George Orwell Quotes

Criticism alone can sever the root of materialism, fatalism, atheism, free-thinking, fanaticism, and superstition, which can be injurious universally.

Ordinary readers, forgive my paradoxes: one must make them when one reflects; and whatever you may say, I prefer being a man with paradoxes than a man with prejudices.

The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason.

For no art and no religion is possible until we make allowances, until we manage to keep quiet the enfant terrible of logic that plays havoc with the other faculties.

Atheism shows strength of mind, but only to a certain degree.

A philosopher goes where the truth leads and has no patience with mere emotion.

If a person is intelligent, then of course he is either an agnostic or an atheist. Just as he is a physical coward. They are automatic definitions of high intelligence.

I don't make decisions with my heart, I use my brain to think things through.

Intelligence is an extremely subtle concept. It's a kind of understanding that flourishes if it's combined with a good memory, but exists anyway even in the absence of good memory. It's the ability to draw consequences from causes, to make correct inferences, to foresee what might be the result, to work out logical problems, to be reasonable, rational, to have the ability to understand the solution from perhaps insufficient information. You know when a person is intelligent, but you can be easily fooled if you are not yourself intelligent.

Forbear to spew out reason from your mind, but rather ponder everything with keen judgment; and if it seems true, own yourself vanquished, but, if it is false, gird up your loins to fight.

Don't freak out until you know the facts.

If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.

When people disagreed with him he urged them to be objective.

Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist.

We do not respect people's beliefs, we evaluate their reasons. If my reasons are good enough for believing what I believe, you will helplessly believe what I believe. I will give you my reasons and reasons are contagious. That is what it is to be a rational human being.

When you need to make a decision, don't let your emotions vote.

And the quality of good judgement is clearly a form of knowledge and skill, as it is because of knowledge and not because of ignorance that we judge well.

Logic is the kingdom of the unexpected. To think logically means to be continually amazed.

A rational man is guided by his thinking - by a process of Reason - not by his feelings and desires.

With method and logic one can accomplish anything.

It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.

My mind is just as open as it ever was, professor. But it's a scientific mind, and there's no place in it for superstitions.

Stupidity is no excuse of not thinking.

Think against your feelings; unmask the unbelief they have nourished; let evangelical thinking correct emotional thinking.

GUIL: A scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defence against the pure emotion of fear