# Quote — Carl Sagan, Contact

> I wish to propose a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and our political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it.

- Author: [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md)
- Book: [Contact](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact.md)
- Page: 15
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Contact_(1985)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/i-wish-to-propose

## More from this book

> Anything you don't understand, Mr. Rankin, you attribute to God. God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it.

p. 166 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/anything-you-dont.md)

> The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. You can't all be correct. And what if all of you are wrong? It's a possibility, you know. You must care about the truth, right? Well, the way to winnow through all the differing contentions is to be skeptical. I'm not any more skeptical about your religious beliefs than I am about every new scientific idea I hear about. But in my line of work, they're called hypotheses, not inspiration and not revelation.

p. 162 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/the-major-religions.md)

> Do we, holding that the gods exist,
>
> deceive ourselves with insubstantial dreams
>
> and lies, while random careless chance and
>
> change alone control the world?

p. 157 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/do-we-holding.md)