proverb · Words worth keeping
Attitudes don’t prove anything.
Attitudes don’t prove anything.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Attitudes separated from proof asks for evidence beyond a displayed stance. The saying questions treating confidence or manner as sufficient support for a claim.
What the words are saying
Anything makes the statement absolute, while a person’s expressed attitude can still be relevant information about their views. A useful interpretation distinguishes that information from proof of the underlying matter. Agreement, disdain or certainty alone does not establish what happened or what is correct.
Everyday example
A reader asks what evidence supports a confident assertion instead of accepting its forceful manner as proof.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish presentation from support for a claim.
What it does not mean
An attitude may be informative, but it does not alone settle the truth of a claim.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
United States
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.- Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 132; PDF page 18; collection label: United States
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- United States