Replies

The problem with being absolutely sure you are right (even in the pursuit of virtue) is that by definition anyone who disagrees with you must be absolutely wrong, and probably evil. Idealists always end up as tyrants.

I get your point, but am not entirely sure I agree.

I think the issue is not so much one of being absolutely sure I am right, but rather of whether I am arrogant enough to assume I have the right to force others to agree.

I think it's pretty clear the Founders were absolutely sure they were right that all men are created equal, but that belief by definition insulated them from a compulsion to impose their opinions on others.

I'm pretty sure it is at least as much what you believe in as it is how strongly you believe in it.