--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reasoning against a prejudice is like…" description: "\"Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a shadow; it exhausts the reasoner, without visibly affecting the prejudice\" — Charles Mildmay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg" --- # Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a… ![“Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a shadow; it exhausts the reasoner, without visibly affecting the prejudice” quote by Charles Mildmay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg) > “Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a shadow; it exhausts the reasoner, without visibly affecting the prejudice” [Charles Mildmay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-mildmay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prejudice resists logical challenge, draining mental energy without visibly altering bias. **In simple terms:** Fighting prejudice is exhausting and often ineffective. Key Takeaway Seek empathy and dialogue over pure logic. Themes bias reasoning psychology conflict communication Mood frustrated reflective Type Prejudice:1 Racism:0 Reason:1 Reasoning:1 Prejudice Like:0 Reasoning Prejudice:0 Affecting Prejudice:0 Reasoner Visibly:0 When to use this quote - debates - education - policy making Key Concepts cognitive bias critical thinking social influence Questions to Reflect On - What strategies complement reason in reducing prejudice? - Can emotional appeals be more effective? A Different Perspective Reason alone rarely changes deep-seated beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affecting Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affecting-prejudice-5491962/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Prejudice Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice-like-2285329/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reasoner Visibly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoner-visibly-5491963/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) [Reasoning Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning-prejudice-5491961/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes racial prejudice is like a hair across your cheek. You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-anderson/sometimes-racial-prejudice-is-like-a-hair-across-your-cheek-you-can-t/) [Marian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-anderson/) > [Prejudice is like a hair across your cheek. You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-anderson/prejudice-is-like-a-hair-across-your-cheek-you-can-t-see-it-you-can-t/) [Marian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-anderson/) > [Prejudice, like the spider, makes everywhere its home. It has neither taste nor choice of place, and all that it requires is room. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/prejudice-like-the-spider-makes-everywhere-its-home-it-has-neither/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“In Russia I felt for the first time like a full human being – no colour prejudice like in Mississippi, no colour prejudice like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/in-russia-i-felt-for-the-first-time-like-a-full-human-being-no-colour/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [Prejudice: Sometimes it's like a hair across your cheek. You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-anderson/prejudice-sometimes-it-s-like-a-hair-across-your-cheek-you-can-t-see/) [Marian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-anderson/) > [They proved to me by convincing reasons that God does not exist; Afterwards I saw God, for he came and embraced me. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [“It is easy to confuse a fantasy for a reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duop-chak-wuol/it-is-easy-to-confuse-a-fantasy-for-a-reality/) [Duop Chak Wuol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duop-chak-wuol/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“When a lady does consent to listen to an argument against her own opinions, she is always predetermined to withstand it - to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/when-a-lady-does-consent-to-listen-to-an-argument-against-her-own/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Death makes its own choices. Has reasoning an order has a taste…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelo-tsanatelis/death-makes-its-own-choices-has-reasoning-an-order-has-a-taste/) [Angelo Tsanatelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelo-tsanatelis/) > [Each Act of Parliament intended to address harassment and discrimination has faced objections on the basis of 'you'll never be able to prove...' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-field/each-act-of-parliament-intended-to-address-harassment-and/) [Tim Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-field/) > [Trying to understand the way nature works involves a most terrible test of human reasoning ability. It involves subtle trickery, beautiful tightropes of logic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/trying-to-understand-the-way-nature-works-involves-a-most-terrible/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Logic is essentially a tool for getting at truth; it is the tool, for without it no reasoning is possible in any field of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oderberg/logic-is-essentially-a-tool-for-getting-at-truth-it-is-the-tool-for/) [David Oderberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oderberg/) ## More Prejudice quotes > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/when-dealing-with-people-remember-you-are-not-dealing-with-creatures/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Critics are biased, and so are readers. (Indeed, a critic is a bundle of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste.) But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-balliett/critics-are-biased-and-so-are-readers-indeed-a-critic-is-a-bundle-of/) [Whitney Balliett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-balliett/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I hate prejudice on any level. I don't care if it's somebody being discriminated against because of the color of their skin or their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlamagne-tha-god/i-hate-prejudice-on-any-level-i-don-t-care-if-it-s-somebody-being/) [Charlamagne tha God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlamagne-tha-god/) > [I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. But I do remember, if there was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry-hwang/i-felt-pretty-good-growing-up-i-didnt-feel-a-lot-of-prejudice-or/) [David Henry Hwang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry-hwang/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The emancipated woman has to fight something worse than the crusted prejudices of her uncles; she has to fight the bewilderment in her own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/the-emancipated-woman-has-to-fight-something-worse-than-the-crusted/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) [John P Lintz Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-lintz-sr/) > [We all have prejudices to dispel: the need to get away from thinking that 'I' am important and special and 'you' are not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/we-all-have-prejudices-to-dispel-the-need-to-get-away-from-thinking/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Nothing better protects a human being against the stupidity of prejudice, racism, religious or political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism than this truth that invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/nothing-better-protects-a-human-being-against-the-stupidity-of/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The fight against syphilis demands a fight against prostitution, against prejudices, old habits, against previous conceptions, general views among them not least the false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-fight-against-syphilis-demands-a-fight-against-prostitution/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) [Browse all 2,260 Prejudice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a shadow; it exhausts the reasoner, without visibly affecting the prejudice", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Mildmay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mildmay/reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fighting-against-a-shadow-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Prejudice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mildmay/reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fighting-against-a-shadow-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/charles-mildmay-227039_prejudice_reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fi_3123156.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reasoning against a prejudice is like fighting against a shadow; it exhausts the reasoner, without visibly…” — Charles Mildmay", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Mildmay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-mildmay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Reasoning against a prejudice is like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mildmay/reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fighting-against-a-shadow-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mildmay/reasoning-against-a-prejudice-is-like-fighting-against-a-shadow-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```