“He was guided by what he saw rather than by what he wanted to believe.”
Source: A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), Chapter 11 (p. 109).
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Vernor Vinge 34
American mathematician, computer scientist, and science fic… 1944Related quotes

Rumsfeld doesn't support sending U.S. troops into Libya http://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/08/rumsfeld.interview/index.html March 9, 2011.
2010s

“He wanted what he didn’t know and he didn’t know how to get what he wanted.’ (Acheron)”
Source: Acheron

Sun-being to the court
The Other World (1657)
Context: O just ones, hear me! You cannot condemn this man, monkey or parrot for saying that the moon is the world he comes from. If he is a man, all men are free. Is he then not free to imagine what he wants, even if he does not come from the moon? Can you force him to have only your visions? Impossible! You may make him say that he believes that the moon is not a world, but still he will not believe it. To believe something, one must imagine that it is more probable than not. Unless you show him what is probable or he realizes it himself, he may tell you that he believes and yet he will not believe.

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Alvin Journeyman (1995), Chapter 9.

“He knows what he wants, he's a good Jesuit, and the Jesuits know exactly what they want.”
Source: Cardinal Gracias: curial reform is nearing the 'end of the tunnel' https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36820/cardinal-gracias-curial-reform-is-nearing-the-end-of-the-tunnel (14 September 2017)

“He didn’t want to be what he wasn’t, he didn’t know how to be what he was.”
Source: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007), Chapter 46