Belief Quotes - Page 34

• The land on which they (the Founding Fathers) formed this Union was stolen. The hands with which they built this nation were enslaved. The women who birthed the citizens of the nation are second class. This is the imperfect fabric of our nation, at times we’ve torn and stained it, and at other moments, we mend and repair it. But it’s ours, all of it. The imperialism, the genocide, the slavery, also the liberation and the hope and the deeply American belief that our best days still lie ahead of us.

  Melissa Harris-Perry

  Lying, Father, Hands

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• Every defensive end who is going to be picked in the first round is going to be a good pick for whoever they're chosen by, but if I had to tell you what sets me apart, that would be my desire and determination to get better. I know what I need to work on, I know my weaknesses, but I have that work ethic to improve every day. I have that want to be the best player at my position, and I have the belief in myself that one day that will come true.

  Justin Tuck

  Determination, Player, Work Ethic

  Interview with Jon Robinson, www.ign.com. March 29, 2005.

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• That though we are certain of many things, yet that Certainty is no absolute Infallibility, there still remains the possibility of our being mistaken in all matters of humane Belief and Inquiry.

  Joseph Glanvill

  Inquiry, Matter, Possibility

  Joseph Glanvill (1979). “Collected Works of Joseph Glanvill”, Georg Olms Verlag

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• The belief of our Reason is an Exercise of Faith, and Faith is an Act of Reason.

  Joseph Glanvill

  Exercise, Reason

  Joseph Glanvill (1979). “Collected Works of Joseph Glanvill”, Georg Olms Verlag

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• Today our duty is to destroy the myth of evolution, considered as a simple, understood, and explained phenomenon which keeps rapidly unfolding before us. Biologists must be encouraged to think about the weaknesses and extrapolations that theoreticians put forward or lay down as established truths. The deceit is sometimes unconscious, but not always, since some people, owing to their sectarianism, purposely overlook reality and refuse to acknowledge the inadequacies and falsity of their beliefs.

  Louis Agassiz

  Simple, Reality, Thinking

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• All men are, at times, influenced by inexplicable sentiments. Ideas haunt them in spite of all their efforts to discard them. Prepossessions are entertained, for which their reason is unable to discover any adequate cause. The strength of a belief, when it is destitute of any rational foundation, seems, of itself, to furnish a new ground for credulity. We first admit a powerful persuasion, and then, from reflecting on the insufficiency of the ground on which it is built, instead of being prompted to dismiss it, we become more forcibly attached to it.

  Charles Brockden Brown

  Powerful, Men, Ideas

  Charles Brockden Brown (1987). “Somnambulism and other stories”, Peter Lang Publishing

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• In religious belief as elsewhere, we must take our chances, recognizing that we could be wrong, dreadfully wrong. There are no guarantees; the religious life is a venture; foolish and debilitating error is a permanent possibility. (If we can be wrong, however, we can also be right.)

  Alvin Plantinga

  Religious, Errors, Guarantees

  Alvin Plantinga (2000). “Warranted Christian Belief”, p.81, Oxford University Press

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• The number one book of the ages was written by a committee, and it was called The Bible.

  Louis B. Mayer

  Book, Numbers, Age

  "Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies". 2001 edition,

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• My point is, however, that churches do promote beliefs that would more appropriately find a place in a context of intellectual debate. They wind up cheerleading for highly dubious opinions on historical, scientific, and metaphysical matters, simply on the bases of emotional preference and the inertia of tradition. They demand conformity to these beliefs, and if you cannot swim with the current, then, well partner, maybe you'd be happier in another pool, another lake in fact, the one ablaze with burning sulfur.

  Robert M. Price

  Cheerleading, Emotional, Wind

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• Real morality is not the product of fearing a spanking. But what does fundamentalist hell-belief encourage? It retards any developing moral judgment by freezing moral maturity right at the most primitive, most childish, stage: the fear of retribution-and fundamentalism threatens one hell of a spanking.

