Quote by Atle Selberg

The thing is, it's very dangerous to have a fixed idea. A person with a fixed idea will always find some way of convincing himself in the end that he is right

The thing is, it's very dangerous to have a fixed idea. A pe

Summary

This quote suggests that holding onto rigid beliefs or ideas can be perilous. When someone is firmly convinced of their own viewpoint, they have a tendency to manipulate or interpret information in a way that confirms their biases. This behavior can be dangerous because it hinders open-mindedness, flexibility, and the willingness to consider alternative perspectives. Thus, the quote serves as a reminder to approach ideas with a level of skepticism and to be open to evolving viewpoints based on new information.

Topics

Science Open Mindedness Evidence

By Atle Selberg

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war.

The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war.

Benjamin Franklin

War Peace

Do not be afraid to ask for help. Nobody gets through colleg

Do not be afraid to ask for help. Nobody gets through college on their own.

Help College Afraid Ask Own Nobody

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?

Thomas Jefferson

There are people who want to make men's lives more difficult

There are people who want to make men's lives more difficult for no other reason than the chance it provides them afterwards to offer their prescription for alleviating life their Christianity, for instance.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one

The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.

Laughter

Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men:

Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men: through their prejudices they do without any effort many things they would find too difficult to think through to the point of resolving to do them.

G. C. (Georg Christoph) Lichtenb

Prejudice

We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerf

We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces: we become the powerful force ourselves.

Chance

This is my principal objection to life, I think: It is too e

This is my principal objection to life, I think: It is too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes.

Life Mistakes

My children are the reason I laugh, smile and want to get up

My children are the reason I laugh, smile and want to get up every morning.

Morning

Every man without passion has within him no principle of act

Every man without passion has within him no principle of action, nor motive of act.

Claude A. Helvetius

Passion

It's amazing how coke encompasses everything in your life. A

It's amazing how coke encompasses everything in your life. Addicts cannot confront life because they only think of their next hit. I ruined life for my parents, my sister and all my friends.

My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my

My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Dreams