John Trudell Quotes

Upon this first, and in one sense this sole, rule of reason, that in order to learn you must desire to learn, and in so desiring not be satisfied with what you already incline to think, there follows one corollary which itself deserves to be inscribed upon every wall of the city of philosophy: Do not block the way of inquiry.

Beware of the person of one book.

People don't care to read what they already think or what any people think - they know all that well enough. They want to know what they ought to think.

There are fashions in reading, even in thinking. You don't have to follow them unless you want to. On the other hand, watch out. Don't stick too closely to your favorite subject. That would keep you from adventuring into other fields. It's silly to build a wall around your interests.

Do not become so attached to any one belief than you cannot see past it to another possibility. Brom to Eragon

My wish for you... is that your skeptic-eclectic brain be flooded with the light of truth.

Most of all we need an education which will create an educated mind. This is a mind not simply a repository of information and skills, but a mind that is a source of creative skepticism, characterized by a willingness to challenge old assumptions and to be challenged, a spaciousness of outlook, and convictions that are deeply held, but which new facts and new experiences can always modify.

Openness of mind strengthens the truth in us and removes the dross from it, if there is any.

I believe that having an open mind is one of the most important qualities we can possess. Once our minds close, we stop evolving.

A mind that doesn't question its judgements, makes the world very small and dangerous.

Almost all stress, tension, anxiety, and frustration, both in life and in work, comes from doing one thing while you believe and value something completely different.

Doubt is the first step towards knowledge, not faith.

In a complex universe, in a society undergoing unprecedented change, how can we find the truth if we are not willing to question everything and to give a fair hearing to everything?

Leonardo da Vinci did not take received wisdom - whether from ancient classical thinkers or medieval scholars or from the Bible - without questioning it. And this was the beginning of the scientific method. This is another lesson for our time: that when we have evidence that contradicts a certain belief, we should be willing to change it. I think this made Leonardo, in some ways, a person who better understood the beauty of God's creation than a person who just takes all received wisdom from the Bible on faith.

There are moments in life where the question of knowing whether one might think otherwise than one thinks and perceive otherwise than one sees is indispensable if one is to continue to observe or reflect... What is philosophy today... if it does not consist in, instead of legitimizing what we already know, undertaking to know how and how far it might be possible to think otherwise?

[They] agreed that it was neither possible nor necessary to educate people who never questioned anything.

I was a freethinker before I knew how to think.

The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on 'I am not too sure'.

Does not the discipline of the scientific spirit just commence when one no longer harbours any conviction?

The unphilosophical majority among men are the ones most helplessly dependent on their era's dominant ideas. In times of crises these men need the guidance of some kind of theory; but, being unfamiliar with the field of ideas, they do not know that alternatives to the popular theories are possible. They know only what they have always been taught.

I never thought of that before! It's my opinion that you never think at all.

The sooner we can separate salvageable skeptics from self-righteous absolutists, the sooner we can move along.

Here you discover that so long as books are kept open, then minds can never be closed.

If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle.

Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry.