Quotes About Opinion

And where a solution appears possible, the new logic provides a method which enables us to obtain results that do not merely embody personal idiosyncrasies, but must command the assent of all who are competent to form an opinion.

When there are rational grounds for an opinion, people are content to set them forth and wait for them to operate. In such cases, people do not hold their opinions with passion; they hold them calmly, and set forth their reasons quietly. The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder's lack of rational conviction.

Power over opinion, like all other forms of power, tends to coalescence and concentration, leading logically to a State monopoly. But even apart from war it would be rash to assume that a State monopoly of propaganda must make a government invulnerable. In the long run, those who possess the power are likely to become too flagrantly indifferent to the interests of the common man, as the Popes were in the time of Luther.

In religion and politics, on the contrary, though there is as yet nothing approaching scientific knowledge, everybody considers it de rigueur to have a dogmatic opinion, to be backed up by inflicting starvation, prison, and war, and to be carefully guarded from argumentative competition with any different opinion. If only men could be brought into a tentatively agnostic frame of mind about these matters, nine-tenths of the evils of the modern world would be cured.

I do not agree with Plato, but if anything could make me do so, it would be Aristotle's arguments against him.

To begin with rationality in opinion: I should define it merely as the habit of taking account of all relevant evidence in arriving at a belief. Where certainty is unattainable, a rational man will give most weight to the most probable opinion, while retaining others, which have an appreciable probability, in his mind as hypotheses which subsequent evidence may show to be preferable.

Il fatto che un'opinione sia ampiamente condivisa, non è affatto una prova che non sia completamente assurda. Anzi, considerata la stupidità della maggioranza degli uomini, è più probabile che un'opinione diffusa sia cretina anziché sensata.

A bad teacher will will aim at imposing his opinion, and turning out a set of pupils all of whom will give the same definite answer on a doubtful point

Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion. So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants

Obloquy is, to most men, more painful than death; that is one reason why, in times of collective excitement, so few men venture to dissent from the prevailing opinion.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible

If my children think I'm genuine, no one else's opinion matters to me.

Republicans just don't get that their idea of scandal is not what the average American thinks is a serious scandal.

There are certainly more Republicans who like President Trump than like 'Republicans in Congress,' and certainly many Republicans who already feel like their own Congress is a brake pedal of its own.

You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.

I would be lying if I said Starz doesn't have a reputation.

I think my reputation among peers is probably different than my reputation among fans. My peers know me pretty well and so it's fairly accurate. I think I'm respected among my peers.

In a way my reputation has become that of the curmudgeon.

Football sometimes has a bad reputation. Some of that is deserved... and some of it isn't.

The court's reputation is affected by what people say only if it seems to have a ring of fairness and authenticity.

People can hold any opinion that they want on any subject that they choose. Just don't proactively lie to people. It's a simple request, really, and one that we don't hear nearly enough.

'Requiem' has been controversial because people don't feel I gave it closure.

I might be in favor of national healthcare if it required all Democrats to get their heads examined.

It is my opinion that a local school board cannot impose a mandatory fee on students taking advanced placement courses for the required taking of the Advanced Placement Examination.