The opinions and beliefs of men follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds.
Interpretation
People's opinions are shaped by the evidence they encounter.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson highlights the idea that human beliefs and opinions are not formed in isolation, but are instead influenced by the evidence and information presented to them. It suggests that our understanding and viewpoints are shaped by external stimuli, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and the evaluation of evidence in forming our opinions.
In practice
This quote can be used in a debate about the importance of evidence in shaping public opinion.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope.
I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
It is better to emit a scream in the shape of a theory than to be entirely insensible to the jars and incongruities of life and take everything as it comes in a forlorn stupidity.
Karma means that all actions have consequences. Grace means that in a moment of atonement -taking responsibility, making amends, asking for forgiveness - all karma is burned.
To confess your sins to God is not to tell [God] anything [God] doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.