individual reasoning Quotes

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.

In the sciences, the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man.

When men exercise their reason coolly and freely, on a variety of distinct questions, they inevitably fall into different opinions, on some of them. When they are governed by a common passion, their opinions if they are so to be called, will be the same.

The only advice ... that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions.

The world so clamors for action that men and women devote little time to thinking. Many believe in secondhand thinking. They find it easier to ascertain and adopt the thoughts of others than to think for themselves.

You see, in this world there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.

All rational action is in the first place individual action. Only the individual thinks. Only the individual reasons. Only the individual acts.

To me, the thing that sets us apart from so many other animal species is our ability to ask questions, investigate, gather information, come to our own conclusions, and sometimes depart from the pack, sometimes move away from the tribe. And I'm not seeing a lot of that right now among a sizable portion of American politics and American voters. I'm not seeing that kind of use of critical thinking, and it really, really freaks me out.

It is a vast, and pervasive, cognitive mistake to assume that people who agree with you (or disagree) do so on the same criteria that you care about.

There is no doubt that our last state will be worse than our first, if we surrender our reason into somebody's keeping.