Quotes About Open-mindedness

She was of course the last person to judge somebody by the color of their skin - or if not absolutely the last, she had at least done it as recently as yesterday afternoon /.../

I'm a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.

But listen," he shouted to the guard, "there's a whole world you don't know anything about … here, how about this?

nothing is impossible. you just need to learn how to bend the rules.

Denying the existence of things beyond our knowledge is as dangerous as promoting them.

He carried the Lakota principle that he would render no judgments on anyone except through direct experience

I would prefer to work with somebody comfortable with cutting-edge tools and theories—and unlikely to discard possible results simply because they don't follow received wisdom.

Old men are always young enough to learn.

Acquaintance softens prejudice.

Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory---let the theory go.

The great thing in these cases is to keep an absolutely open mind. Most crimes, you see, are so absurdly simple.

One mustn't refuse the unusual, if it is offered to one.

I have made it a habit," said Miss Marple. "To be careful?" "I should not put it exactly like that, but I have made a point of being always ready to disbelieve as well as believe anything that is told to me.

It is always easier, Madame, to tell a thing to someone who already has a very good idea of what it is.

What have I always told you? Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory — let the theory go.

That would mean looking at the case from entirely different angle," I said. "One so often has to do that - about everything. Don't you think so?

No greater mistake than to think that because a man's tied by the leg it affects his brain pan. Not a bit of it.

But you cannot give to people what they are incapable of receiving.

If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.

The hardest thing to open is a closed mind. (quoted 2017-12-30 in the Toronto Daily Star)

Sir, if someone took a Buddhist holy book and flushed it down my toilet, the first thing I would do is call a plumber!

I took a bold step and stopped reading the scientists' research papers before I met with them. I would come in armed only with curiosity and my own natural ignorance. I was learning the value of bringing my ignorance to the surface. The scientists could see exactly how much I already understood, and they could start there.

Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.