belief

After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is the essence which takes its place as life's redemption.

—Stevens,Wallace

The abdication of Belief Makes the Behavior smallö Better an ignis fatuus Than no illume at all.

—Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth

To be forced by desire into any unwarrantable belief is a calamity.

—Richards, I(vor) A(rmstrong)

Let me assert my belief that the only thing that we have to fear is fear itselfönameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror that paralyses needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

—Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano)

The authority of a belief imposed by religion surely destroys the discovery of reality.One relies on authority because one is afraid to stand alone.

—Krishnamurti,Jiddu

As Michael read the Gaelic scroll It seemed the story of the soul; And those who wrought, lest there should fail From earth the legend of the Gael, Seemed warriors of Eternal Mind Still holding in a world gone blind, From which belief and hope had gone, The lovely magic of its dawn.

—Russell, GeorgeWilliam pseudonym  Ó

Belief consists in affirming the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.

—Emerson, RalphWaldo

It is my belief,Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.

—Doyle, SirArthur Conan

When you have had a glimpse of such a disaster as this†the result is not necessarily disillusionment and cynicism.Curiously enough, the whole experience has left me with not less but more belief in the decency of human beings.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair

The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.

—Myles na Gopaleen

The French are polite, but it is often mere ceremonious politeness. A Russian imbues his polite things with a heartiness that compels belief in their sincerity.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

All argument is against it; but all belief is for it.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

A belief is made religious, not so much by its content, as rather by the way it is held.

—Cupitt, Rev Don

The inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.

—Bacon, Francis,Viscount St Albans

The belief that we can start with pure observations alone, without anything in the nature of a theory, is absurd.

—Popper, Sir Karl Raimund

He believed in sudden conversion, a belief which may be right, but which is peculiarlyattractive to the half- baked mind.

—Forster, E(dward) M(organ)

Thereisa species of personcalleda'ModernChurchman' who draws the full salary of a beneficed clergyman and need not commit himself to any religious belief.

—Waugh, Evelyn Arthur StJohn

The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief.

—Freud, Sigmund

I do not believe in Belief† Lord I disbelieveöhelp thou my unbelief.

—Forster, E(dward) M(organ)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

Faith may be defined brieflyas an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.

—Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis)

I can answer for but three things: a firm belief in the justice of ourcause, close attention in the prosecution of it, and the strictest integrity.

—Washington, BookerTaliaferro

   I am of the firm belief that everybody could write books and I never understand why they don't. After all, everybody speaks.Once the grammar has been learnt it is simply talking on paper and in time learning what not to say.

—Bainbridge, Dame Beryl Margaret

The expedition had now performed its functions. I saw that old father Nile without any doubt rises in the Victoria Nyanza, and as I had foretold, that lake is the great source of the holy river which cradled the first expounder of our religious belief.

—Speke,John Hanning

   During my tenure of power, myearnest wish has beento impress the people of this country with a belief that the legislature was animated bya sincere desire to frame its legislation upon the principles of equity and justice† Deprive me of power tomorrow, but you can never deprive me of the consciousness that I have exercised the powers committed to me from no corrupt or interested motives, from no desire to gratifyambition, or to attain any personal object.

—Peel, Sir Robert

They believed, in short, that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world. We have inherited this belief, and it has helped and hurt us.

—Miller, Arthur

'Beauty' is a currency like the gold standard. Like any economy it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in theWest it isthe last, best belief systemthat keeps male domination intact.

—Wolf, Naomi

There was scattered laughter in the rear of the theatre, leading to the belief that somebody was telling jokes back there.

—Kaufman, George S(imon)

One thing alone I charge you. As you live, believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to a greater, broader and fuller life. The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long.

—Du Bois,W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt)

Never think that you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you much at your own reckoning.

—Trollope, Anthony

The happy ending is our national belief.

—McCarthy,Joseph R(aymond)

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.

—Humboldt, Alexander, Baron von

Rome's just a city like anywhere else. Avastly overrated city, I'd say. It trades on belief just as Stratford trades on Shakespeare.

—Wilson

God grant that we may not have a European war thrust upon us, and for such a stupid reason too, no I don't mean stupid, but to have to go to war on account of tiresome Serbia beggars belief.

—Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes known as Princess May