While every one well knows himself to be fallible, few think it necessary to take any precautions against their own fallibility, or admit the supposition that any opinion, of which they feel very certain, may be one of the examples of the error to which they acknowledge themselves to be liable. (p. 24)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Even though we know we can be wrong, we rarely take steps to guard against our own errors or doubt our strongly held opinions.
- In plain terms
- We often ignore our own fallibility.
- What can you take from it?
- Adopt habits that check your own biases.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you currently test your convictions?
- What signals would prompt you to reconsider?
Another view
Self‑monitoring can be difficult without external feedback.
More from John Stuart Mill
To refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silen…
Permalink to quote #22 In proportion to a man's want of confidence in his own solitary judgment, does he usually repose, with implicit trust, on the infallibility of 'the world' in g…
Permalink to quote #24 We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still. (p. 24)
Permalink to quote #21
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