The Buddha told his disciples, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense". I say the same to you—you must assume the responsibility for what you believe.

— Richard Hamming, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Opens with a quotation of the Buddha; the closing sentence is Hamming's own.

Topics: life