One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.

When we are right, let’s try to win people gently and tactfully to our way of thinking, and when we are wrong – and that will be surprisingly often, if we are honest with ourselves – let’s admit our mistakes quickly and with enthusiasm. Not only will that technique produce astonishing results; but, believe it or not, it is a lot more fun, under the circumstances, than trying to defend oneself.

Just be respectful and when people have opinions that are better than yours, acknowledge them.

Let us accept truth, even when it surprises us and alters our views.

If you give people a firm opinion, you run the risk of being wrong. Guess what? People remember when you’re wrong a lot more often than when you’re right. So the tendency is to include all the possibilities. It’s intellectually honest, even.

It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.

If you're wrong, admit it!

I may be wrong in regard to any or all of them; but holding it a sound maxim, that it is better to be only sometimes right, than at all times wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them.

Remember that everyone has opinions and they are often bad. Opinions are easy to produce; everyone has plenty of them and most people are eager to share them — even to fight for them. Unfortunately many are worthless or even harmful, including a lot of your own.

What we need to become happier and to make the world a better place is not more pious illusions but a clearer understanding of the way things are.

You’re right to be skeptical—the world would be a better place if we were all a little less credulous.

It is nobler to declare oneself wrong than to insist on being right — especially when one is right.

As much as we think science is about being right, the actual practice of the stuff is largely focused on being wrong.
Why? Because being open to the possibility that you might be wrong is exactly how you get less wrong over time, sort of like saying “I’d better find all the holes in my argument before someone else can." Strangely, the way to make your ideas stronger is to try to break them. Looking for errors in your understanding rather than just trying to find supporting evidence is the best way to improve your ideas.

We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that — sometimes — we’re better off that way. 1.