"Out of the most secure things, the most secure is to doubt"
About this Quote
The subtext is a warning about the emotional hazards of liberation. Independence movements run on righteous conviction, but conviction hardens quickly into dogma, factionalism, and personality cults. Bolivar had watched allies become rivals, constitutions become battlegrounds, ideals become pretexts for purges. Doubt, in this framing, is not weakness; it's an anti-tyranny mechanism. It keeps you suspicious of your own motives, your own propaganda, your own "inevitable" solutions. It also signals to listeners that loyalty to the cause must not mean surrendering judgment to the caudillo, even when the caudillo is him.
Context sharpens the stakes. Bolivar fought Spain, then fought to prevent the liberated territories from splintering. He dealt with uneven institutions, regional elites, and the constant risk that military necessity would metastasize into permanent authoritarianism. The line reads like a self-aware firewall: the only truly safe thing, amid grand promises and brittle new states, is the habit of questioning. It's a leader admitting that the revolution's greatest threat may be the revolutionaries' confidence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reason & Logic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bolivar, Simon. (2026, January 14). Out of the most secure things, the most secure is to doubt. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/out-of-the-most-secure-things-the-most-secure-is-172765/
Chicago Style
Bolivar, Simon. "Out of the most secure things, the most secure is to doubt." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/out-of-the-most-secure-things-the-most-secure-is-172765/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Out of the most secure things, the most secure is to doubt." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/out-of-the-most-secure-things-the-most-secure-is-172765/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







