--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Opinions are not to be learned by rote…" description: "\"Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. They are conclusions to be formed, and formed by..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef3/frances-wright-9487_alphabet_opinions-are-not-to-be-learned-by-rote-l_2749699.png" --- # Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters… ![“Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. They are conclusions to be formed, and formed by each individual in the sacred and free citadel of the mind, and there enshrined beyond the arm of law to reach, or force to shake; ay! and beyond…” quote by Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef3/frances-wright-9487_alphabet_opinions-are-not-to-be-learned-by-rote-l_2749699.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef3/frances-wright-9487_alphabet_opinions-are-not-to-be-learned-by-rote-l_2749699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef3/frances-wright-9487_alphabet_opinions-are-not-to-be-learned-by-rote-l_2749699.png) > “Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. They are conclusions to be formed, and formed by each individual in the sacred and free citadel of the mind, and there enshrined beyond the arm of law to reach, or force to shake; ay! and beyond the right of impertinent curiosity to violate, or presumptuous arrogance to threaten.” [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Opinions must be formed individually, not memorized, and protected from coercion. **In simple terms:** Think for yourself; opinions are personal conclusions. Key Takeaway Encourage independent thinking. Themes freedom critical thinking rights Mood thoughtful defiant Type philosophical political When to use this quote - education - public discourse - legal protections - media literacy Key Concepts philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you safeguard personal conclusions? - What role does law play in protecting thought? A Different Perspective Societal pressures can suppress dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) [Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionary/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Opinions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinions/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) ## Related quotes > [I used to have so many opinions before I learned the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yair-lapid/i-used-to-have-so-many-opinions-before-i-learned-the-facts/) [Yair Lapid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yair-lapid/) > [Human life has not a surer friend, nor oftentimes a greater enemy, than hope. It is the miserable man's god, which in the hardest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/human-life-has-not-a-surer-friend-nor-oftentimes-a-greater-enemy-than/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [It would be incredibly presumptuous and self-serving of me to believe that Facebook was the end of history. The only way it could possibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-parker/it-would-be-incredibly-presumptuous-and-self-serving-of-me-to-believe/) [Sean Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-parker/) > [The portrait painter... If he insults his sitters his occupation is gone. Whether he paints the should instead of the features, or the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/the-portrait-painter-if-he-insults-his-sitters-his-occupation-is-gone/) [Walter J. 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Connection has made people arrogant, impatient, hasty, and presumptuous. ...I don't doubt that instant communication has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/connection-is-the-triumphal-cry-these-days-connection-has-made-people/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [If I can say so without sounding presumptuous, I want to model women being collaborative instead of competitive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-baker/if-i-can-say-so-without-sounding-presumptuous-i-want-to-model-women/) [Julien Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-baker/) > [Let's face it: pop music in its myriad permutations will always be sexually presumptuous, racially controversial and, frequently, politically charged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hill/let-s-face-it-pop-music-in-its-myriad-permutations-will-always-be/) [Dan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hill/) > [You do not want to talk to me on the phone. How do I know? Because I don't want to talk to you on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/you-do-not-want-to-talk-to-me-on-the-phone-how-do-i-know-because-i/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-indeed-nothing-but-the-most-determined-scepticism-along-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/in-a-certain-reign-there-was-a-lady-not-of-the-first-rank-whom-the/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) ## More by Frances Wright > [... the happiness of a people is the only rational object of government, and the only object for which a people, free to choose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/the-happiness-of-a-people-is-the-only-rational-object-of-government/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [I am neither Jew nor Gentile, Mahomedan nor Theist; I am but a member of the human family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/i-am-neither-jew-nor-gentile-mahomedan-nor-theist-i-am-but-a-member/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [... so far from entrenching human conduct within the gentle barriers of peace and love, religion has ever been, and now is, the deepest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/so-far-from-entrenching-human-conduct-within-the-gentle-barriers-of/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [If they exert it not for good, they will for evil; if they advance not knowledge, they will perpetuate ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/if-they-exert-it-not-for-good-they-will-for-evil-if-they-advance-not/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [Moral truth, resting entirely upon the ascertained consequences of actions, supposes a process of observation and reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/moral-truth-resting-entirely-upon-the-ascertained-consequences-of/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [It is in vain that we would circumscribe the power of one half of our race, and that half by far the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/it-is-in-vain-that-we-would-circumscribe-the-power-of-one-half-of-our/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [However novel it may appear, I shall venture the assertion, that, until women assume the place in society which good sense and good feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/however-novel-it-may-appear-i-shall-venture-the-assertion-that-until/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [You have heard of, and studied various systems of philosophy; but real philosophy is opposed to all systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/you-have-heard-of-and-studied-various-systems-of-philosophy-but-real/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [Credulity is always a ridiculous, often a dangerous failing: it has made of many a clever man, a fool; and of many a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/credulity-is-always-a-ridiculous-often-a-dangerous-failing-it-has/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [Instead of establishing facts, we have to overthrow errors; instead of ascertaining what is, we have to chase from our imaginations what is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/instead-of-establishing-facts-we-have-to-overthrow-errors-instead-of/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [... we have broken down the self-respecting spirit of man with nursery tales and priestly threats, and we dare to assert, that inproportion as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/we-have-broken-down-the-self-respecting-spirit-of-man-with-nursery/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [it is not that religion is merely useless, it is mischievous. 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They cannot exist without equality of instruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/equality-where-is-it-if-not-in-education-equal-rights-they-cannot/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [The best road to correct reasoning is by physical science; the way to trace effects to causes is through physical science; the only corrective,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/the-best-road-to-correct-reasoning-is-by-physical-science-the-way-to/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [He who lives in the single exercise of his mental faculties, however usefully or curiously directed, is equally an imperfect animal with the man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/he-who-lives-in-the-single-exercise-of-his-mental-faculties-however/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) [Explore all 72 Frances Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) ## More Alphabet quotes > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, — whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-have-thought-that-wild-flowers-might-be-the-alphabet-of-angels/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. 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Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) [Browse all 336 Alphabet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. 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