Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Focusing intensely on one absolute truth can make people ignore smaller, practical truths.
In plain terms
Believing you know everything makes you miss the little facts.
What can you take from it?
Dogma blinds us to everyday realities.

Where it applies

  • ideological debate
  • leadership
  • daily interactions

Putting it to work

  • balance convictions with open-mindedness
  • listen to others

Questions to consider

  • What truths might you be ignoring?
  • How open are you to different views?

Another view

Some truths require absolute focus to drive significant change.

More from Eric Hoffer

  1. We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

    Permalink to quote #45
  2. Modern man is weighed down more by the burden of responsibility than by the burden of sin. We think him more a savior who shoulders our responsibilities than h…

    Permalink to quote #47
  3. A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his en…

    Permalink to quote #44

Related quotes

  1. We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions.

    Daniel J. BoorstinDaniel J. Boorstin quote #1
  2. Bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand With a grip that kills it.

    Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore quote #2
  3. It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.

    John Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth Galbraith quote #7