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Francis Bacon·1620

Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.

Galileo Galilei·1600

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

Carl Sagan·1996

The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true. We have a method, and that method helps us to reach not absolute truth, only asymptotic approaches to the truth — never there, just closer and closer, always finding vast new oceans of undiscovered possibilities. Cleverly designed experiments are the key.