Able Quote by George Eliot
“The dull mind, once arriving at an inference that flatters the desire, is rarely able to retain the impression that the notion from which the inference started was purely problematic.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, 1871
When a mind is pleased by an inference, it forgets the problematic origin of that thought.
In simple terms: Pleasant conclusions obscure their flawed basis
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions behind agreeable ideas
Themes
critical thinking
intellectual humility
philosophy
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
philosophical
educational
When to use this quote
- academic research
- decision making
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
cognitive bias
epistemology
self‑deception
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify the roots of your conclusions?
- Can comfort hinder truth seeking?
A Different Perspective
Pleasure can bias reasoning
![“I also suspect that many workers in this field [molecular biology] and related fields have been strongly motivated by the desire, rarely actually expressed, to refute vitalism.” quote by Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/81f/francis-crick-8439_biology_i-also-suspect-that-many-workers-in-this_502423.jpg)
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
