Quotes About Open-mindedness

The big breakthrough for me was, once I stopped disliking conservatives and could actually see what they were right about, they showed me a lot of things that liberals were wrong about. But at the same time, I think there are some things that liberals are right about that conservatives have trouble seeing.

If a fighter thinks he knows everything and stops trying to evolve, he's lost.

It was at the department store where people got away from provincialism.

Is it sad that Storm Corrosion needs to be explained to people before they can accept it? I don't think it's sad; I think it's inevitable. I think it's just human nature.

Part of our job as storytellers is to show people pockets of the world that they don't know. The more we understand, the more we don't judge.

As storytellers, we tend to want to force-feed everything and have everybody understand everything right away, and we freak out if they don't.

Man, if you're gay we can be friends. If you're straight, we can be friends. I'm not gay, I don't plan on being gay, I don't condone it and I'm not sayin' I'm against it.

I don't much care who is gay or straight or married or not. I mostly notice if they are brave enough to confront bigotry.

People, a lot of times, don't like what's different. When it's something different out there, the majority of people will be like 'aww, that's wack!' but if it's regular, plain or a straight through flow, it's easier for them to adapt to, because everyone likes the normal.

I couldn't care less if someone is gay or straight.

What is sacred among one people may be ridiculous in another; and what is despised or rejected by one cultural group, may in a different environment become the cornerstone for a great edifice of strange grandeur and beauty.

There are a lot of groups that feel a little bit strange around me, because I am inclusive.

Strangely enough, I've become a Metallica fan.

Never judge a stranger by his clothes.

With books at least, the best experiences are not when you find what you were looking for, but when something quite different finds you, takes you by surprise, shifts your tastes to new territory.

The economist John Maynard Keynes once said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?

Age doesn't matter: an open mind does.

Our point is, if you try to approach every problem with your moral compass, first and foremost, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. You're going to exclude a lot of possible good solutions. You're going to assume you know a lot of things, when in fact you don't, and you're not going to be a good partner in reaching a solution with other people who don't happen to see the world the way you do.

It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is overcertain of his plot. —PAUL THEROUX, To the Ends of the Earth

A common rookie error that inexperienced leaders make is always agreeing with the last person they talked to; this takes a while to get past, though it becomes easy once you get exposed to enough people who contradict each other.

The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything." Substitute "master learner" for "novel," and you have my philosophy of life. Often, all that stands between you and what you want is a better set of questions.

Students should go to college with an open mind. I advise them to ignore all the absolutism around them, both in terms of ideas and people. When they're told that some people or ideas are wrong, hateful, or offensive, a light bulb should go off in their heads. That is the moment their curiosity should be piqued to find out for themselves whether it is indeed a "bad" thing. Adopting an attitude of critical thinking is most crucial in learning anything.

Strong Views, Loosely Held

Feel good about really hearing those who disagree with you.