The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote criticizes the tendency of groups to make poor decisions due to individual lack of knowledge.
Thomas Carlyle's quote highlights the fallacy of relying on group consensus when the individuals within the group lack understanding or knowledge. It suggests that collective decision-making, when based on ignorance, can lead to misguided beliefs and actions, emphasizing the importance of informed individuals in shaping sound judgments.
Themes
WisdomIgnoranceCollectiveDecision MakingKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about voting, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of individual research.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes βThirty millions, mostly fools.
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There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
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For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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