This is the test of your manhood: How much is there left in you after you have lost everything outside read more

This is the test of your manhood: How much is there left in you after you have lost everything outside of yourself?

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.

One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone in which it was conveyed.

One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone in which it was conveyed.

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.

A yawn may not be polite, but at least it is an honest opinion

A yawn may not be polite, but at least it is an honest opinion

We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said read more

We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.

A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but read more

A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with.

The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that read more

The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.