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Axiom Quotes

Old rules, tested and sometimes overturned.

An axiom is treated here as a rule worth questioning as much as trusting, from baseball's claim that repeating a title is the hardest feat, to a pointed rejection of "truth is the best policy" as too simple a guide. It shares ground with our Assumed quotes page.

Perhaps the truest axiom in baseball is that the toughest thing to do is repeat.

Quotes by Walter Alston

We shall not hold the dangerous axiom that 'truth is the best policy,' because policy is but a means to an end; and truth is an end, not a means.

Quotes by Vincent McNabb

The principal axiom in their theory was: Everything can be proved, and everything can be disproved; and in the process, one must profit as much from the folly of others, and from his own superiority, as he can.

Quotes by Moses Mendelssohn

I have found - and tennis may be the greatest manifestation of it - Americans have become more international in taste. Remember the old axiom that you have to have American players for Americans to be interested? And in tennis,...

Quotes by John Skipper

Art Quotes

Whatever is referred to must exist. Let us call this the axiom of existence.

Quotes by John Searle

It may be assumed as an axiom that Providence has never gifted any political party with all of political wisdom or blinded it with all of political folly.

Quotes by John George Nicolay

There are neither good nor bad subjects. From the point of view of pure Art, you could almost establish it as an axiom that the subject is irrelevant, style itself being an absolute manner of seeing things.

Quotes by Gustave Flaubert

This truth must be recognized as a dogma and assume the validity of an axiom in the general understanding of painting.

Quotes by Fernand Leger

There's an axiom I live by: 'There is no art without politics.' You either choose to engage it, or you choose political apathy. This ties in with ideas around real-time performance and feedback.

Quotes by Chris Jordan

Assumed Quotes

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The only thing that might have annoyed some mathematicians was the presumption of assuming that maybe the axiom of choice could fail, and that we should look into contrary assumptions.

Quotes by Alonzo Church

Words are really powerful. I don't believe that axiom at all - words can absolutely hurt you. Words can wound. They can do a lot of damage. I think they can do way more damage than sticks and stones. I'll...

Frequently Asked Questions

What baseball axiom is referenced in this collection?
One quote calls repeating a championship the truest axiom in baseball, suggesting that sustaining success is far harder than achieving it once.
Is there a quote questioning a well-known axiom about truth?
Yes, one pushes back on the axiom that truth is always the best policy, arguing that policy is only a means to an end while truth itself is an end that should not be reduced to strategy.
How is an axiom used in a scientific or logical context here?
One quote describes a theory built entirely around the axiom that everything can be both proved and disproved, warning that such a framework invites people to profit from others' mistakes.
Does an axiom about tennis appear in this collection?
Yes, one recalls an old axiom claiming American tennis needs American stars to stay popular, though the quote suggests the sport has grown more internationally minded since then.
Are these axiom quotes mostly supportive or critical of old rules?
They lean critical overall, using the word axiom to highlight ideas that sound authoritative but deserve closer scrutiny before being accepted at face value.

Other quotes apply the word to systems of proof and disproof, or to outdated ideas about who counts as a genuine tennis star. For more on belief and reasoning, see our Art quotes and Baseball quotes collections.