#belief — Public Fediverse posts

When Britain Loved Being Fooled.

There is something wonderfully human about a good hoax.

Not fraud, exactly – fraud wants your money. Forgery wants you to believe that something newly made is old, valuable, or authentic. A practical joke wants a laugh, preferably at somebody else’s expense.

A hoax wants something slightly different.

It wants you to believe. For just long enough.

It is a woman who claims to have given birth to rabbits. A mysterious foreign princess who appears from nowhere speaking a language nobody recognises. A newly discovered document written by one of the greatest names in English literature. Or an advertisement promising that, on a particular evening at a particular theatre, a man will climb into an ordinary wine bottle.

All you really need is somebody prepared to tell the story.

And somebody prepared to believe it.

Britain has always been rather good at providing both.

The word hoax itself seems to have appeared in English towards the end of the eighteenth century and is probably related to hocus or hocus-pocus – the language of the conjuror, the juggler and the trickster. But before hoax became fashionable, there was another splendid word for much the same thing:

humbug

recorded in the middle of the eighteenth century for a trick, deception or imposition.

The words may have changed, but the practice certainly wasn’t new. People have always lied to one another. What makes a hoax interesting is not necessarily the lie. It is what happens next.
Because the best hoaxes rarely succeed simply because the person behind them is an exceptionally talented liar. They succeed because the lie arrives at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right form, and tells its audience something they are already prepared – perhaps even desperate – to believe.

That is where things become interesting.

We sometimes look back at historical hoaxes with a certain amount of smugness.

How could anyone possibly have believed that?

It is an easy question to ask when you already know the answer. Strip away that hindsight and things become considerably less comfortable.

Imagine being presented with an object apparently dug from the earth, accompanied by a convincing story about exactly where it was found. You know that similar objects exist. You know that important discoveries are being made. Perhaps another respected expert has already expressed an interest in it.
Would you dismiss it immediately? Or would you look a little closer?

In Victorian London, two Thames mudlarks called William Smith and Charles Eaton – better known as Billy and Charley – discovered that there was considerably more money to be made manufacturing history than digging it out of the mud.

Beginning in 1857, the pair produced supposedly medieval objects in hand-cut moulds: medallions, badges, figures and other curiosities decorated with strange images and wonderfully garbled inscriptions. They then sold them as antiquities recovered during excavations at Shadwell.

There were clues. Quite a lot of clues, actually. Some objects carried dates written in Arabic numerals despite supposedly belonging to the eleventh century. The inscriptions were nonsense. The designs were peculiar. