Quotes About Beliefs

Foundationalism sounds too good to be true, and it is. For one thing, the distinction between "basic" and "nonbasic" beliefs appears simplistic and naïve

The human understanding, once it has adopted opinions, either because they were already accepted or believed, or because it likes them, draws everything else to support and agree with them. And though it may meet a greater number and weight of contrary instances, it will, with great and harmful prejudice, ignore or condemn or exclude them by introducing some distinction, in order that those earlier assumptions may remain intact and unharmed

On the contrary, we seem to be strongly disposed to irrationality, as examples below will illustrate. Therefore, the idea that we can understand how beliefs should be formed by looking indiscriminately at how they are formed is a hopeless task. Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds (1994), by cognitive scientist Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini sums up much of this evidence

Giving up embedded theology (even when necessary) is often painful. Could this be because we believe that if we disregard certain theological beliefs, we are somehow showing disrespect to those who were so instrumental in shaping our faith?

He had revealed the morbid psychology of the mind which has attained the October of its sensations, recounted the symptoms of souls summoned by grief and licensed by spleen, and shown the increasing decay of impressions while the enthusiasms and beliefs of youth are enfeebled and the only thing remaining is the arid memories of miseries borne, intolerances endured and affronts suffered by intelligences oppressed by a ridiculous destiny.

While I respect the Judeo-Christian ethic, as well as the eastern philosophies and of course the teachings of Mohammed, I find that organized religion has corrupted those beliefs to justify countless atrocities throughout history. Were I to attend church, I'd be a hypocrite.

The future of Conservatism lies in our beliefs and values, not by throwing them away. We need to shed associations that bind us to past failures, but hold faith with those things that make us Conservatives.

Citizenship of a democratic state means living by the laws of the country. A liberal democracy cannot survive when part of the population believes that divine laws trump those made by man.

China's official identity is a multiethnic state where all peoples, beliefs, and traditions are equally respected. The problem with this story is that Han Chinese run the country and it is their values, their dreams, and their traditions that define the national vision—not China's fifty-five other ethnic groups. Coming

When the mind is full of established biases, it will not be able to graft Sufism on top of them.

Muchas enseñanzas religiosas en el mundo son en realidad una forma confusa o deteriorada, muy diferente a sus raíces.

La gente en general maneja las situaciones por medio de suposiciones.

Behind our behaviors are our beliefs. They determine how we think things are and what is possible. The foundation of these beliefs is our conception of who we are, whether we are conscious of it or not.

To live in a place is to live by their values.

People still retain the errors of their childhood, their nation, and their age, long after they have accepted the truths needed to refute them.

If all of our actions and judgements stemmed from reflected, consciously endorsed beliefs and values then not only would the world be a better place, but this book would be several pages shorter .

Contrary to what you might expect, people from more gender-egalitarian countries are often less egalitarian when it comes to the gender stereotypes they typically endorse.

Great beliefs always come out of the sewers of cities, not out of the towers of the ziggurats.

While all societies make their own imaginaries (institutions, laws, traditions, beliefs and behaviors), autonomous societies are those that their members are aware of this fact, and explicitly self-institute (????-?????????). In contrast, the members of heteronomous societies attribute their imaginaries to some extra-social authority (i.e. God, ancestors, historical necessity)

On the other hand, preunderstandings are beliefs or perceptions that are fluid in that they are open to adjustment, refinement, or development by further interaction and reflection.

In a world where everyone is trying to be someone else, it's important to remember who you are and what you stand for.

our beliefs invariably drive our decision making.

What is the danger in the personalization era? Psychologists call it confirmation bias—"a tendency to believe things that reinforce our existing views, to see what we want to see."[53] What happens when we encounter new information that contradicts our beliefs? Researchers at Stanford monitored subjects' brain activity to trace how they responded to cognitive dissonance. Democracy is endangered when we only listen to people we agree with.

Through years of maturing, I've learned that it's not our job to force our beliefs down others' throats until they echo back what we want to hear. No, our job is to challenge their categories by doing the same things Jesus did: loving them, challenging them, accepting them, and forgiving them.