Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
When I hear scientists say, “The data speak for themselves,” I cringe. Data never speak.
Andrew J. Hoffman (b. 1961) American environmental scientist, sustainable enterprise scholar
“Taking On Climate Skepticism as a Field of Study,” Interview by Felicity Barringer, New York Times (9 Apr 2011)
(Source)
Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration.
[Parit enim conversatio contemptum; raritas conciliat admirationem.]
Apuleius (c. 124 - c. 170 AD) Numidian writer, philosopher, rhetorician [Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis] On the God of Socrates [De Deo Socratis], ch. 4 [tr. Bohn’s (1853)]
Discussing why the gods do not mingle with humanity. Alt. trans.:
"Familiarity produces contempt, but infrequency conciliates admiration." [tr. Taylor (1822)]
"Familiarity breeds contempt, but privacy gains admiration." [Source]
"Familiarity breeds contempt, but concealment excites interest."
The first part of the phrase is also used as the moral in the traditional English translation of Aesop's "The Fox and the Lion."
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (1987)
Like many men of genius, he could not understand why things obvious to him should not be so at once to other people, and found it easier to believe that they were corrupt than that they could be so stupid.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic The Apple Cart, Preface (1928)