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In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not its taste, but its effect, ...

— J. William Fulbright The Arrogance of Power (1966)

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More quotes by J. William Fulbright

Power confuses itself with virtue and tends also to take itself for omnipotence.

The Arrogance of Power (1966)

The true mark of greatness is not stridency but magnanimity.

The Arrogance of Power (1966)

The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.

When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled.

Fanaticism is not a characteristic of mature societies but of unstable and politically primitive societies. Nor is it an expression of strength and self-confidence.

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Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

Thomas Jefferson Letter to Peter Carr (1787)

I had never doubted my own abilities, but I was quite prepared to believe that "the world" would decline to recognize them.

Colin Wilson Postscript to the Outsider (1967)

Love is the active, working principle in all true faith. It is its very soul, without which it is dead. "Faith works by love."

Jonathan Edwards Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: J. William Fulbright (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.