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Rationalization Quotes

Browse 104 quotes about Rationalization.

Rationalization Quotes

“There is a knock at the door. She feels a fear because opening the door makes her vulnerable. It could be a god or a devil, She is about to open the door but decides against it. She puts a double lock instead. Fear goes away. She feels relieved. Her mind rationalizes, “Phew! Fear proves that it was devil.” Fear comes from vulnerability of opening the door. It doesn’t tell who is at the door: a god or devil.”

MindFearTrustRationalization
Author:Shunya
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“I think the world honestly would be a much healthier place if instead of trying to find rationalizations for our bad behavior we would just say, "I was an asshole. Sure, there were reasons behind it, but that doesn't matter.”

HonestyBehaviorTelling The TruthRepentanceSincerityApologizingExcusesBad BehaviorRationalizationMaking ExcusesSaying SorryBehaviorsApology And Attitude
Book:The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America
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“I treat my thoughts like an old person treats their valuables: I cannot for the life of me proceed to throwing them out.”

ThinkingLifeMindWisdomHumorFunnyDeathArtistBeliefBrainOpinionKnowledgeCreativityPsychologyHonestyIntellectualThoughtsTraditionLogicInstinctPositivityValuableIntuitionTreasureThoughtRationalConsiderationThinkerConfessionNegativityThinkIrrationalSentimentalStubbornHabitsCognitionFunny But TruePreciousRationalizationOld HabitsOriginal ThoughtCreedOld PersonDiscard
Book:Healology
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“The worst of it is that while we continue to sink deeper into the muck and mire that we’ve created, in the very descent itself we ignorantly declare that in reality we are rising. And until desperation has crippled us sufficiently to confess the lie that we are lifting ourselves out of this mess, and until the panic of utter hopelessness has driven us to completely surrender all of the pathetic contrivances that we’ve fashioned that have put us there, we will never realize that God has readied solid ground that stands but a single step away”

GodAmericaPoliticalDeathLyingCertainHopePoliticsUnited StatesDyingPolicyLiesBlameHopelessJustificationUnited States Of AmericaHopelessnessProvisionSinkingPunditsRationalizationDistortionsDeteriorationGroundBlamingSolidPolitical SpinsMuck And MireState Of The Nation
Author:Craig D. Lounsbrough
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“It is in the utter exhaustion born of my battle with fear and trauma that all pretense and pretending is methodically stripped away. And although that process seems callously brutal, its intent is to leave me facing the rank ugliness of my weakness without the debilitating filter of denial or other such maladies. And it is in this place of excruciating rawness that I now have sufficient pain and ample frustration to compel me to change that which I’ve spent a lifetime cultivating.”

PainChangeDenialFrustrationJustificationExposureExcusesRationalizationRawness
Author:Craig D. Lounsbrough
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“If now we attend to ourselves on occasion of any transgression of duty, we shall find that we in fact do not will that our maxim should be universal law, for that is impossible for us; on the contrary, we will that the opposite should remain a universal law, only we assume the liberty of making an exception in our own favor or (just for this time only) in favor of our inclination. Consequently, if we considered all cases from one and the same point of view, namely, that of reason, we should find a contradiction in our own will, namely, that a certain principle should be objectively necessary as a universal law, and yet subjectively should not be universal, but admit of exceptions. As, however, we at one moment regard our action from the point of view of a will wholly conformed to reason, and then again look at the same action from the point of view of a will affected by inclination, there is not really any contradiction, but an antagonism of inclination to the precept of reason, whereby the universality of the principle is changed into mere generality, so that the practical principle of reason shall meet the maxim half way. Now, although this cannot be justified in our own impartial judgement, yet it proves that we do really recognize the validity of the categorical imperative and (with all respect for it) only allow ourselves a few exceptions which we think unimportant and forced from us.”

SinDisobedienceRationalizationMaking Excuses
Book:Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
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“Look not too long in the face of the fire O man! Never dream with thy hand on the helm! Turn not thy back to the compass; accept the first hint of the hitching tiller; believe not the artificial fire, when its redness makes all things look ghastly. Tomorrow, in the natural sun, the skies will be bright; those who glared like devils in the forking flames, the morn will show in far other, at least gentler relief; the glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp - all others but liars!”

SinTemptationLuciferCounterfeitRationalizationMoral Fluidity
Book:Moby Dick
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“From the Fatwa and Rationalizatons Committee, on the Fifth Day of this Venerable Month: In light of its meeting today, the Committee hereby announces this fatwa to the entire nation, to ward off civil strife and its evils, and preserve the country's integrity. To keep those of faith from succumbing to sin in the eyes of God Almighty, all believers must verify any news before giving it credence, and all those who make claims must substantiate their assertions with proof, lest they spread false allegations and therefore corruption. Believers shall not boycott their brothers, nor cause them to suffer financial or emotional distress, and shall not call upon others to take such actions, as this is one of the gravest sins, unless done in support of religion. A believer who is weak of faith, and does not join his brothers, is guilty of a sin, which shall be weighed on Judgment Day. This sin can be absolved by fasting, or by making seven consecutive phone calls, each one not separated by more than a month. Our Book pronounces this truth upon you. May God lead you to the path of righteousness, and may His peace, blessings, and mercy be upon you.”

