On Opinion

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. ~William James

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. ~William Blake

We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us. ~Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld

He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today. ~Tryon Edwards

Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth. ~Joseph Joubert

All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions. ~William Butler Yeats        

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We should never let ourselves be burnt for our opinions; we are not that sure of them. But perhaps for this -- that we may have and change our opinions. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Opinions, like perspective, continually evolve through life. Never treat your opinions as immovable facts, yet acknowledge they are fragments of a larger, more intricate mesh. As in viewing any object, the entire essence of it cannot be known until it has been speculated from every possible angle; an opinion is never complete until it has unified and understood the truth found in every opposing view. ~ M.R.