Marcus Aurelius Quotes

If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.

The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.

The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives.

If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance.

I seek the truth...it is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance that does harm.

The surest way to lose truth is to pretend that one already wholly possesses it.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

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

It is not the truth that a man possesses, or believes that he possesses, but the earnest effort which he puts forward to reach the truth, which constitutes the worth of a man.

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.

Let not men think there is no truth, but in the sciences that they study, or the books that they read.

The more you think you know, the more closed-minded you'll be.

A man remains ignorant because he loves ignorance, and chooses ignorant thoughts; a man becomes wise because he loves wisdom and chooses wise thoughts.

When you think you know it all, there's not much that you'll learn.

Nothing puts a greater obstacle in the way of the progress of knowledge than thinking that one knows what one does not yet know.

Before you ask more questions, think about whether you really want to know the answers.

Belief is in ignorance. If you know, you know. And it is good that if you don’t know, know that you don’t know — the belief can deceive you. The belief can create an atmosphere in your mind, where, without knowing, you start thinking that you know. Belief is not trust, and the more strongly you say that you believe totally, the more you are afraid of the doubt within you.

Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! It's true that many people around you now may think you are weird or even a danger to society, but you don't care. Once you've tasted the truth, you won't ever want to go back to being ignorant

Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story; we do not know where we are in the story. We do not know who, ultimately, is at fault or who will carry the blame in the end.

I will adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself

It only takes a day to change someone from an anti-intellectual to an intellectual by persuading him that he might be one!

Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.

Doubt is the origin of wisdom.

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