Carlos Alberto

“We are, quite literally, gambling with the future of our planet- for the sake of hamburgers”
― Peter Singer, Animal Liberation

“Criticizing himself again, Sidgwick writes: I am not an original man: and I think less of my own thoughts every day.”
― Derek Parfit, On What Matters

“We ought not to do to our future selves what it would be wrong to do to other people.”
― Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons

“To sum up: it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call into question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it — the life of that man is one long sin against mankind. […]

Inquiry into the evidence of a doctrine is not to be made once for all, and then taken as finally settled. It is never lawful to stifle a doubt; for either it can be honestly answered by means of the inquiry already made, or else it proves that the inquiry was not complete.

“But,” says one, “I am a busy man; I have no time for the long course of study which would be necessary to make me in any degree a competent judge of certain questions, or even able to understand the nature of the arguments.”

Then he should have no time to believe.”
― William Kingdon Clifford, Ethics of Belief and Other Essays