The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.
His [Stephen Douglas] argument is as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had been starved to death.
When people say "clearly" something that means there's a huge crack in their argument and they know things aren't clear at all.
Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind
The modern believer is not suspicious enough, which is perhaps why, when they try to construct arguments in their defence, the convictions are left doing all the work and reason, debilitated by neglect, weakly fails to prop them up.
One could drive a prairie schooner through any part of his argument and never scrape against a fact.
When reasons are weak, attitudes stiffen.
Great men in teaching weak men to reflect have set them on the road to error.
Those flimsy webs that break as soon as wrought, attain not to the dignity of thought.
We accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest.
The argument holds no water at all, not even a thimbleful.
A strong memory is commonly coupled with infirm judgment.