GodSinPhone CallsBelieversBoycottRationalizationFatwaCommitteeThe Good Book
Author:Basma Abdel Aziz
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“As long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was six weeks ago. And while he thinks that, [he will not repent] of a definite, fully recognized, sin, ... only [vaguely and uneasily] feeling that he hasn't been doing very well lately... If such a feeling is allowed to live... it increases reluctance to think about [God]. All humans at nearly all times have some such reluctance; but when thinking of Him involves facing and intensifying a whole vague cloud of half-conscious guilt, this reluctance is increased tenfold. They hate every idea that suggests Him, just as men in financial embarrassment hate the very sight of a bankbook. In this state... {man] will increasingly dislike his religious duties. He will think about them as little as he feels he decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective contact with [his Heavenly Father]... Uneasiness and his reluctance to face it cut him off more and more from all real happiness...”

PrayerSinRationalizationReligious Duty
Book:The Screwtape Letters
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“The chaplain had sinned, and it was good. Common sense told him that telling lies and defecting from duty were sins. On the other hand, everyone knew that sin was evil and that no good could come from evil. But he did feel good; he felt positively marvelous. Consequently, it followed logically that telling lies and defecting from duty could not be sins. The chaplain had mastered, in a moment of divine intuition, the handy technique of protective rationalization, and he was exhilarated by his discovery. It was miraculous.”

SinFeelingRationalization
Book:Catch-22
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“We should “liken all scriptures unto us … for our profit and learning.” Danger lurks when we try to divide ourselves with expressions such as “my private life” or even “my best behavior.” If one tries to segment his or her life into such separate compartments, one will never rise to the full stature of one’s personal integrity—never to become all that his or her true self could be.”

IntegrityRationalizationCompartmentalizationScriptural ApplicationWresting The Scriptures
Book:Accomplishing the Impossible: What God Does, What We Can Do
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“The split second has been growing more and more important to us. And as human activities become more and more intermeshed and integrated, the split tenth of a second will emerge, and then a new name must be made for the split hundredth, until one day, although I don’t believe it, we’ll say, “Oh, the hell with it. What’s wrong with an hour?” But it isn’t silly, this preoccupation with small time units. One thing late or early can disrupt everything around it, and the disturbance runs outward in bands like the waves from a dropped stone in a quiet pool.”

ObsessionModernismPreoccupationRationalizationMcdonaldization
Author:John Steinbeck
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“When someone asks you for an explanation based on science but that science has no effective transforming result, such an explanation takes the form of a rationalization. A rationalization without effective transformations is a dogma. Likewise, when religion explains you something you can't properly use that too takes the form of a body of rationalizations. And in the same manner, that story becomes your dogma. So as you see, humans are constantly corrupting the truth because of their obsession with their brain, the center of their reasons. Now the human brain in itself is a very limited machine, so these habits of humans seeking to rationalize everything, always downgrades, corrupts and stupidifies everything. You have certainly experienced that inside yourself when explaining something you know to someone who doesn't know the same, because that person interprets the encounter as a conflict between two opposing dogmas, 2 beliefs, 2 flags of ideologized rationalizations. In essence, that is how religions and science turned into absolute nonsense. When you know that something is true because you can see it but others can't see the same, even when your life has changed before their eyes, that's a truth that can't be captured by the dogmas of others. That truth can't be rationalized and for that reason is downgraded and even labeled a lie. But how can you find answers in the same system that creates problems? Any dogma and rationalization turns people apathetic and stupid. As a result, the opposite path, of seeking something of a higher nature, will change your vibration, your mind and your personality. That is in essence what it means to be free. You evolve in such a way that you become invisible to others. They can't see why, they can't explain, they can't understand you, and eventually they will tell themselves you are not real. That's the definition of a prison planet and that's exactly how you escape it. So it doesn't matter who I am or what I did or who I was. It matters only I am giving you a key to get out of this madness from which many will never escape, because they can't, they don't have the divine sparkle in their spirit. Thy are not ready. And maybe they never will be. In fact, they will tell you that you have replaced their dogma for another, just to make you doubt and return to their state. When you are explaining, you are losing time, rationalizing your answers, and conforming to the views of those who can't go beyond the common dogmas. It's a downgrading catching you through sympathy and compassion. The cruel truth is that the highest truths can't be explained. You find them not in my words but behind them.”

TruthAnswersExplanationDogmaRationalizationDogmas
Author:Dan Desmarques
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“Rationalization is a dialogue with ourselves or with like-minded brains. Reasoning, on the other hand, is an honest and open conversation in which we try to persuade interlocutors who don't necessarily agree with us beforehand with arguments that are as universally valid, coherent, and detailed as possible, while opening ourselves to persuasion.”

ReasonRationalizationGroup Think
Book:How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information
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“The lesson we learn from Nightingale's experience is that, as painful as it may sound, we humans are barely able to reason on our own or when surrounded by like-minded people. When we try to reason this way, we end up rationalizing because we use arguments as self-reinforcing virtue signals. And the worst news is that the more intelligent we are and the more information we have access to, the more successful our rationalizations are. This is in part because we're more aware of what the members of the groups -- political parties, churches, and others -- that we belong to think, and we try to align with them. On the other hand, if you are exposed to an opinion and don't know where the opinion comes from, you're more likely to think about it on its merits.”

ReasonCritical ThinkingRationalizationGroup Think
Book:How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information
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