There never was a sounder logical maxim of scientific procedure than Ockham's razor: Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. That is to say; before you try a complicated hypothesis, you should make quite sure that no simplification of it will explain the facts equally well.
Charles Sanders PeirceBad reasoning as well as good reasoning is possible; and this fact is the foundation of the practical side of logic.
Charles Sanders PeirceIf man were immortal he could be perfectly sure of seeing the day when everything in which he had trusted should betray his trust, and, in short, of coming eventually to hopeless misery. He would break down, at last, as every good fortune, as every dynasty, as every civilization does. In place of this we have death.
Charles Sanders PeirceIt is impossible not to envy the man who can dismiss reason, although we know how it must turn out at last.
Charles Sanders Peirce