--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Both the fanatical believers and the…" description: "\"“Both the fanatical believers and the fixed attitude people are loud in their scorn of what they call “woolly minds.”… [But it] is the woolly mind that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/j-b-priestley-2-61184_psychology_both-the-fanatical-believers-and-the-fix_620899.jpg" --- # Both the fanatical believers and the fixed attitude people… ![“Both the fanatical believers and the fixed attitude people are loud in their scorn of what they call “woolly minds.”… [But it] is the woolly mind that combines scepticism about everything with credulity about everything. Being woolly it has no hard edges. It is easy, pliant, yet it has its own…” quote by J.B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/j-b-priestley-2-61184_psychology_both-the-fanatical-believers-and-the-fix_620899.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/j-b-priestley-2-61184_psychology_both-the-fanatical-believers-and-the-fix_620899.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/j-b-priestley-2-61184_psychology_both-the-fanatical-believers-and-the-fix_620899.jpg) > ““Both the fanatical believers and the fixed attitude people are loud in their scorn of what they call “woolly minds.”… \[But it\] is the woolly mind that combines scepticism about everything with credulity about everything. Being woolly it has no hard edges. It is easy, pliant, yet it has its own toughness. Because it bends, it does not break. … The woolly mind realizes that we live in an unimaginable gigantic, complicated, mysterious universe. To try to stuff the vast bewildering creation into a few neat pigeon-holes is absurd. We don’t know enough, and to pretend we do is mere intellectual conceit. … The best we can do is keep looking out for clues, for anything that will light us a step or two in the dark.”” [J.B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges humility, recognizing that a flexible, open‑minded approach—“woolly mind”—is resilient and better suited to navigating a vast, mysterious universe than rigid certainty. **In simple terms:** Stay open‑minded and humble about knowledge. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility and curiosity. Themes humility open‑mindedness intellectual humility resilience Mood thoughtful inquisitive reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - scientific research - philosophical inquiry - everyday problem solving - creative brainstorming Key Concepts epistemology skepticism credulity flexibility Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate a “woolly mind” in your work? - What assumptions are you holding too tightly? A Different Perspective Rigid certainty can blind us to new evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Credulity Woolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/credulity-woolly-5023558/) [Minds Woolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds-woolly-5023559/) [Mysterious universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious-universe/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Scepticism Credulity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scepticism-credulity-5023560/) [Woolly Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woolly-mind-5023556/) [Woolly Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woolly-minds-5023557/) ## Related quotes > [“This is a dynamic and mysterious universe and human life is, no doubt, conditioned by imponderables of which we are only dimly aware. 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