'As the scale of the balance must necessarily sink when weights are placed upon it, so the mind must yield to clear proof.'
The emptier a mind is, and the less counterpoise it has, the more easily it sinks under the weight of the first argument. That is why children, the common people, women, and the sick are particularly apt to be led by the ears. But then, on the other hand, it is a stupid presumption to go about despising and condemning as false anything that seems to us improbable; this is a common fault in those who think they have more intelligence than the crowd. I used to be like that once, and if i heard talk of ghosts walking, or prognostications of future events, of enchantments or sorceries, or some other tale that i could not swallow,