Does not hold opinions, but they hold him; for when he is once possessed
with an error, 'tis, like the devil, not to be cast out but with great
difficulty. Whatsoever he lays hold on, like a drowning man, he never
loses, though it do but help to sink him the sooner. His ignorance is
abrupt and inaccessible, impregnable both by art and nature, and will
hold out to the last though it has nothing but rubbish to defend. It is
as dark as pitch, and sticks as fast to anything it lays hold on. His
skull is so thick that it is proof against any reason, and never cracks
but on the wrong side, just opposite to that against which the
impression is made, which surgeons say does happen very frequently. The
slighter and more inconsistent his opinions are the faster he holds
them, otherwise they would fall asunder of themselves; for opinions that
are false ought to be held with more strictness and assurance than those
that are true, otherwise they will be apt to betray their owners before
they are aware. If he takes to religion, he has faith enough to save a
hundred wiser men than himself, if it were right; but it is too much to
be good; and though he deny supererogation and utterly disclaim any
overplus of merits, yet he allows superabundant belief, and if the
violence of faith will carry the kingdom of heaven, he stands fair for
it. He delights most of all to differ in things indifferent; no matter
how frivolous they are, they are weighty enough in proportion to his
weak judgment, and he will rather suffer self-martyrdom than part with
the least scruple of his freehold, for it is impossible to dye his dark
ignorance into a lighter colour. He is resolved to understand no man's
reason but his own, because he finds no man can understand his but
himself. His wits are like a sack which, the French proverb says, is
tied faster before it is full than when it is; and his opinions are like
plants that grow upon rocks, that stick fast though they have no
rooting. His understanding is hardened like Pharaoh's heart, and is
proof against all sorts of judgments whatsoever.