Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or read more

Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.

A man is getting along on the road to wisdom when he begins to realize that his opinion is just read more

A man is getting along on the road to wisdom when he begins to realize that his opinion is just an opinion.

Rigid judgmental
opinions
can block descent
of Spirit's pinions.

Rigid judgmental
opinions
can block descent
of Spirit's pinions.

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the constant repetition of them that read more

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the constant repetition of them that has this liberating effect. Tolerance is the result not of enlightenment, but of boredom.

One can give a really unbiased opinion only about things that do not interest one

One can give a really unbiased opinion only about things that do not interest one

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly read more

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, read more

One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as read more

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the read more

The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the more it will contract.