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Conventional Wisdom Quotes

On seeing past what you expect to see.

These conventional wisdom quotes challenge the habit of only noticing what you already expect, a theme worth pairing with Careful attention.

It is now conventional wisdom that Americans do not care why we went to war in Iraq, that it is enough that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein.

Quotes by Adam Schiff

Just look at what is right in front of you. People don't do that. They see what they expect to see, what they want to see, what conventional wisdom tells them to see. They only hear the music and not...

Quotes by Vincent Bugliosi

Most people see what they expect to see, what they want to see, what they've been told to see, what conventional wisdom tells them to see - not what is right in front of them in its pristine condition.

Quotes by Vincent Bugliosi

Community organizing is all about building grassroots support. It's about identifying the people around you with whom you can create a common, passionate cause. And it's about ignoring the conventional wisdom of company politics and instead playing the game by...

Quotes by Tom Peters

Ability Quotes

I do think that the standard media is controlled by the conventional wisdom about global warming. We've come to believe - from reading a lot of articles and talking to a lot of scientists - that there's another side to...

Quotes by Steven Levitt

The so-called oligarchs have always had less influence than conventional wisdom attributed to them.

Quotes by Pyotr Aven

I'm particularly interested in black swan events: unprecedented surprises that destroy the conventional wisdom about how the world works.

Quotes by Paolo Bacigalupi

What I want is to have people's notion of adulthood no longer be so defined by being a parent. There is some kind of conventional wisdom that you're not really a mature person until you become a parent.

Quotes by Meghan Daum

I'm not a money manager, but I can tell you what the conventional wisdom is. The younger you are, the more risk you can take on.

Quotes by Maria Bartiromo

Against Quotes

I know conventional wisdom has always been to go to Europe, and I did that early on, and I tried it, but I realised pretty quickly if I wasn't playing, nothing else mattered - I wasn't going to be happy.

Quotes by Landon Donovan

The censors have always had a field day with James Joyce, specifically with 'Ulysses,' but also with his other writings. The conventional wisdom is that this is because of sexually explicit passages (and there certainly are those). I have always...

Quotes by Karen DeCrow

Instant, soluble coffee has long been the unspeakable wasteland of the coffee business. Conventional wisdom would be that no premium brand should go near it. But Howard Schultz's vision from day one has been to bring quality coffee to the...

Quotes by John Quelch

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.

Quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith

The conventional wisdom with David Mamet is, you do not change a word. And that agrees with me. If you want to change any of David's words, it's like wanting to change the iambic pentameter in Shakespeare - you should...

Quotes by John C. McGinley

Care Quotes

What's different now is that while political leaders used to give talking points to talk radio, now talk-radio hosts are giving talking points to political leaders. It's all part of the suffocating spin cycle we're in. In media, politics and...

Quotes by John Avlon

The conventional wisdom is that authors get only one chance in this world. If your first novel doesn't sell, publishers and bookstores lose interest, and your career stalls, barring an act of God or Oprah.

Quotes by Jeff Giles

It's probably conventional wisdom now that you bring openness of markets only after the market has developed to a certain level.

Quotes by James Wolfensohn

The conventional wisdom is that people come to the United States, and immigration is so great, and they say, 'America, what a great country.' And a lot of that is true.

Quotes by James Gray

All conventional wisdom has an element of truth to it, but good design requires more than an element of truth - it requires an ensemble of correct assumptions and valid calculations.

Quotes by Henry Petroski

More Quotes

Much of the conventional wisdom associated with Vietnam was highly inaccurate. Far from an inevitable result of the imperative to contain communism, the war was only made possible through lies and deceptions aimed at the American public, Congress, and members...

Quotes by H. R. McMaster

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these conventional wisdom quotes challenge?
They challenge the habit of only noticing what you already expect to see, rather than what's actually right in front of you.
Is there a repeated idea across multiple quotes?
Yes, two quotes make almost the same point: people tend to see what they've been told to see instead of observing directly.
Do the quotes mention grassroots organizing?
Yes, one connects conventional wisdom to community organizing, describing how identifying a shared cause can challenge accepted assumptions.
Is literary censorship discussed?
Yes, one quote notes that a famous novelist faced censorship, with conventional wisdom attributing it mainly to explicit content in the writing.
Where can I find more quotes about questioning assumptions?
Browse our Care collection for more quotes about paying closer attention.

From grassroots organizing to literary censorship, the set questions received ideas and rewards Ability to look closer.