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Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Men willingly believe what they wish.

It is commonly said that men are forward to believe whatever is connected with their own interest. This in common cases is true; but it is also true, that when some very great and unexpected good news is brought to us, we find it very difficult to credit it.

Men freely believe that which they desire.

A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.

Though men may be deep, mentally they are slow.

The true and the approximately true are apprehended by the same faculty; it may also be noted that men have a sufficient natural instinct for what is true, and usually do arrive at the truth. Hence the man who makes a good guess at truth is likely to make a good guess at probabilities.

Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.

All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.