| 1720 | Letters to a Young Clergyman |
| p. | 22520 | You can't reason someone out of an irrational opinion | |
| Full Idea: Reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired. | |||
| From: Jonathan Swift (Letters to a Young Clergyman [1720]) | |||
| A reaction: It would be hard to prove this, and someone full of irrational beliefs may have their rationality awakened by a sound argument. Nice remark, but too pessimistic. |