Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.
Alan AldaRead
I used to be a Catholic. I left because I object to conversion by concussion. If you don't agree with what they teach, you get clobbered over the head until you do. All that does is change the shape of the head.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses dissent against forced beliefs and highlights the ineffectiveness of coercion in changing one’s thoughts.
Alan Alda critiques the approach of using forceful means to impose beliefs, specifically through the metaphor of 'conversion by concussion', indicating that such tactics only alter superficial aspects of a person's thinking rather than fostering genuine understanding or belief. He argues that true belief should come from personal conviction and understanding rather than coercion, which merely changes the outward appearance of dissent without altering the internal beliefs.
Themes
BeliefCoercionUnderstandingConvictionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of personal beliefs, this quote can emphasize the need for understanding rather than force.
More from Alan Alda
All quotes →Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.
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Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself.
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Here's my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but keep after them until they're fair with you.
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I found I wasn't asking good enough questions because I assumed I knew something. I would box them into a corner with a badly formed question, and they didn't know how to get out of it. Now, I let them take me through it step by step, and I listen.
Alan AldaRead
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