Gerald R. Ford Quotes

Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that.

Too often critics seem more intent on seeking new ways to alter Congress than to truly learn how it functions. They might well profit from the advice of Thomas Huxley, who said a century ago: Sit down before facts as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notionor you shall learn nothing.

I used to have so many opinions before I learned the facts.

The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change.

Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.

His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even... knowledge, was foolproof.

I don't mind being wrong, and I don't mind changing my mind.

What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

Rather than knowing more, I think I've got more open-minded.

There's nothing wrong with changing your position to fit the facts; there's everything wrong with changing the facts to fit your position.

Found your opinions on facts, not prejudices. We know too many things that are not true

… there must never be the least hesitation in giving up a position the moment it is shown to be untenable. It is not going too far to say that the greatness of a scientific investigator does not rest on the fact of his having never made a mistake, but rather on his readiness to admit that he has done so, whenever the contrary evidence is cogent enough.

You have to get a little untrapped from too much prior knowledge.

My determination is not to remain stubbornly with my ideas, but I'll leave them and go over to others as soon as I am shown plausible reasons which I can grasp.

I try not to be an ideologue about anything. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'm willing to evolve.

I'm open-minded and never think I know everything. I actually feel like I know nothing, and that allows me to learn on a different level.

I prefer to listen to people who change their mind now and then.

I am a person always with an open mind.

I think it's very important to keep in the back of your mind: 'What if I'm wrong?'

One special advantage of the skeptical attitude of mind is that a man is never vexed to find that after all he has been in the wrong.

People who are right most of the time are people who change their minds often

Let me give you some advice: Try to approach things without preconceived ideas, without supposing you already know everything there is to know about them. Get that trick down and you'll be surprised at what's really all around you.

We learn nothing by being right.

A scientist is never certain. ... We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and there is no learning.

Opinions should be formed with great caution, and changed with greater.