#opinio

If there is anything that links the human to the divine, it is the courage to stand by a principle when everybody else rejects it. ↗

— Abraham Lincoln

#inspirational #moral-courage #public-opinion #religion #courage

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

— Ezra Pound

#courage #criticism #intellectuals #opinion #taboos

Mrs General had no opinions. Her way of forming a mind was to prevent it from forming opinions. She had a little circular set of mental grooves or rails on which she started little trains of other people's opinions, which never overtook one another, and never got anywhere. ↗

— Charles Dickens

#mrs-general #opinions #education

Senses of humor define people, as factions, deeper rooted than religious or political opinions. When carrying out everyday tasks, opinions are rather easy to set aside, but those whom a person shares a sense of humor with are his closest friends. They are always there to make the biggest influence. ↗

— Criss Jami

#beliefs #best-friends #brain #daily #daily-life

No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have searched the record for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. ↗

— H.L. Mencken

#gullibility #public-opinion #intelligence

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in. ↗

— Isaac Asimov

#close-mindedness #intelligence #isaac-asimov #knowledge #open-mind

One’s opinion should only be as strong as one’s knowledge on the matter. ↗

— Eric Hirzel

#close-mindedness #intelligence #knowledge #open-mindedness #opinions

Good Lord! who can account for the fathomless folly of the public? ↗

— Rudyard Kipling

#public-opinion #life

To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous, but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed. ↗

— Rowan Atkinson

#beliefs #criticism #criticize #freedom #freedom-of-speech

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 widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#bertrand #evidence #foolish #majority #opinion