Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
VoltaireRead
I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil.
Interpretation
Books can be dull, but they rarely cause harm.
In this quote, Voltaire suggests that while many books may fail to engage or excite their readers, the act of reading itself is not detrimental. He emphasizes that literature, no matter how boring, does not possess the capacity to inflict real harm, contrasting the passive experience of reading with the potential consequences of other human actions.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of reading and education.
Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better books can there be than the book of humanity?
I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have stopped teaching it. And it's unfortunate.
Let us in education dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity
I want to use television not only to entertain, but to help people lead better lives.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
The day I entered St Columb's College, my parents bought me a Conway Stewart pen. It was a special afternoon, of course. We were going to be parting that evening; they were aware of it, I was aware of it, nothing much was said about it.
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