Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
VoltaireRead
The multitude of books is making us ignorant.
Interpretation
The overwhelming number of books can lead to confusion and ignorance rather than enlightenment.
In this quote, Voltaire suggests that while books are meant to educate and inform, an excess of literature can have the opposite effect, resulting in ignorance. This points to the idea that quality and critical thinking are more important than quantity when it comes to knowledge acquisition.
In practice
This quote could be used during a lecture about the importance of critical reading in academia.
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.
Natural inclinations are assisted and reinforced by education, but they are hardly ever altered or overcome.
The first task in teaching is to bring to consciousness what the students already believe by virtue of their personal experiences about themselves and society.
I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself.
Let the children...be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education.
My hope and wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to what I call 'education of the heart'.
NASA's been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve, and it's sad that we are turning the program in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation it provides to young people.
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