Blow the dust off the clock. Your watches are behind the times. Throw open the heavy curtains which are so dear to you—you do not even suspect that the day has already dawned outside.
—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) Russian Dissident Novelist
Prejudice is the sole author of infamies: how many acts are so qualified by an opinion forged out of naught but prejudice!
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
Passion and prejudice govern the world, only under the name of reason.
—John Wesley (1703–91) British Methodist Religious Leader, Preacher, Theologian
There is no bigotry like that of “free thought” run to seed.
—Horace Greeley (1811–72) American Elected Rep, Politician, Reformer, Editor
The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival.
—Noam Chomsky (b.1928) American Linguist, Social Critic
Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.
—Hebrew Proverb
No wise man can have a contempt for the prejudices of others; and he should even stand in a certain awe of his own, as if they were aged parents and monitors. They may in the end prove wiser than he.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.
—Indira Gandhi (1917–84) Indian Head of State
Persecution is a tribute the great must always pay for preeminence.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
I’m interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.
—Clint Eastwood (b.1930) American Film Director, Film Producer, Film Actor
To lay aside all prejudices, is to lay aside all principles.—He who is destitute of principles is governed by whims.
—Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819) German Philosopher
Because a total eclipse of the sun is above my own head, I will not therefore insist that there must be an eclipse in America also; and because snowflakes fall before my own nose, I need not believe that the Gold Coast is also snowed up.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and even if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
—John Stuart Mill (1806–73) English Philosopher, Economist
Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men: through their prejudices they do without any effort many things they would find too difficult to think through to the point of resolving to do them.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free association with one who is.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
I wander if there really is a brave man with a really good imagination? If hypocrisy was destructive to the environment the world would have ended a long, long time ago.
—Unknown
Never suffer the prejudice of the eye to determine the heart.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
Prejudice is never easy unless it can pass itself off for reason.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I’m quite sure that … I have no race prejudices, and I think I have no color prejudices nor caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. Indeed, I know it. I can stand any society. All that I care to know is that a man is a human being—that is enough for me he can’t be any worse.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Prejudice is being down on something you’re not up on.
—Unknown
We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Prejudice and self-sufficiency naturally proceed from inexperience of the world, and ignorance of mankind.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Prejudice assumes the garb of reason, but the cheat is too thin.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Even when we fancy we have grown wiser, it is only, it may be, that new prejudices have displaced old ones.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Ignorance is less remote from the truth than prejudice.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
The most learned are often the most narrow-minded men.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Our prejudices are like physical infirmities – we cannot do what they prevent us from doing.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer