Warren Buffett Quotes

It is in the nature of human beings to bend information in the direction of desired conclusions.

When you develop your opinions on the basis of weak evidence, you will have difficulty interpreting subsequent information that contradicts these opinions, even if this new information is obviously more accurate.

The average man believes a thing first, and then searches for proof to bolster his opinion

The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects, in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of its former conclusions may remain inviolate.

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.

All of us show bias when it comes to what information we take in. We typically focus on anything that agrees with the outcome we want.

People believe what they want to believe.

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions.

Most of us employ the Internet not to seek the best information, but rather to select information that confirms our prejudices.

To hold an idea and convince ourselves we arrived at it rationally, we go in search of evidence to support our view.

In the long run my observations have convinced me that some men, reasoning preposterously, first establish some conclusion in their minds which, either because of its being their own or because of their having received it from some person who has their entire confidence, impresses them so deeply that one finds it impossible ever to get it out of their heads.

We hew and saw and plane facts to make them dovetail with our prejudices, so that they become mere ornaments with which to parade our objectivity.

The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.

…the majority of men do not think in order to know the truth, but in order to assure themselves that the life which they lead, and which is agreeable and habitual to them, is the one which coincides with the truth.

Facts might be false if they challenge the conviction of a mind already made up.

When you know the answer you want, it is often all too easy to figure out a way of getting it.

Men first make up their minds (and the smaller the mind the sooner made up), and then seek for the reasons; and if they chance to stumble upon a good reason, of course they do not reject it. But though they are right, they are only right by chance.

The reason facts don’t change most people’s opinions is because most people don’t use facts to form their opinions. They use their opinions to form their “facts.”

A man sees what he wants to see, And disregards the rest.

All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

Our pride is tied up in being right. We tend to favor data that confirm our beliefs, so we don't see alternatives. Too often, leaders practice defense routines that become self-reinforcing.

As partisans of our own way of life, we cannot help thinking in a partisan manner.

We are all very ready to believe what we like.

As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use.