Excerpt from The Ideas of the Day on PolicyNay, their conclusions may have nothing to do with any principles whatever. We know well enough that a large part of our Opinions are not the issue of ideas. To a great extent they do not grow up from within, but are thrust upon us from without. Irrespective of any reasoning, our views are shaped by the inuence of family or friends; by hereditary character; by what is vaguely but justly called the spirit of the age. In a thousand ways a bias may be given. Even those opinions which have sprung from reasoning, need not have sprung from ideas. They may have been inferred from certain facts, experiences, or assumptions. Or, again, they may have been warmed into life by imagery.

About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.