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About this quote

What does it mean?
Claiming absolute authority over truth invites ridicule.
In plain terms
Those who judge truth alone end up foolish.
What can you take from it?
Humility is needed when discussing truth.

Where it applies

  • academic debate
  • philosophical inquiry
  • public discourse

Putting it to work

  • questioning authority
  • teaching
  • researching

Questions to consider

  • Who decides truth?
  • Is claiming knowledge ever justified?

Another view

Some truths require firm judgment.

More from Edmund Burke

  1. The cold neutrality of an impartial judge.

    Permalink to quote #30
  2. Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.

    Permalink to quote #32
  3. It is the function of a judge not to make but to declare the law, according to the golden mete-wand of the law and not by the crooked cord of discretion.

    Permalink to quote #29

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