Opinions and convictions constantly change as we age

December 1st 2022
How is it that people are always so sure of their opinions about everything: religion, politics, love, and so on? Every few years they change and so do their convictions, and yet they still think that they are right. In their youth they thought one thing; as adults, they thought something else, and in their old age they think differently again. So why do they always cling so obstinately to their ideas? They should tell themselves, ‘My opinion has changed so often, how can I be sure that I am right today?’ Even when you are ninety-nine years old you should say, ‘I still do not know. Perhaps I shall see things more clearly in a few thousand years!’ It is all right to be confident in your ideas, but not in your judgment, which is limited and incomplete. Live a little longer and you will change again. Yes, because opinions constantly change depending on one’s experiences and on the level on which one has lived them.