Cognitive Dissonance Quotes

• Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.

  Frantz Fanon

  Faith, Atheist, Strong

  324 Copy quote

• When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance.

  Leon Festinger

  Psychology, Trying, Information

  Leon Festinger (1962). “A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance”, p.3, Stanford University Press

  84 Copy quote

  Show source

• Wisdom is tolerance of cognitive dissonance.

  Robert Thurman

  Tolerance, Dissonance, Cognitive

  45 Copy quote

• It's a shame cars don't run on cognitive dissonance.

  Lewis Black

  Running, Car, Shame

  14 Copy quote

• America has long raised political and cultural cognitive dissonance to an art form. We are capable of living with enormous inequality and injustice while convincing ourselves that we are in fact moving toward what Churchill called the "broad, sun-lit uplands."

  Jon Meacham

  Art, Moving, America

  "Book World Live: Jon Meacham Discusses His Acclaimed Andrew Jackson Biography 'American Lion' with Readers". Live Q&As, www.washingtonpost.com. December 16, 2008.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every single day the world seems like it is on the brink of falling apart. But then I look outside my window, and things look about the same as they did a week ago. It's almost a form of cognitive dissonance.

  Moby

  Fall, Looks, World

  12 Copy quote

• I suspect that a lot of the stress we see around us arises from the cognitive dissonance set up by one side of the brain hearing very plausible spin while the other side knows it just ain't so.

  David Palmer

  Stress, Brain, Hearing

  11 Copy quote

• The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Motivational, Song, Atheist

  Christopher Hitchens (2007). “The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever”, p.480, Da Capo Press

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• I believe that I have created a lot of cognitive dissonance in the minds of people who are comfortable with stereotypes.

  Hillary Clinton

  Believe, People, Confusion

  4 Copy quote

• The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Atheist, Atheism, Siren Song

  Christopher Hitchens (2007). “The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever”, p.480, Da Capo Press

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• True believers are continually shown by reality that their god doesn't exist, but have developed extensive coping mechanisms to deal with this cognitive dissonance.

  Mark Thomas

  Reality, Coping Mechanisms, Religion

  7 Copy quote

• Myths, whether in written or visual form, serve a vital role of asking unanswerable questions and providing unquestionable answers. Most of us, most of the time, have a low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. We want to reduce the cognitive dissonance of not knowing by filling the gaps with answers. Traditionally, religious myths have served that role, but today — the age of science — science fiction is our mythology.

  Michael Shermer

  Religious, Knowing, Tolerance

  7 Copy quote

• Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.

  E. O. Wilson

  Spiritual, Nature, Keys

  "The Origins of Creativity review - stick to the ants, professor" by Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. October 8, 2017.

  147 Copy quote

  Show source

• What I do is create a lens through my work that corrects my readers' cognitive dissonance and says: you will see all of it - not what you want or what makes you comfortable, but all of it. And you will not erase what displeases you.

  Chris Abani

  Lenses, Want, Reader

  "The Rumpus Interview With Chris Abani". Interview with Peter Orner, therumpus.net. February 10, 2014.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Frankly, I see a lot of little girls dressed in ways I think are not very appropriate. It's too much too soon, and it causes a lot of cognitive dissonance about who they are - are they an 8-year-old, or are they a miniature fill-in-the-blank-celebrity? Parents have to draw the line.

  Hillary Clinton

  Girl, Thinking, Years

  Source: www.marieclaire.com

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The role of social media is critical because it helps to spread cognitive dissonance by connecting thought leaders and activists to ordinary citizens rapidly expanding the network of people who become willing to take action.

  Simon Mainwaring

  Media, People, Leader

  10 Copy quote

• A good title holds magic, some cognitive dissonance, a little grit between the teeth, but above all it is the jumping-off place into wonder.

  Barbara Kingsolver

  Book, Jumping, Magic

  9 Copy quote

• After a while, if you're committed, you start to believe in the things in which you're praying. It's just cognitive dissonance. You can't live a completely religious life and not start to have it sink in.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Religious, Believe, Praying

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• You'll be pleased to hear, Christopher, that I am no longer a Muslim liberal but an atheist [....] I find that it obviates the necessity for any cognitive dissonance.

  Ayaan Hirsi Ali

  Atheist, Atheism, Dissonance

  8 Copy quote

• I think it started to feel like home when I stopped maintaining any pretense that I was ever going to be in the movie business. I went there like many writers - I had a screenplay deal and I would go to these meetings and it was the typical thing. And I hated it. I was not interested in writing screenplays, actually. But I kept feeling like that was what I was supposed to do. It was just this horrible cognitive dissonance.

  Meghan Daum

  Home, Writing, Thinking

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source