Rationality Quotes, June '26

Last night I slept poorly, so today's post is some rationality quotes. I include quotes when I find they are relevant and interesting, and not always because I straightforwardly agree with them. I would be glad to read more quotes in the comments!"Women were expected to have weak opinions; but the great safeguard of society and of domestic life was, that opinions were not acted on. Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them."—Middlemarch"Notions and scruples were like spilt needles, making one afraid of treading, or sitting down, or even eating."—Middlemarch"I’m not lying. I’m capable of, and willing to, genuinely believe in the opposite of my personal convictions. I can do that in certain situations."—Zsa-zsa Korda, The Phoenician Scheme“Self-reflection is a vice best conducted in private or not at all”—Roebuck Wright, The French Dispatch"Don't believe in yourself! Believe in me! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!"—Kamina, Gurren Lagan"Listen, Simon. Never forget. Just believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in; not in the Kamina that you believe in. Have faith in the Simon who believes in you."—Kamina, Gurren Lagan"The scepticism that I advocate amounts only to this: (1) that when the experts are agreed, the opposite opinion cannot be held to be certain; (2) that when they are not agreed, no opinion can be regarded as certain by a non-expert; and (3) that when they all hold that no sufficient grounds for a positive opinion exist, the ordinary man would do well to suspect his judgment.These propositions seem mild, yet, if accepted, they would absolutely revolutionise human life."—Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays"Weil's point about goodness is best paired with Arendt's observation about evil, for the former is just as important, and in some manner just as surprising. So much of our attention is spent parsing the intricacies of the sociopath's brain, the evil man's soul, but it