Francis Jeffrey Quotes

There is, however, no prejudice so strong as that which arises from a fancied exemption from all prejudice.

Our prejudices are so deeply rooted that we never think of them as prejudices but call them common sense.

No man can see his own prejudices.

The worst moment in my life was when I was seven years old and I discovered that there was a thing such as racism. You don't know you're different until someone lets you know.

Beware prejudices. They are like rats, and men's minds are like traps; prejudices get in easily, but it is doubtful if they ever get out.

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.

The most misleading assumptions are the ones you don't even know you're making.

There are two kinds of people in the world: the conscious and the unconscious dogmatists. I have always found that the unconscious dogmatists were by far the most dogmatic.

We're all biased, right, in many different ways - politically, religiously, ideologically, the way our family raised us - and that's fine. Nobody wants to live in a world where everybody thinks exactly the same. The key, though, is to try to figure out where your biases are holding you back from solving problems.

We are - each and every one of us - unlearning misogyny. It's going to take some time. But be aware and active of your prejudices. Notice when they kick in and resist. Fight to stay soft and open. Step back and squint hard.

Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.

The awful thing is that you can never be aware of what you are not aware of.

The easiest person to deceive is one's self.

You only know what you know.

If people are informed they will do the right thing. It's when they are not informed that they become hostages to prejudice.

My dominant feeling every day is one of great ignorance.

Prejudices are not easily got rid of as an old coat which is no longer thought of.

I think most people are more susceptible to prejudice than to reason.

The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views.

I really have had to swallow my own prejudice at times.

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it. The moment we want to disbelieve anything we have previously believed we suddenly discover not only that there is a mass of evidence against it but that this evidence was starting us in the face all the time.

We all have mental models: the lens through which we see the world that drive our responses to everything we experience. Being aware of your mental models is key to being objective.

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.

Ignorance is stubborn and prejudice is hard.

The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.