The life of a thinking man ...

The life of a thinking man will probably be divided into two parts -- the first in which he desires to exterminate modern thinkers, and the second in which he desires to watch them exterminating each other. ... Suppose, for instance, there is an old story and a new skeptic who is skeptical of the story. We have only to wait a little while for a yet newer skeptic who is skeptical of the skeptic. He will probably find the old notion actually a help in his new notion. This process is an abstract truth applying to anything, apart from agreement or disagreement.
The life of a thinking man will probably be divided into two parts -- the first in which he desires to exterminate modern thinkers, and the second in which he desires to watch them exterminating each other. ... Suppose, for instance, there is an old story and a new skeptic who is skeptical of the story. We have only to wait a little while for a yet newer skeptic who is skeptical of the skeptic. He will probably find the old notion actually a help in his new notion. This process is an abstract truth applying to anything, apart from agreement or disagreement.
 Gilbert K. Chesterton

Quotes from the same author

Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers. In the perfect stranger we perceive man himself; the image of a God is not disguised by resemblances to an uncle or doubts of wisdom of a mustache.
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 Gilbert K. Chesterton
A change of opinions is almost unknown in an elderly military man.
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 Gilbert K. Chesterton
Men reform a thing by removing the reality from it, and then do not know what to do with the unreality that is left.
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 Gilbert K. Chesterton
The power which makes a man able to entertain a good impulse is the same as that which enables him to make a good gun; it is imagination.
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 Gilbert K. Chesterton
The doctrine of human equality reposes on this: that there is no man really clever who has not found that he is stupid.
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 Gilbert K. Chesterton