Gay Talese Quotes

If one knows only what one is told, one does not know enough to be able to arrive at a well-balanced decision.

I want people to think through issues. I'm just tired of blind alignment.

Each man must reach his own verdict, by weighing all the relevant evidence.

Don't assume that because everyone believes a thing, that it is right or wrong. Reason things out for yourself. Work to get answers on your own. Understand why you believe things.

A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.

I know that we shall meet problems along the way, but I'd far rather see for myself what's going on in the world outside, than rely on newspapers, television, politicians and religious leaders to tell me what I should be thinking.

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

It's always a good idea to let the audience make up their own minds.

Listen and watch the world around you. Don't be satisfied with answers others give you.

I'm someone who does not like a bunker mentality and does not like groupthink.

Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.

Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

I don't have opinions. Only if it is necessary for a particular action, I make a judgment. Opinions are fetters for your intelligence.

Never accept an expert's opinion if it violates your own because the experts can change their minds.

Don't pay attention to "authorities," think for yourself.

People who are able to do their own thinking should not allow others to do it for them.

Hear Everything and judge for yourself

It"s good to keep wide-open ears and listen to what everybody else has to say, but when you come to make a decision, you have to weigh all of what you"ve heard on its own, and place it where it belongs, and come to a decision for yourself; you"ll never regret it. But if you form the habit of taking what someone else says about a thing without checking it out for yourself, you"ll find that other people will have you hating your friends and loving your enemies.

What's the point in having a mind if you don't use it to make judgements?

Place nothing above the verdict of your own mind.

Learn to do your own thinking - don’t let other people do it for you!

I promise to question everything my leaders tell me. I promise to use my critical faculties. I promise to develop my independence of thought. I promise to educate myself so I can make my own judgments.

You can be dogmatic, like Donald Trump, and say don't tell me any of the facts, I have made up my mind, I don't want to hear anything, or you can say, look, trade can be good or it can be bad, depending on the rules.

Think for yourself. Know what you're doing. Question authority.

I've come up with my own cure for a closed mind: try it once, and see.