Quine, Willard Van Orman

"Real is as real does—what plays the right causal role is real."

"The doctrine of internal relations is incoherent."

"Universals are not needed if properties can be expressed extensionally."

"We should favor theories that are simple, unified, and predictively powerful."

"The facts of the matter depend on which framework we employ."

"No theory is true in isolation; truth is holistic and systematic."

"Our commitment to a theory is pragmatic and revisable."

"Meaning without use is empty."

"The world underdetermines all our theories—choose the most useful one."

"Identity and indistinguishability are sometimes irresolvable."

"The ontological status of abstract objects is a question we must face squarely in our canonical notation."

"Language is the medium of thought, and thought shapes reality."

"What cannot be said clearly should not be said at all."

"Identity is relative; there is no absolute criterion of sameness."

"The web of belief is not revised at the center but at the periphery."

"Common sense is an unreliable guide to the structure of reality."

"Questions of translation obscure deeper questions of meaning."

"To be is to be the value of a variable."

"Analyticity itself is a myth of philosophical convenience."

"We cling to our beliefs because they cohere, not because they are true."

"The rational mind seeks coherence over perfect certainty."

"Language is not a mirror of reality but a tool we forge."

"Belief revision must be holistic, never atomistic."

"Facts underdetermine theory; multiple theories fit the data."

"Communication requires shared standards of evidence."

"The empiricist must acknowledge the theoretical element in observation."

"Meaning emerges from use within a linguistic system."

"We cannot step outside our web of belief to verify it."

"Philosophical problems often dissolve under careful linguistic analysis."

"Indeterminacy is not a defect of language but its nature."