Quotes About Rationality

The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.

Everyone must act according to the dictates of his own reason.

Liberal politics meant the politics of common-sense.

Thinking rationally is often different from "positive thinking," in that it is a realistic assessment of the situation, with a view towards rectifying the problem if possible.

Mathematical Analysis is... the true rational basis of the whole system of our positive knowledge.

The emotional brain existed long before the rational brain.

In spite of being complicated people choose superstitions over common sense.

People in blind love throw away common sense, conscience and comedy from the life.

Over intellect will make you a genius, over emotions will make you a lunatic.

I believe in opportunity and the power of reason to seize upon it.

People who harbor strong convictions without evidence belong at the margins of our societies, not in our halls of power.

The possession of power inevitably spoils the free use of reason.

Strange as it may sound, the power of mathematics rests on its evasion of all unnecessary thought and on its wonderful saving of mental operations.

The mind has greater power over the emotions, and is less subject thereto, insofar as it understands all things to be necessary.

Ik geloof soms dat de koppigheid waarmee mensen aan tradities vasthouden, voldoende is om iedere hoop op te geven dat de mensheid door rationele maatregelen gelukkiger zal worden.

Faith is a continuation of reason.

The Stoics became experts on argument forms, such as "If A, then B; but A, therefore B" or "Either A or B; but not A, therefore B." These argument forms, which are called modus ponens and modus tollendo ponens, respectively, are still used by logicians.

To better understand the predicament of someone who is rational but emotionless, consider computers. Give a computer a program to run, and it will use flawless logic to execute it. But unless you give a computer a program to run, it will just sit there. Computers need a motivating force before they will do anything, and it is the job of the programmer to provide this motivating force. Damasio's patient was like an unprogrammed computer. His

In practice the word democracy is seldom used rationally. It has become for most politicians a term of endearment for the institutions they prefer or of praise for any measures that they desire.

What our leaders and pundits never let slip is that the terrorists - whatever else they might be - might also be rational human beings; which is to say that in their own minds they have a rational justification for their actions.

Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind.

the human brain is ill-equipped to make rational decisions. Our judgment is frequently torpedoed by emotions such as fear, greed, jealousy, and impatience; by prejudices that distort our perception of reality;

Pluralism lets things really exist in the each-form or distributively. Monism thinks that the all-form or collective-unit form is the only form that is rational.

It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.