How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take warning.
Jonathan SwiftRead
You cannot reason a person out of something they were not reasoned into.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People hold onto beliefs that they did not arrive at through logical reasoning, making it difficult to change their minds with logic alone.
This quote by Jonathan Swift highlights the challenge of changing someoneβs mind about deeply held beliefs or opinions. When a belief is formed from emotional experience, social influence, or cultural background rather than logical reasoning, attempts to sway that belief through reason may be ineffective. It suggests that understanding the origins of someone's beliefs is crucial when engaging in discussions or debates, as reason alone may not be enough to persuade.
Themes
BeliefsReasonPersuasionMindsetUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about political beliefs to explain why logical arguments might not sway people.
More from Jonathan Swift
All quotes βWhat vexes me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a dozen years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was: which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexander Pope. 7 Feb. 1736.
Jonathan SwiftRead
This is every cook's opinion - _x000D_ no savory dish without an onion, _x000D_ but lest your kissing should be spoiled _x000D_ your onions must be fully boiled.
Jonathan SwiftRead
The bulk of mankind is as well equipped for flying as thinking.
Jonathan SwiftRead
This single Stick, which you now behold ingloriously lying in that neglected Corner, I once knew in a flourishing State in a Forest: It was full of Sap, full of Leaves, and full of Boughs: But now, in vain does the busy Art of Man pretend to vie with Nature, by tying that withered Bundle of Twigs to its sapless Trunk: It is at best but the Reverse of what it was; a Tree turned upside down, the Branches on the Earth, and the Root in the Air.
Jonathan SwiftRead
I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Jonathan SwiftRead
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