Donovan A. Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hello everyone, I am looking for a quote by Ayn Rand if my memory serves me correctly. The quote was something like the following: "It is better to arrive at an error on your own judgement than to accept the judgment of another person on faith." If anyone has a lead, I would appreciate it! Thanks so much, Randall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Campbell Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Randall,it's a paraphrase of a line in Galt's Speech, which contrasts an error made on your own with many truths accepted on faith.Will look it up when I get a chance.Robert Campbell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Accept the fact that you are not omniscient, but playing a zombie will not give you omniscience—that your mind is fallible, but becoming mindless will not make you infallible—that an error made on your own is safer than ten truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you the means to correct it, but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error.(Atlas Shrugged, Galt's speech). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Accept the fact that you are not omniscient, but playing a zombie will not give you omniscience—that your mind is fallible, but becoming mindless will not make you infallible—that an error made on your own is safer than ten truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you the means to correct it, but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error.(Atlas Shrugged, Galt's speech).DF:Very nice DF. That was not easy to find. Did Robert's clue help or did you just know where it was from?Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Dragonfly is a Rand critic of the finest sort.We don't agree on everything, especially more subtle interpretations, but he knows his stuff. And he does not try to distort Rand's meanings to take swipes at her. When he puts an idea forth, both for and against Rand, it's because it comes from the best thinking he can muster. It comes from the best within him.It's a fact. Dragonfly knows a lot more about Objectivism than many, many Objectivists.I love it when somebody can keep me on my toes.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfonso Jones Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Dragonfly is a Rand critic of the finest sort.We don't agree on everything, especially more subtle interpretations, but he knows his stuff. And he does not try to distort Rand's meanings to take swipes at her. When he puts an idea forth, both for and against Rand, it's because it comes from the best thinking he can muster. It comes from the best within him.It's a fact. Dragonfly knows a lot more about Objectivism than many, many Objectivists.I love it when somebody can keep me on my toes.MichaelI agree, Michael. Dragonfly is a careful thinker. Dragonfly - I'm glad you are here on OL. Bill P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Campbell Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Dragonfly,Many thanks for quoting that passage.We don't expect adherence to Kantianism to be a prerequisite for understanding Kant's ideas, or adherence to Aristotelianism to be a prerequisite for understanding Aristotle's.Eventually...Robert Campbell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan A. Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 Thank you for the help! That is the exact quote I was looking for. I had thought that it was in Galt's speech. I also ran a search through the Ayn Rand CD but there were just too many results for "error." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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