He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
VoltaireRead
Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
Interpretation
Prejudices hinder rational thought and understanding.
This quote by Voltaire emphasizes the detrimental effect of prejudices on our ability to think critically and make sound judgments. It suggests that those who rely on preconceived notions rather than rationality are foolish, as such biases can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of critical thinking in education.
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
If God did not exist, He would have to be invented. But all nature cries aloud that he does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it.
I can see in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden.
The place one's in, though, doesn't make any contribution to peace of mind: it's the spirit that makes everything agreeable to oneself.
That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty.
What did you do as a child that made that hours pass like minutes? [Herein lies the key to your earthy pursuits.]
Young girls are sad. They like to be; it makes them feel strong.
People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.
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