“To spread healthy ideas among even the lowest classes of people, to remove men from the influence of prejudice and passion, to make reason the arbiter and supreme guide of public opinion; that is the essential goal of the sciences; that is how science will contribute to the advancement of civilization, and that is what deserves protection of governments who want to insure the stability of their power.” PeopleMenWantIdeasReasonGovernmentPassionGoalOpinionClassInfluenceCivilizationHealthyEssentialsDeservePrejudiceSpreadProtectionGuidesSupremeRemoveStabilityLowestPublic OpinionAdvancementArbiter Author:Georges Cuvier
“It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what Agnosticism asserts; and, in my opinion, it is all that is essential to Agnosticism. That which Agnostics deny and repudiate, as immoral, is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe without logically satisfactory evidence; and that reprobation ought to attach to the profession of disbelief in such inadequately supported propositions.” MenBelieveCertainOpinionAtheismProduceOughtEssentialsEvidenceDenyPositive AtheismProfessionContraryDoctrineObjectivesCertaintyJustifyPropositionsImmoralDisbeliefAgnosticismObjective Truth Book:Lectures and Essays Source: Lectures and Essays
“What worries me, especially, is that public opinion over here is patting itself on the back every morning and thanking God for theAtlantic Ocean (and the Pacific Ocean). We greatly underestimate the serious implications to our own future.... Things move with such terrific speed these days, that it is really essential to us to think in broader terms and, in effect, to warn the American people that they, too, should think of possible ultimate results in Europe and the Far East.” PeopleThinkingShouldWarMovingTermResultsOpinionMorningWorryEffectsSeriousEssentialsOceanEuropeUltimateSpeedEastThese DaysThank GodEvery MorningUnderestimatePublic OpinionTerrificImplicationsPacificNeutralityPacific Ocean Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Good and evil are essential differences of the act of the will. For good and evil pertain essentially to the will; just as truth and falsehood pertain to the reason, the act of which is distinguished essentially by the difference of truth and falsehood (according as we say that an opinion is true or false.) Consequently, good and evil volition are acts differing in species.” ReasonEvilDifferencesOpinionEssentialsSpeciesGood And EvilFalsehoodDistinguishedVolitionTruth And FalsehoodTrue Or False Book:Basic Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Volume 2 Source: Basic Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Volume 2
“But opinions, judgments, memories, dreaming about the future—ninety percent of the thoughts spinning around in our heads have no essential reality.” DreamRealityMemoriesOpinionFutureEssentialsJudgmentPercentNinetySpinningSpinning Around Author:Joko Beck
“At the heart of the First Amendment is the recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern. The freedom to speak one's mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty - and thus a good unto itself - but also is essential to the common quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole. We have therefore been particularly vigilant to ensure that individual expressions of ideas remain free from governmentally imposed sanctions.” MindFirstsHeartIdeasMatterWholeIndividualSpeakInterestCommonLibertyOpinionExpressionEssentialsConcernAspectFlowImportanceFundamentalsRecognitionAmendmentsQuestsFreedom Of SpeechVitalityFirst AmendmentSanctionsVigilantIndividual LibertyPublic InterestIndividual Expression Author:William Rehnquist
“We have hitherto considered only two possibilities: that the received opinion may be false, and some other opinion, consequently, true; or that, the received opinion being true, a conflict with the opposite error is essential to a clear apprehension and deep feeling of its truth. But there is a commoner case than either of these; when the conflicting doctrines, instead of being one true and the other false, share the truth between them.” MayTwoFeelingsOpinionCasesClearSharePossibilityTruth IsConflictEssentialsOppositesErrorsDoctrineBeing TrueApprehensionDeep FeelingCommonersOthers Opinions Author:John Stuart Mill
“Fundamentally, I do agree, certainly, people must be allowed to express their own opinions freely. Freedom is part of the essential rights of all nations.” PeopleNationsOpinionRightsEssentialsAgree Author:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
“And he gave it for his opinion, "that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.” TwoCountryWholeTogetherPoliticsGrowsRaceOpinionMankindGrewPoliticianEssentialsDeserveEarsSpotsGrassVegetablesGrainAgricultureEcologyBladesFarmingCornBlades Of GrassDeserve BetterGulliverGulliver's Travels Author:Jonathan Swift
“You don't have any other society where the educated classes are so effectively indoctrinated and controlled by a subtle propaganda system - a private system including media, intellectual opinion forming magazines and the participation of the most highly educated sections of the population. Such people ought to be referred to as "Commissars - for that is what their essential function is - to set up and maintain a system of doctrines and beliefs which will undermine independent thought and prevent a proper understanding and analysis of national and global institutions, issues, and policies".” PeopleTruthBeliefUnderstandingOpinionClassIssuesMediaPolicyOughtEssentialsIntellectualFunctionIndependentInstitutionsIncludingPopulationDoctrineEducatedMagazinesPropagandaAnalysisSubtleControlledParticipationSectionsIndependent Thought Author:Noam Chomsky