  Robert M. Price

  Real, Maturity, Doe

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• Modern liberalism, for most liberals is not a consciously understood set of rational beliefs, but a bundle of unexamined prejudices and conjoined sentiments. The basic ideas and beliefs seem more satisfactory when they are not made fully explicit, when they merely lurk rather obscurely in the background, coloring the rhetoric and adding a certain emotive glow.

  James Burnham

  Emotional, Glowing, Color

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• I think what teenagers lack is the belief that they can be unique and extraordinary in life. Make the most of your age because you're not going to be a teenager forever!

  Sabirul Islam

  Teenager, Unique, Thinking

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• I believe we are going to have to prepare ourselves for the difficult and patient task of outgrowing rigid and intransigent nationalism, and work slowly towards a world federation of peaceful nations. How will this be possible? Don't ask me. I don't know. But unless we develop a moral, spiritual, and political wisdom that is proportionate to our technological skill, our skill may end us.

  Thomas Merton

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Peace

  Thomas Merton (1995). “Witness to Freedom: The Letters of Thomas Merton in Times of Crisis”, p.102, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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• We believe that the possibility of the future far exceeds the accomplishment of the past. We review the past with the common sense, but we anticipate the future with transcendental senses. In our sanest moments we find ourselves naturally expecting or prepared for far greater changes than any which we have experienced within the period of distinct memory, only to be paralleled by experiences which are forgotten.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Memories, Believe, Past

  Henry David Thoreau (1968). “Reflections at Walden: Selected Writings”

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• NECTAR, n. A drink served at banquets of the Olympian deities. The secret of its preparation is lost, but the modern Kentuckians believe that they come pretty near to a knowledge of its chief ingredient.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Believe, Preparation, Secret

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.84, Courier Corporation

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• The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.

  Alexey Leonov

  Believe, Home, Light

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• In this age of inventive wonders all men have come to believe that in some genius' brain sleeps the solution of the grand problem of aerial navigation-and along with that belief is the hope that that genius will reveal his miracle before they die, and likewise a dread that he will poke off somewhere and die himself before he finds out that he has such a wonder lying dormant in his brain. We all know the air can be navigated-therefore, hurry up your sails and bladders-satisfy us-let us have peace.

  Mark Twain

  Lying, Believe, Sleep

  Mark Twain, John C. Gerber, Terry Firkins (1983). “Tom Sawyer Abroad ; Tom Sawyer Detective”, p.180, Univ of California Press

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• My belief is that to have no wants is divine.

  Socrates

  Want, Divine

  "Memorabilia". Book by Socrates,

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• We recognize a tree by its fruit, and we ought to be able to recognize a Christian by his action. The fruit of faith should be evident in our lives, for being a Christian is more than making sound professions of faith. It should reveal itself in practical and visible ways. Indeed it is better to keep quiet about our beliefs, and live them out, than to talk eloquently about what we believe, but fail to live by it.

  Ignatius of Antioch

  Christian, Believe, Tree

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• I believe in women. I desire . . . to do those things that would advance women in moral and spiritual, as well as educational work.

  Emmeline B. Wells

  Education, Spiritual, Believe

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• The law of chastity is not a negative proposition, but a positive one because in its observance there are spiritual values that far outweigh the physical dangers that we often emphasize. I believe the chances are that our children will respond to the positive attitude quicker and more thoroughly than they do to the negative. Let's show them the values that there are in that law.

  Antoine R. Ivins

  Spiritual, Children, Attitude

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• As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Life, Success, Believe

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1983). “Essays and Lectures”, p.298, Library of America

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• Calvin: Do you believe in the Devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man? Hobbes: I'm not sure man needs the help.

  Bill Watterson

  Believe, Men, Evil

  "The Days Are Just Packed". Book by Bill Watterson, October 1993.

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• With discipline, belief, and the right knowledge, we become the best we can be.

  Georges St-Pierre

  Discipline

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• Anyone is capable of anything (will plus belief is ability) if they themselves create the opportune moment and incentive. Heaven gives no genius to disbelievers and no vengeance worse than the body denied.

  Austin Osman Spare

  Giving, Heaven, Genius

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