Assumption Quotes

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  Assumptions are the termites of relationships.

  Henry Winkler

  Love, Funny, Relationship

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• Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason.

  Marcus Aurelius

  Opinion, Judgment, Reason

  Marcus Aurelius, C. Scot Hicks, David Hicks (2002). “The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations”, p.11, Simon and Schuster

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• What can be explained by the assumption of fewer things is vainly explained by the assumption of more things.

  William of Ockham

  Fewer

  William (of Ockham), Philotheus Boehner (1990). “Philosophical Writings: A Selection”, p.21, Hackett Publishing

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• Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.

  Alan Alda

  Change, Teaching, Humility

  34 Copy quote

• The way to keep yourself from making assumptions is to ask questions.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Way, Four Agreements, Asks

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• Do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others.

  Gautama Buddha

  Judging, People, Judgment

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• The problem with assumptions is that we believe they are the truth.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Being Happy, Truth, Believe

  "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom". Book by Don Miguel Ruiz, 1997.

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• Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority.

  Mencius

  Friendship, Men, Doe

  Mencius (1861). “The Chinese Classics”, p.252

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• Books are to be called for and supplied on the assumption that the process of reading is not a half-sleep, but in the highest sense an exercise, a gymnastic struggle; that the reader is to do something for himself.

  Walt Whitman

  Struggle, Book, Reading

  Walt Whitman (1876). “Two rivulets, including Democratic vistas, Centennial songs, and Passage to India [and As a strong bird on pinions free, and Memoranda during the war. Author's ed”

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• The harder you fight to hold on to specific assumptions, the more likely there's gold in letting go of them.

  John Seely Brown

  Letting Go, Goodbye, Fighting

  53 Copy quote

• Erroneous assumptions can be disastrous.

  Peter Drucker

  Thinking, Decision, Problem Solving

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• Strip away all the assumptions about what competition is supposed to do, all the claims in its behalf that we accept and repeat reflexively. What you have left is the essence of the concept: mutually exclusive goal attainment (MEGA). One person succeeds only if another does not. From this uncluttered perspective, it seems clear right away that something is drastically wrong with such an arrangement. How can we do our best when we are spending our energies trying to make others lose--and fearing that they will make us lose?

  Alfie Kohn

  Essence, Goal, Perspective

  Alfie Kohn (2013). “No Contest: The Case Against Competition”, p.19, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Don't Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Inspirational, Courage, Drama

  "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom". Book by Don Miguel Ruiz, 1997.

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• The most misleading assumptions are the ones you don't even know you're making.

  Douglas Adams

  Statistics, Knows, Mislead

  Douglas Adams, Mark Carwardine (2011). “Last Chance to See”, p.95, Ballantine Books

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• Ignorance is brought about by assumption.

  T. D. Jakes

  Ignorance

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• The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.

  William of Ockham

  Occam's Razor, Explanation

  77 Copy quote

• The universe is full of dead people who lived by assumption.

  Alan Dean Foster

  People, Dead People, Universe

  Alan Dean Foster (2011). “Splinter of the Mind's Eye: Star Wars Legends”, p.90, Del Rey

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• It is by education that we become prepared for our duties and responsibilities in life. If one is badly educated he must naturally fail in the proper assumption and practice of his duties and responsibilities.

  Marcus Garvey

  Responsibility, Practice, Failing

  Marcus Garvey, Tony Martin (1986). “Message to the People: The Course of African Philosophy”, p.98, The Majority Press

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• Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.

  Idries Shah

  Action, Study, Behinds

  Idries Shah (1978). “Learning how to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way”, p.91, Octagon Press Ltd

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• The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change.

  Edwin H Friedman

  People, Understanding, Unmotivated

  Edwin H. Friedman (2007). “A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix”, p.9, Church Publishing, Inc.

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• Most deadly errors arise from obsolete assumptions.

  Frank Herbert

  Errors, Obsolete, Arise

  Frank Herbert (2008). “Children of Dune”, p.82, Penguin

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• Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Responsibility, Power, Next

  "Wit and Wisdom of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield: Collected from His Writings and Speeches".

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• Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about me.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Expression, Ego, Selfishness

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• Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Sadness, Agreement, Want

  "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)". Book by Miguel Angel Ruiz, 1997.

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• It is always better to ask then to make an assumption.

  Miguel Angel Ruiz

  Asks

  10 Copy quote