Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal.

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.

Man is only great when he acts from passion.

Man is only great when he acts from passion.

Man is many things, but he is not rational.

Men are not rational beings, as commonly supposed. A man is a bundle of instincts, feelings, sentiments, which severally seek their gratification, and those which are in power get hold of reason and use it to their own ends, and exclude all other sentiments and feelings from power.

Man is a rationalizing beast, if not a rational one.

Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.

“Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal.
“For explanations of a universe that confuses him he seizes onto numerology, astrology, hysterical religions, and other fancy ways to go crazy. Having accepted such glorified nonsense, facts make no impression on him, even if at the cost of his own life. Joe, one of the hardest things to believe is the abysmal depth of human stupidity.”

I wonder who it was defined man as a rational animal. It was the most premature definition ever given. Man is many things, but he is not rational.

We must not draw general conclusions from certain particular principles, though, in the main, true ones. We must not suppose that, because a man is a rational animal, he will therefore always act rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and consequentially in the pursuit of it. No. We are complicated machines: and though we have one main-spring, that gives motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometimes stop that motion.

the current situation being a toss-up as to what you want to believe. Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal. Hence you will find that often what you believe is what you want to believe, rather than being the result of careful thinking.

— A man for whom accident discovers sense, is not a rational being. A man only is so who understands, who distinguishes, who tests it.

Man is a rational animal. So at least we have been told. Throughout a long life I have searched diligently for evidence in favor of this statement. So far, I have not had the good fortune to come across it.