Walter Lippmann Quotes

Most people see what they expect to see, what they want to see, what they've been told to see, what conventional wisdom tells them to see - not what is right in front of them in its pristine condition.

Our prejudices are so deeply rooted that we never think of them as prejudices but call them common sense.

Prejudices are not easily got rid of as an old coat which is no longer thought of.

The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.

Just look at what is right in front of you. People don't do that. They see what they expect to see, what they want to see, what conventional wisdom tells them to see. They only hear the music and not the lyrics of human events.

American prejudices about Europe rarely surface in headlines, but they are real, pervasive, and ingrained.

People only see what they are prepared to see.

People just see what they want to see.

People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

Look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them.... Without knowing it, we are coloring everything, putting our spin on it all.

Most people see what they want to, or at least what they expect to.

People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.

Theory can blind observation.

We usually see only the things we are looking for- so much so that we sometimes see them where they are not.

Bigots see something they expect and then they stop thinking about what is in front of them. It's probably how they got to be bigots in the first place.

Stereotypes are the mind's shorthand for dealing with complexities. They have two aspects: they are much blunter than reality; they are shaped to fit a man's preferences or prejudgments. Thus two principles are involved: differentiation or its lack, and biased preferential perception.

We find what we expect to find, and we receive what we ask for.

I've learned that you shouldn't have preconceived notions about anybody.

It is perhaps the most characteristic feature of the intellectual that he judges new ideas not by their specific merits but by the readiness with which they fit into his general conceptions, into the picture of the world which he regards as modern or advanced.

You don't see something until you have the right metaphor to perceive it.

If someone met me on a game day, he wouldn't like me. The days in between, I'm the goodest guy you can find.

Everyone looks retarded once you set your mind to it.

We make up any excuse to preserve myths about people we love, but the reverse is also true; if we dislike an individual we adamantly resist changing our opinion, even when somebody offers proof of his decency, because it's vital to have myths about both the gods and devils in our lives.

Assume nothing. Inside every dumb blond there may be a very smart brunette.

Clearly much that seemed valid seemed so only because he had been taught it from earliest youth.