People who are stupid, unscrupulous, or hypocritical, think that others are just the same. And — this is the real pity — they treat them as if they were.

In most cases, people, even the most vicious, are much more naive and simple-minded than we assume them to be. And this is true of ourselves too.

Just as we tend to assume that the world is as we see it, we naively suppose that people are as we imagine them to be.

Most people go through life assuming that they’re right … and that people who don’t see things their way are wrong.

Why do people in this age think their own impoverished lives must be the norm of the universe?

We make the assumption that everyone sees life the way we do. We assume that others think the way we think, feel the way we feel, judge the way we judge, and abuse the way we abuse. This is the biggest assumption that humans make. And this is why we have a fear of being ourselves around others. Because we think everyone else will judge us, victimize us, abuse us, and blame us as we do ourselves. So even before others have a chance to reject us, we have already rejected ourselves. That is the way the human mind works.

In most cases, people, even wicked people, are far more naive and simple-hearted than one generally assumes. And so are we.

We assume that others think the way we think, feel the way we feel, judge the way we judge, and abuse the way we abuse. This is the biggest assumption that humans make. And this is why we have a fear of being ourselves around others.

Some pretend to be rich, yet have nothing; others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

From a young age, we pick up many false assumptions about the world, about life, and about exactly who we are living life.

Assume the worst about people and you get the worst.

The point is that we have all sorts of assumptions, not only about politics or economics or religion, but also about what we think an individual should do, or what life is all about, and so forth.

Some people judge you without even knowing you, they don’t take you seriously. Some even invent stories that are not true about you.

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.