Quotes About Belief

Likewise, consider the statement of Benjamin Franklin delivered at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787: "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man.

In this present book, we are taking what Christian philosopher Gary Habermas, in another context, calls "the minimalist facts approach." We are only going to say what can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We are not going to present a hagiography of George Washington, i.e., we will not make him into an ecclesiastical saint. But we do believe that his own words and actions show that he was a Christian and not an unbelieving Deist.

No one can blame his defeat in a holy war on another person, priest, group or religion. Each man's holy war is his own.

a lie, once uttered, changes reality just as surely as if it were a great truth.

The purpose of your vote is't to elect someone, but rather to express your opinion.

A stable and prosperous Germany, he believed, was the best guarantor of a lasting peace.

2 Timothy 47.

How do you know when you're God?" "When I pray to him I find I am talking to myself.

There is no such thing as a fixed and reliable truth (except for the statement that this is so, presumably

At this point, if someone came in here and said he was Superman and he could piss that shark away from here, I'd say fine and dandy. I'd even hold his dick for him.

And the point? This is the point. Paradise lives in our heads so it can be anywhere and with anyone.

Second and third opinions can be valuable, but don't spin your wheels and lose time by getting ten opinions. Talk with two doctors and maybe three (as a tie-breaker); then do something. Going from institute to institute can take its toll both in terms of time and energy. Try to make a decision and go with it—and believe that you have made the best choice possible.

there is always hope; some people always do better than the numbers.

Some patients choose not to pursue treatment out of a sense of denial about the tumor. They may think, "Maybe they're wrong. Why take these risks associated with treatment? I don't want to put my family through this and my insurance won't cover it.

each technique carries a consistent message more important than any method: that each act that expresses trust in ourselves and belief in the validity of our own experience is always the right path to follow. Each act that is manipulative or filled with pretense is always self-destructive.

You do not have enough, therefore you are not enough" is a powerful belief sustaining the market. The faith communities must believe "You are enough, and therefore you have enough." And so must we all.

You become a director by calling yourself a director and you then persuade other people that this is true.

It is an act of love to say, "I believe in you as my child, and you don't need my help."

Even if it's absurd to think you can change things, it's even more absurd to believe that it is foolish and unimportant to try.

I knew my mother was right, but that didn't change the way I felt about things. People always think that if they can prove they're right, you'll change your mind.

Sometimes I envy religious people for the comfort of believing. It would make everything so much easier.

Most people think things are not real unless they are spoken, that it's the uttering of something, not the thinking of it, that legitimizes it. I suppose this is why people always want other people to say "I love you." I think just the opposite—that thoughts are realest when thought, that expressing them distorts or dilutes them.

It is a shame that we so quickly lose that ability to believe in things; it limits the opportunities we have to transform ourselves, to save ourselves, for it puts the awful burden of transforming and saving ourselves on ourselves. Once you stop believing, you cannot pray, or make sacrifices or pilgrimages, or light candles. You are stuck with yourself, in a world without miracles.

We believe in what we cannot know or understand. We do not believe in what we know.