Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [41-60] of 64 Belief quotesBelief QuotesBelief Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes The great writers to whom the world owes what religious liberty it possesses, have mostly asserted freedom of conscience as an indefeasible right, and denied absolutely that a human being is accountable to others for his religious belief. Yet so natural to mankind is intolerance in whatever they really care about, that religious freedom has hardly anywhere been practically realised, except where religious indifference, which dislikes to have its peace disturbed by theological quarrels, has added its weight to the scale.~ John Stuart Mill No external force will ever succeed in making you 'want what you do not want and believe what you do not believe'. A man may take my life, but not my faith.~ Gerhard Oestreich Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.~ George Orwell The worst of all deceptions is self-deception.~ Plato If Americans wish to preserve a country they will recognize, then the first step is to recognize the enemy. Public education is the enemy. The entertainment industry is the enemy. The corporate culture is the enemy. The advertising industry is the enemy. And most of the politicians in both parties are the enemy. An enemy is defined as anybody, or any organization, which is attacking the traditional beliefs of Americans.~ Charley Reese Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded. Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave.~ Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr. Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it asks of its disciples that they should inhibit natural kindness in favour of systematic hatred.~ Bertrand Russell When all beliefs are challenged together, the just and necessary ones have a chance to step forward and reestablish themselves alone.~ George Santayana Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen.~ Homer Simpson I know that most men -- not only those considered clever, but even those who are very clever and capable of understanding most difficult scientific, mathematical, or philosophic, problems -- can seldom discern even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as obliges them to admit the falsity of conclusions they have formed, perhaps with much difficulty -- conclusions of which they are proud, which they have taught to others, and on which they have built their lives.~ Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless.~ Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi Whenever there is a simple error that most laymen fall for, there is always a slightly more sophisticated version of the same problem that experts fall for.~ Amos Tversky Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either.~ Mark Twain Often the less there is to justify a traditional custom the harder it is to get rid of it.~ Mark Twain ... if it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary.~ Mark Twain I am aware that when even the brightest mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never be possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast a doubt upon the validity of that superstition... (more)~ Mark Twain One of the proofs of the immortality of the soul is that myriads have believed in it. They have also believed the world was flat.~ Mark Twain Just as there is a very short distance between the U.S. and Cuba, there is a very short distance between a democracy and a dictatorship where the government gets to decide what to do, how to think, and how to live. And sometimes your freedom is not taken away at gunpoint, but instead it is done one piece of paper at a time, one seemingly meaningless rule at a time, one small silencing at a time. Never allow the government – or anyone else – to tell you what you can or cannot believe or what you can and cannot say or what your conscience tells you to have to do or not do.~ Armando Valladares When you control opinion, as corporate America controls opinion in the United States by owning the media, you can make the [many] believe almost anything you want, and you can guide them.~ Gore Vidal Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print