“[The empiricist] thinks he believes only what he sees, but he is much better at believing than at seeing.”
"Objections to Belief in Substance", p. 201
Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923)
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George Santayana 109
20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with P… 1863–1952Related quotes

“He was guided by what he saw rather than by what he wanted to believe.”
Source: A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), Chapter 11 (p. 109).

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 107

Source: A Way to Be Free: The Autobiography of Robert LeFevre, Volume I, (1999), p. 19

Sun-being to the court
The Other World (1657)
Context: O just ones, hear me! You cannot condemn this man, monkey or parrot for saying that the moon is the world he comes from. If he is a man, all men are free. Is he then not free to imagine what he wants, even if he does not come from the moon? Can you force him to have only your visions? Impossible! You may make him say that he believes that the moon is not a world, but still he will not believe it. To believe something, one must imagine that it is more probable than not. Unless you show him what is probable or he realizes it himself, he may tell you that he believes and yet he will not believe.