We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions.

Quote by Jessamyn West

Topics: Jessamyn West Quotes

Sleeplessness is a desert without vegetation or inhabitants.

Sleeplessness is a desert without vegetation or inhabitants.

In my time and neighborhood (and in my soul) there was only one standard by...

In my time and neighborhood (and in my soul) there was only one standard by...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

Nothing is so dear as what you're about to leave.

Nothing is so dear as what you're about to leave.

Memory is a magnet. It will pull to it and hold only material nature has...

Memory is a magnet. It will pull to it and hold only material nature has...

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor...

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

Only a fool would refuse to enter a fool's paradise when that's the only paradise...

Only a fool would refuse to enter a fool's paradise when that's the only paradise...

Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the...

Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the...

If you want a baby, have a new one. Don't baby the old one.

If you want a baby, have a new one. Don't baby the old one.

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.

A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.

A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

In their sympathies, children feel nearer animals than adults.

In their sympathies, children feel nearer animals than adults.