In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of a defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge it marks the first step in progress towards a victory. This is one great reason for the utmost toleration of variety of opinion. Once and forever, this duty of toleration has been summed up in the words, “let both grow together until the harvest.”

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher

Science and the Modern World, ch. 12 (1925)

Reference is to Matthew 13:30.