“Man is free; but not unless he believes he is”

— Giacomo Casanova

.
The Story of My Life (trans. Sartarelli/Hawkes 2001), Preface, p. 1
Referenced

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Man is free; but not unless he believes he is" by Giacomo Casanova?

Giacomo Casanova55

Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice 1725–1798

Related quotes

“Man is a free agent; but he is not free if he does not believe it”

Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice

.
History of My Life (trans. Trask 1967), 1997 reprint, Preface, p. 26
Referenced

“You can't make a man a Christian unless you first make him believe he is a sinner.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (1937), p. 17
Misattributed

“Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.”

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist

J 249
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook J (1789)

“I believe that man is in the last resort so free a being that his right to be what he believes himself to be cannot be contested.”

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist

L 98
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook L (1793-1796)

“Man is not worshipful unless he is clement.”

Ali al-Rida (770–818) eighth of the Twelve Imams

Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 113.
Religious Wisdom

“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.”

Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1655) French novelist, dramatist, scientist and duelist

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.