He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests; he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
The prejudices of ignorance are more easily removed than the prejudices of interest; the first are blindly adopted; the second wilfully preferred.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ignorance leads to unintentional biases, while interests create conscious preferences that are harder to change.
This quote highlights the distinction between two types of prejudices: those born of ignorance, which are often adopted without understanding, and those driven by self-interest, which are chosen deliberately. The former can be corrected with education and awareness, but the latter are rooted in personal gain, making them much more resistant to change. Thus, it suggests that overcoming bias linked to personal interests requires more effort and self-reflection than addressing biases stemming from a lack of knowledge.
Themes
PrejudiceIgnoranceInterestBiasChange
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the importance of critical thinking in a classroom setting.
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