John Churton Collins Quotes

Always mistrust a subordinate who never finds fault with his superior.

Too much trust is folly, in an imperfect world.

Once you have people around you who don't question you, you're in a dangerous place.

No matter how deeply you distrust the government's judgment, you are too trusting.

It is equally a fault to believe all men or to believe none.

‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.

Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery.

Don't believe me, don't believe yourself, and don't believe anyone else.

Trust is a good way to get oneself killed

We have to look at our history and realize that if they pretend to be our friend it's because they've got something up their sleeve.

You had no faith to lose and you know it.

Patriotism does not mean giving blind loyalty and a blank check to George W. Bush.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never trust anyone who tells you how people come to trust them.

Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

We've gone all the way from foolishly accepting authority to foolishly rejecting all authority.

In practice, the goal of skepticism is not the discovery of truth, but the exposure of other people's errors. It plays a useful role in science, religion, scholarship, and common sense. But we need to remember that it is a weapon serving belief or self-interest; we need to be skeptical of skeptics. The more militant the skeptic, the stronger the belief.

Suspicion is the beginning of wisdom, and of madness.

Like everybody and trust no one.

Average people push great people out of a company.

If the test of patriotism comes only by reflexively falling into lockstep behind the leader whenever the flag is waved, then what we have is a formula for dictatorship, not democracy... But the American way is to criticize and debate openly, not to accept unthinkingly the doings of government officials of this or any other country.

The most mistrustful are often the greatest dupes.

You have to take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Some of my unhappiest moments have been in organizations. Somehow it seems to be quite respectable to do things in organizations that you would never do in private life. I have had people insult me to my face in front of colleagues. I have had my feelings rammed down my throat on the pretext that it would do me good. I have been required to do things which I didn't agree with because the organization wished it... In my worst moments I have thought organizations were places designed to be run by sadists and staffed by masochists.

Believe flatterers and you're lost; believe your enemies and you despair.

You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.