--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Majorities are generally wrong, if only…" description: "\"Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.\" — George Saintsbury" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png" --- # Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons… ![“Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.” quote by George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png) > “Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.” [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Majorities often hold incorrect views, even when they believe they are right, highlighting the fallibility of popular opinion. **In simple terms:** Majorities can be wrong despite confidence. Key Takeaway Question consensus and seek evidence. Themes critical thinking majority opinion error confidence Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political voting - market trends - public health decisions Key Concepts cognitive bias social proof epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you accept because most people do? - How can you test majority claims? A Different Perspective Popular belief isn’t always correct. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generally Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generally-wrong-397387/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Majorities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majorities-1208516/) [Majorities Generally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majorities-generally-2764140/) [Majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reasons Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasons-right-298862/) [Wrong reasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-reasons/) ## Related quotes > [There can be as many wrong reasons to do the right thing as there are stars in the sky. There might even be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donita-k-paul/there-can-be-as-many-wrong-reasons-to-do-the-right-thing-as-there-are/) [Donita K. Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donita-k-paul/) > [“For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/for-you-often-learn-more-by-being-wrong-for-the-right-reasons-than/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [“You often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than right for the wrong reasons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/you-often-learn-more-by-being-wrong-for-the-right-reasons-than-right/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [“Doing the right for the wrong reasons is right and Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is wrong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-iraguha/doing-the-right-for-the-wrong-reasons-is-right-and-doing-the-wrong/) [Serge Iraguha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serge-iraguha/) > [Majorities and minorities cannot rightfully be taken at all into account in deciding questions of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/majorities-and-minorities-cannot-rightfully-be-taken-at-all-into/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is very good company by the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hope-is-generally-a-wrong-guide-though-it-is-very-good-company-by-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [English experience indicates that when the two great political parties agree about something it is generally wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/english-experience-indicates-that-when-the-two-great-political/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The critics are generally wrong, or they're fifteen, twenty years late. It's a great shame. They miss out on a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-critics-are-generally-wrong-or-they-re-fifteen-twenty-years-late/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is good company along the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-savile/hope-is-generally-a-wrong-guide-though-it-is-good-company-along-the/) [George Savile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-savile/) > [People in my situation get to read about themselves whether they want to or not. It's generally wrong. Or oversimplified - which is sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/people-in-my-situation-get-to-read-about-themselves-whether-they-want/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [General notions are generally wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wortley-montagu/general-notions-are-generally-wrong/) [Mary Wortley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wortley-montagu/) > [Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/heroism-feels-and-never-reasons-and-therefore-is-always-right/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Rather than speaking the truth for the right reasons we may want to make our point defend our position or put the other person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-fisher/rather-than-speaking-the-truth-for-the-right-reasons-we-may-want-to/) [Robert E. Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-fisher/) > [Because you know me right? You know me so well. You know everything about me, my influences, what hurts me,what helps me, what haunts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-you-know-me-right-you-know-me-so-well-you-know-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Things happen for the right reasons at the right time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/things-happen-for-the-right-reasons-at-the-right-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by George Saintsbury > [To pass to the deluge, and beyond it, and to come to close quarters with our proper division, the origin of Romance itself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/to-pass-to-the-deluge-and-beyond-it-and-to-come-to-close-quarters/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [One of the best known, and one of the least intelligible, facts of literary history is the lateness, in Western European Literature at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/one-of-the-best-known-and-one-of-the-least-intelligible-facts-of/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The transition state of manners and language cannot be too often insisted upon: for this affected the process at both ends, giving the artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-transition-state-of-manners-and-language-cannot-be-too-often/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Italian prose tale had begun to exercise that influence as early as Chaucer's time: but circumstances and atmosphere were as yet unfavourable for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-italian-prose-tale-had-begun-to-exercise-that-influence-as-early/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [But dinner is dinner, a meal at which not so much to eat - it becomes difficult to eat much at it as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/but-dinner-is-dinner-a-meal-at-which-not-so-much-to-eat-it-becomes/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [But even gold is not everything: and only a fanatic, and a rather foolish fanatic, would say that this style of fiction summed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/but-even-gold-is-not-everything-and-only-a-fanatic-and-a-rather/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The hardest thing to attain... is the appreciation of difference without insisting on superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-hardest-thing-to-attain-is-the-appreciation-of-difference-without/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [I do not think anything serious should be done after dinner, as nothing should be before breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/i-do-not-think-anything-serious-should-be-done-after-dinner-as/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [But at the time when he wrote, Englishmen, with the rarest exceptions, wrote only in French or Latin; and when they began to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/but-at-the-time-when-he-wrote-englishmen-with-the-rarest-exceptions/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Oratory is, after all, the prose literature of the savage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/oratory-is-after-all-the-prose-literature-of-the-savage/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [“Nothing is more curious than the almost savage hostility that humor excites in those who lack it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/nothing-is-more-curious-than-the-almost-savage-hostility-that-humor/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Miss Austen had shown the infinite possibilities of ordinary and present things for the novelist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/miss-austen-had-shown-the-infinite-possibilities-of-ordinary-and/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Odyssey is, indeed, one of the greatest of all stories, it is the original romance of the West; but the Iliad, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-odyssey-is-indeed-one-of-the-greatest-of-all-stories-it-is-the/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [Nothing is more curious than the almost savage hostility that Humour excites in those who lack it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/nothing-is-more-curious-than-the-almost-savage-hostility-that-humour/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The Book of History is the Bible of Irony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-book-of-history-is-the-bible-of-irony/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) [Explore all 26 George Saintsbury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Saintsbury" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-in-their-reasons-for-being/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-in-their-reasons-for-being/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/george-saintsbury-23162_ifs_majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-i_1895350.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.” — George Saintsbury", "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": "George Saintsbury", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Majorities are generally wrong, if only...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-in-their-reasons-for-being/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/majorities-are-generally-wrong-if-only-in-their-reasons-for-being/#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 } } ] } ```