Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent.

Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent.

If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's read more

If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good

It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!

It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.

It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also read more

It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those who have expressed more superficial views; for these also contributed something, by developing before us the powers of thought.

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change read more

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, read more

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 wide-spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible

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.