relayed by Scott Alexander:
There’s an old philosophers’ saying – trust those who seek the truth, distrust those who say they’ve found it.
Can anyone source this? I see Andre Gide quoted as saying “trust those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it,” but I cannot find an essay or book to cite.
I am still seeking the source 🙂
I am 110% certain it was Paul Krugman.
There is a web site called quote investigator, if they pick up your request they do a great job tracing it.
Never mind, they already did it.
1952 – “QI believes that André Gide should be credited with the statements in French and English that are cited above. His remarks were widely disseminated and influenced other writers and thinkers.”
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/11/14/seekers/
Would the application of this saying discredit the advocation of Any religious/political system?
Substitute “fact” for “truth” and I think the aphorism is pretty good. Otherwise the statement is fatally self-referential (i.e. it states a found truth).