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Who really said it

Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already

Written by Charles Sanders Peirce
Attribution status: Verified Reuse status: Free to reuse

Peirce opens The Fixation of Belief with this sentence. The essay appeared in Popular Science Monthly in November 1877.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already” Charles Sanders Peirce — The Fixation of Belief (1877)

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Provenance

The source

Work
The Fixation of Belief
Publication
1877
Location
Section I, opening sentence.

Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already.

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Public domain

This original English passage appears in a work published before 1931 and is public domain in the United States.

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Context

Why it mattered

Peirce immediately observes that people are much less satisfied with other people’s reasoning than their own. The joke opens a sustained argument about how beliefs become settled and how inquiry can correct them.

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About Charles Sanders Peirce

Charles Sanders Peirce

1839–1914 · American philosopher and logician

Charles Sanders Peirce was a philosopher, logician and scientist. His essays developed the approach to meaning and inquiry associated with pragmatism.

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The primary source (Chicago)

Charles Sanders Peirce. The Fixation of Belief. 1877. Section I, opening sentence.. Consulted via the linked source.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/few-persons-care-to-study-logic-because-everybody-conceives/

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