This is the inevitable fate of the sentimentalist. All his opinions change into their opposites at the first brush of reality.
Opinion considers the opposition of what is true and false quite rigid, and, confronted with a philosophical system, it expects agreement or contradiction. And in an explanation of such a system, opinion still expects to find one or the other.
Nothing is more deceitful, than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.
You expect me to account for opinions which you chuse to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged.
Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct.
To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational whether in life or in science.
There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.
The things people say of a man do not alter a man. He is what he is. Public opinion is of no value whatsoever.
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. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.
The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.
The greater their ignorance, the stronger their opinions.
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.
