William Hazlitt Quotes

Denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.

A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it.

Dogmatism makes for scientific anemia.

The mind of a bigot to the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the more it contracts.

Nor bigots who but one way see, through blinkers of authority.

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.

Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds.

The spirit of sect and bigotry has planted its hoof amid the stars. You have only to discuss the problem, whether the stars are inhabited or not, in order to discover it.

One thing about being narrow-minded: you'll never be lonely.

Narrowness of mind is often the cause of obstinacy; we do not easily believe beyond what we see.

The door of a bigoted mind opens outwards so that the only result of the pressure of facts upon it is to close it more snugly.

If someone is making a judgment when they don't have firsthand experience, it's intolerant. How can you make a judgment on something you don't know about?

A bigot is simply a sociologist without credentials.

Everyone is a reactionary about subjects he understands.

What annoys the hell out of me is the arrogance of some people. They don't even listen to our music, they decided in advance that they don't like it.

Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause.

One thing about liberals: It doesn't even occur to them that there is another side to an argument. They are so convinced of the righteousness of their own position that it doesn't dawn on them that a reasonable person might have a different viewpoint.

You know, people aren't always the most open-minded.

Even the weakest disputant is made so conceited by what he calls religion, as to think himself wiser than the wisest who think differently from him.

If you are constantly making judgments based on superficial affiliations, your world gets to be pretty small.

Ignorance is stubborn and prejudice is hard.

Obviously, some people are thick, and they're not gonna see what they don't want to see.

Bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth.

Nothing so obstinately stands in the way of all sorts of progress as pride of opinion. While nothing is so foolish and baseless.