Quotessence
Home / Topics / Beliefs Quotes

Beliefs Quotes

Browse 598 quotes about Beliefs.

Beliefs Quotes

“Some social ills are preserved by the common misbelief that things such as ignorance, greed, and stupidity do not have the stamina required to reach old age.”

ProblemWisdomHumorYoungQuotesBeliefSocialKnowledgeWiseSocietyStupidIgnoranceHumourQuoteProfoundEndureGreedStupidityIgnorantOld AgeThoughtfulSatireEnduranceThought ProvokingDeepRetirementInsightfulProblemsAphorismQuotationsBeliefsPreservationGreedyMaximsSayingsRetiredAdagesProverbsAphorismsMake You ThinkOldAxiomsAdageKnowledgeableStaminaProverbSatiricalSayingEpigramsQuotationGnomeMaximEpigramGnomesProvoke ThoughtMade Me ThinkAxiomDictumDictumsPreserveMisbeliefRetireMisbeliefsOld Age HomesSocial IllsSocietalOld Age HomeSocial Ill
Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Create image

“We say 'everyone is entitled to his beliefs', recognising the nastiness of a world which will not tolerate alternative beliefs, but over-looking the fact that some beliefs are nonsense and deserve to be called prejudice, bigotry or superstition rather than merely belief. But as Pascal knew, our prejudices do not respond to reason alone. It is as though all the proofs and evidence of philosophy had mistaken their rationality for how people actually think.”

ReasonPhilosophyBeliefsBlaise Pascal
Book:Roads That Move: A Journey through Eastern Europe
Create image

“Reasonableness is a matter of degree. Beliefs can be very reasonable (Japan exists), fairly reasonable (quarks exist), not unreasonable (there's intelligent life on other planets) or downright unreasonable (fairies exist). There's a scale of reasonableness, if you like, with very reasonable beliefs near the top and deeply unreasonable ones towards the bottom. Notice a belief can be very high up the scale, yet still be open to some doubt. And even when a belief is low down, we can still acknowledge the remote possibility it might be true. How reasonable is the belief that God exists? Atheists typically think it very unreasonable. Very low on the scale. But most religious people say it is at least not unreasonable (have you ever met a Christian who said 'Hey, belief in God is no more reasonable than belief in fairies, but I believe it anyway!'?) They think their belief is at least halfway up the scale of reasonableness. Now, that their belief is downright unreasonable might, in fact, be established empirically. If it turned out that not only is there no good evidence of an all-powerful, all-good God, there's also overwhelming evidence against (from millions of years of unimaginable and pointless animal suffering, including several mass extinctions - to thousands of children being crushed to death or buried alive in Pakistan earthquake, etc. etc. etc.) then it could be empirically confirmed that there's no God. Would this constitute a 'proof' that there's no God? Depends what you mean by 'proof'. Personally I think these sorts of consideration do establish beyond any reasonable doubt that there is no all-powerful all-good God. So we can, in this sense, prove there's no God. Yet all the people quoted in my last blog say you cannot 'scientifically' prove or disprove God's existence. If they mean prove beyond any doubt they are right. But then hardly anything is provable in that sense, not even the non-existence of fairies.”

ReasonScienceSufferingExistenceDoubtAtheismEvidenceAtheistProofJapanBeliefsRationalityUnreasonableFairiesOmnipotenceEmpiricismProblem Of EvilAtheist ArgumentQuarksEmpiricalOmnibenevolence
Author:Stephen Law
Create image

“এতগুলো শতাব্দী গড়িয়ে গেল, মানুষ তবু ছেলেমানুষ থেকে গেল কিছুতেই বড় হতে চায় না এখনো বুঝলো না যে "আকাশ" শব্দটার মানে চট্টগ্রাম কিংবা বাঁকুড়া জেলার আকাশ নয় মানুষ শব্দটাতে কোনো কাঁটাতারের বেড়া নেই ঈশ্বর নামে কোনো বড়বাবু এই বিশ্বসংসার চালাচ্ছেন না ধর্মগুলো সব রূপকথা যারা সেই রূপকথায় বিভোর হয়ে থাকে তারা প্রতিবেশীর উঠোনের ধুলোমাখা শিশুটির কান্না শুনতে পায় না তারা গর্জন-বিলাসী, অনুভব করতে পারে না ঐকতান কিছু কিছু মানুষ আমাদের সাবালক করার জন্য মাথা খুঁড়ে গেলেন তাদের বড় বড় ছবি ঝোলানো হয়, আসলে গ্রাহ্য করে না কেউ আয় কানাই, আয় কামাল, তোরা আয় পৃথিবী ভর্তি বুড়ো-খোকাদের পাগলামি দেখে আমরা একটা গাছতলায় দাঁড়িয়ে হাসাহাসি করি!”

PoetryReligionMankindBeliefsBengaliBangla
Book:কবিতা সমগ্র ৩
Create image

“In fact, it could be said that our language evolved for the express purpose of allowing us to participate in that interaction with others. That would explain why it is so hard to talk about whatever it is that might lie beyond or behind the description of the world: our language evolved to represent the description, and not the world itself.”

ChangeExistenceMoralityDeepBeliefsQuantum PhysicsCosmologyReflectLife ChangeOpen Your Mind
Book:Hoodwinked: Uncovering Our Fundamental Superstitions
Create image

“Effective communication requires the understanding of feelings and emotions associated with the words. This emotional communication is non- verbal and needs common faiths and beliefs. People can see, hear or write the words but not the feelings which come only when the speakers and listeners are connected with the bond of a common faith. Without faith, no effective communication is possible.”

FeelingsCommonCommunicationEmotionsSpeakersBeliefsPossibleAssociatedFaiths
Book:Myths are Real, Reality is a Myth
Create image

“The difference between "can" and "must" is the key to understanding the profound effects of self-interest on reasoning . . . The social psychologist Tom Gilovich studies the cognitive mechanisms of strange beliefs. His simple formulation is that when we WANT to believe something, we ask ourselves, "Can I believe it?" Then, we search for supporting evidence, and if we find even a single piece of pseudo-evidence, we can stop thinking. We now have permission to believe. We have a justification, in case anyone asks. In contrast, when we DON'T want to believe something, we ask ourselves, "Must I believe it?" Then we search for contrary evidence, and if we find a single reason to doubt the claim, we can dismiss it. You only need one key to unlock the handcuffs of "must." Psychologists now have file cabinets full of findings on "motivated reasoning," showing the many tricks people use to reach the conclusions they want to reach.”

DoubtPsychologyEvidenceReasoningBeliefsSelf InterestSocial Psychology
Author:Jonathan Haidt
Create image

“Beck [a psychiatrist who developed Cognitive behavioral therapy] noticed a common pattern of beliefs, which he called the "cognitive triad" of depression: "I'm no good," "My world is bleak," and "My future is hopeless." Many people experience one or two of these thoughts fleetingly, but depressed people tend to hold all three beliefs in a stable and enduring psychological structure.”

PsychologyDepressionThoughtsBeliefs
Book:The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure
Create image