complex.
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  The questions that matter most about how to live, how to
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  govern, what is right, what is true, do not resolve into clean
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  final answers. The person who tells you they
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  have resolved them entirely has stopped engaging with the
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  question. They have replaced inquiry with
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  conclusion, and a person with a conclusion held too tightly
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  stops thinking. Yed's full original passage
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  continues. Doubt everything, but don't
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  doubt yourself. That third clause is the anchor.
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  The call to doubt certainty isn't a descent into paralysis
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  or nihilism. It's the opposite call to keep
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  your own mind active, your own judgement alive, your own
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  inquiry open. Don't outsource your thinking to
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  anyone who claims to have already finished it.
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  The secrets keep you honest. The finders make you
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  comfortable. Gee knew which one of those to
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  trust? So here's the question.
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  Who are you currently listening to?
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  Whose voice you are giving weight and trust?
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  And are they a seeker or a Finder?
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  Because the Finders are everywhere.
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  They are loud, they are confident and their certainty
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  feels like safety in an uncertain world.
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  But Deed spent 80 years showing us that the safety is an
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  illusion. The Seekers open question is
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  more honest and more useful than the Finders closed answer.
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  Believe those who are seeking without those who find it.
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  And above all else, keep thinking for yourself.
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  That's it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern signing off
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  for now, but I'll be back tomorrow.
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  Same pod time, same pod station with another daily quote.