“It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative; it is not till the second or third thought that doubt begins. Belief is so vital and necessary that one would say the tendency was made strong at the perpetual risk of extra belief and superstition; it were better to believe too much than not enough. Hence mankind have always believed too much, as if to make sure that the anchor hold. To believe just enough, to free his mind from all cant and from all illusion, and see things just as in themselves they are, is the aim of the philosopher or of the true skeptic.”

“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?”

“Don't think too much. That makes you believe you have more choices than you do. Then you mind becomes confused.”

“You I admire as being more, — much more — a man, and more believer too, than half the canting orthodox.”

“The history of credulity would be the most singular page in the great history of mankind. From those vast beliefs which have founded religions and empires, down to the inventions that garnish the last new murder, there has always been a tendency in the human mind to believe with as little expense of the reasoning faculty as possible.”

“I always say: I believe in Judaism more than I believe in god. [Interviewer: What do you mean by that? ] Belief is maybe a very strong word. I’d say I relate to Judaism more.”

“So this is what I am

Pondering his eyes that could not
Conceive that I was a creature to run from

I who have always believed too much in words”

“If I grew up in the simple-minded belief that women were as strong and intelligent as men, it was because I came from a society that had once believed it.”

“It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”

“One should always be skeptical. That’s always been our problem. We have too many believers.”
“Believers in what?”