He who truly believes that which prompts him to an action has looked upon the action to lust after it, he has committed it already in his heart.
From William Kingdon Clifford
To know all about anything is to know how to deal with it under all circumstances.
We feel much happier and more secure when we think we know precisely what to do, no matter what happens, then when we have lost our way and do not know where to turn.
The harm which is done by credulity in a man is not confined to the fostering of a credulous character in others, and consequent support of false beliefs.
A little reflection will show us that every belief, even the simplest and most fundamental, goes beyond experience when regarded as a guide to our actions.
We may always depend on it that algebra, which cannot be translated into good English and sound common sense, is bad algebra.
There is no scientific discoverer, no poet, no painter, no musician, who will not tell you that he found ready made his discovery or poem or picture - that it came to him from outside, and that he did not consciously create it from within.
Our lives our guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by society for social purposes.
To sum up: it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
An atmosphere of beliefs and conceptions has been formed by the labours and struggles of our forefathers, which enables us to breathe amid the various and complex circumstances of our life.
3 perspectives
1 perspectives