Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
“We feel the necessity of deceiving ourselves, of even grossly deceiving ourselves, and of believing, when we are doing wrong, that we are doing right. When we do not succeed in reaching such persuasion, merely by sounding our own reason and conscience, we look about for something or some person to aid us in the attempt.”
Evangelical Meditations (1858)
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Alexandre Vinet 7
Swiss theologian 1797–1847Related quotes
“Are these signs of hope, or do we deceive ourselves by wishing them to be?”
Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book V : The High King (1968), Chapter 15 (Taran)
“We do not want a religion that deceives us for our own good.”
Science and the Unseen World (1929), VII, p.68
There There (2018)
Source: As quoted in [Buchanan, Rowan Hisayo, There There by Tommy Orange review – Native American stories, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/18/there-there-tommy-orange-review, 9 August 2018, The Guardian, July 18, 2018]
Journal entry (2 March 1861), Ch. 5 : The Beginning of the War.
Lucy Larcom : Life, Letters, and Diary (1895)
Context: What does cause depression of spirits? Heavy head and heavy heart, and no sufficient reason for either, that I know of. I am out of doors every day, and have nothing unusual to trouble me; yet every interval of thought is clouded; there is no rebound, no rejoicing as it is my nature to rejoice, and as all things teach me to do. We are strange phenomena to ourselves, when we will stop to gaze at ourselves; but that I do not believe in; there are pleasanter subjects, and self is a mere speck on the great horizon of life.
“We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know, because they have never deceived us.”
No. 80 (October 27, 1759)
The Idler (1758–1760)
“We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it.”