Robert M. Pirsig Quotes

Mostly, I try to take a rational approach to life.

Italians think with their heads.

Logic is a wonderful thing but doesn't always beat actual thought.

I hope you become comfortable with the use of logic without being deceived into concluding that logic will inevitably lead you to the correct conclusion.

We seem to have trouble with [critical thinking]. And our political system doesn't help.

Rationality is not just something you do so that you can make more money, it is a binding principle. Rationality is a really good idea. You must avoid the nonsense that is conventional in one's own time. It requires developing systems of thought that improve your batting average over time.

It is however always important to remember that the ability to see things in their correct perspective may be, and often is, divorced from the ability to reason correctly and vice versa. That is why a man may be a very good theorist and yet talk absolute nonsense.

Rationality is the master lifehack which distinguishes which other lifehacks to use.

We can't avoid reasoning; we can only avoid doing it well.

Logic can become enormously difficult, and it would undoubtedly be well to produce more assurance in its use.

Many of her thoughts were perfect syllogisms; unluckily they always remained thoughts. Only a few were irrational assumptions; but, unfortunately, they were the ones which most frequently grew into deeds

There are those who reason well, but they are greatly outnumbered by those who reason badly.

Of course, analysis can sometimes give more accurate results than intuition but usually it’s just a lot of work. I normally do what my intuition tells me to do. Most of the time spent thinking is just to double-check.

Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.

With method and logic one can accomplish anything.

Those who will not reason, perish in the act. Those who will not act, perish for that reason.

I've always wanted to make the world a more rational place. I'm still working on it.

Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.

Emotions are the curse of logic.

I'm not religious, I'm not romantic and I live purely by logic. I make every decision by logic and sometimes that leads me to the right and sometimes to the wrong decision.

Anything that gives us new knowledge gives us an opportunity to be more rational.

Common sense is calculation applied to life.

Wise men argue causes; fools decide them.

I possess a strong sense of reason.

My background is basically scientific math. My Dad was a physicist, so I have it in my blood somewhere. Scientific method is very important to me. I think anything that contradicts it is probably not true.