G. Edward Griffin Quotes

If we learn from those only, of whose lives and opinions we altogether approve, we shall have to turn from many of the highest and profoundest minds.

I'm constantly asking for alternative views on most things that come to me.

I think it's a very powerful notion, the notion that our personal views, although closely held, are not necessarily right. That part of what is noble is making sure there are checks and balances and a plurality of opinions.

I think it's important to view the issues on the broadest possible reference plane. In fact, if you firmly believe in any issue, I urge you to read the opposite of it. Most of the time, it'll merely reinforce your original beliefs, but on the rare occasion, it might change your mind.

My interests were aroused, and my faith in the cliches of the subject destroyed, as so often with other subjects, by the discussions with my friend, Aaron Director.

What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it?

The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.

Our opinions become fixed at the point where we stop thinking.

I think what's always important is not to be contrarian for its own sake but to really get at the truth.

If we bring not the good courage of minds covetous of truth, and truth only, prepared to hear all things, and decide upon all things, according to evidence, we should do more wisely to sit down contented in ignorance, than to bestir ourselves only to reap disappointment.

Liberalism is an attitude rather than a set of dogmas - an attitude that insists upon questioning all plausible and self-evident propositions, seeking not to reject them but to find out what evidence there is to support them rather than their possible alternatives.

No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe.

Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.

It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. It is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that…. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, "This is not enough.

The natural tendency is to appoint people whose views and outlook are consonant with yours. Resist that tendency. If you appoint someone who holds your views and outlook, then it is possible that one of you is superfluous.

Seek the company of those who are looking for the truth, but run from those who have found it.

It's become easy for Americans to live in a cocoon of monolithic ideology and thought. It's time to embrace diversity of thought and diversity of experience.

I think there's always merit in getting out of our ideological silos and being exposed to points of view with which we don't always agree.

Even criticism is more interesting when the writer's authority does not only come through this omniscient narrator, but through questions, ambivalence, vulnerability. A mind questioning and on the move, not just settling down and declaring - that's one of the most interesting possibilities.

When you build your network, keep yourself open to new ideas, concepts, and theories. Some of them may even contradict and challenge long-held points of view. This isn't beneficial only to someone in my profession, but to every line of work.

College is an environment designed to encourage openness - the ability to think of things in novel ways and entertain unconventional beliefs.

I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.

That process of exposure to diverse opinions isn't 'brainwashing' - it's education.

You have to hear from people who believe something different from you. That's why you go to college.

University students should rightly be exposed to a plurality of viewpoints as part of their intellectual growth, rather attending the 'flock of sheep association of like-minded individuals.'