Quotes About Belief

There it was again: conscience. Lincoln believed he was acting according to motives higher than the merely political. "The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance," Lincoln had written to the Quaker Eliza P. Gurney in September. "Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us.

The opposite of fear is hope, defined as the expectation of good fortune not only for ourselves but for the group to which we belong.

The trust that Abraham Lincoln had in himself and in the people was surprising and grand, but it was also enlightened and well founded. He knew the American people better than they knew themselves, and his truth was based upon this knowledge.

Now as then, the tradition of faith that drove Lewis is too often used not to pursue justice but to amass power. Now as then, many white Americans profess to believe the gospel. And now as then, too many are content to accede to religious teachings more in principle than in practice. My aim is to show how John Lewis did both—and if he did both, then perhaps more of us can, too.

The author of the document would one day come to believe that it was sacred scripture and that his writing desk was a holy object.

The founding religion—at least in the Declaration—was based more on a religion of reason than of revelation. But it was still religion.

religion. "I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy," Paine wrote. "I do not believe…in the creed of any church I know of.

To seek vindication in the world but to suspect

As Lincoln remarked, "It is my private opinion that, if the Lord has been in Springfield once, he will never come the second time.

Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no hope in the usual acceptation of those words," Mary Lincoln recalled. "He never joined a Church; but still, as I believe, he was a religious man by nature.

With a chuckle, Churchill had replied: "Neither look for nor expect gratitude but rather get whatever comfort you can out of the belief that your effort is constructive in purpose.

Intellectually I know America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country," the novelist Sinclair Lewis

He seemed constantly impressed with the idea that, at the moment of his extinction, the noble fabric which he [sewed], must infallibly sink in ruins. For this, as in every other respect, the citizens of the United States are more fortunate than the Romans, as there is every reason to believe that the benefits of the present enlightened administration will extend to other generations." The

For the thoughtful believer, then, there is nothing more certain than the reality of uncertainty, nothing more natural than doubt, which is perhaps thirty seconds younger than faith itself (And even that approximation may be giving faith too much of a headstart).

I have always had a horror of words that are not translated into deeds, of speech that does not result in action," Roosevelt recalled. "I believe in realizable ideals and in realizing them, in preaching what can be practiced and then in practicing it.

Our fate is contingent upon which element—that of hope or that of fear—emerges triumphant.

These answers are fine as far as they go - but still children die, things go wrong, and hearts get broken, so the answers don't go very far. I certainly can't dispose of the challenges to Christian belief, nor can I make an entirely rational case for the existence of God. What I can do is join a vast chorus of voices who see religion as intrinsic and seek to make their home in the ethos of a faith that suggests an order and a direction amid the confusions of life.

I've always believed society to be a fundamentally rational thing, but what if it isn't? What if it is built on insanity?

Trying to prove you're not a psychopath is even harder than trying to prove you're not mentally ill,' said Tony.

Given all of this, you'd think LeBon's work might have at some point stopped being influential. But it never did. I suppose one reason for his enduring success is that we tend to love nothing more than to declare other people insane.

Maybe – as my friend the documentary maker Adam Curtis emailed me – they're turning social media into 'a giant echo chamber where what we believe is constantly reinforced by people who believe the same thing.' We express our opinion that Justine Sacco is a monster. We are instantly congratulated for this – for basically being Rosa Parks. We make the on-the-spot decision to carry on believing it.

Bad liars always think they're good at it. (quoting Michael Moynihan)

what we believe is constantly reinforced by people who believe the same thing.

It is an awful lot harder, Tony told me, to convince people you're sane than it is to convince them you're crazy. "I