Luther Burbank Quotes

We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think in fact they do so.

To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show the darkness but to put out our own eyes.

How prone we are to come to the consideration of every question with heads and hearts pre-occupied! How prone to shrink from any opinion, however reasonable, if it be opposed to any, however unreasonable, of our own! How disposed are we to judge, in anger, those who call upon us to think, and encourage us to enquire! To question our prejudices seems nothing less than sacrilege; to break the chains of our ignorance, nothing short of impiety!

It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while.

It's sad that we never get trained to leave assumptions behind.

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 more educated we are, the less we are prepared to tolerate views contrary to our own.

Anybody who French bashes just might as well wear a badge that says 'I am a follower! I don't think for myself and I have no idea what I'm talking about.' That would be a French basher.

I'm against ignorance. I'm against sloppy, emotional thinking. I'm against fashionable thinking. I am against the whole cliché of the moment.

The interesting thing is always to see if you can find a fact that will change your mind about something, to test and see if you can.

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

Education makes us more stupid than the brutes. A thousand voices call to us on every hand, but our ears are stopped with wisdom.

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.

A closed mind is a dying mind.

Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.

Some one has said that most of us don't think, we just occasionally rearrange our prejudices.

Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.

If prejudice could reason, it would dispel itself.

For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

Facts matter, especially when they conflict with dogma and preconceived notions. Pretending otherwise has consequences.

The greatest enemy of progress is the illusion of knowledge.

All of us, whether we are ignorant of philosophy or professors of philosophy, find it easier to follow dogma than to think.

The greatest obstacle to discovering the truth is being convinced that you already know it.

A university shouldn't be a place of comfort. It should be a place of discomfort because you want to disabuse these kids of whatever prejudices or preconceptions they have when they come. You're trying to get them to think and develop, not be a Johnny-one-note.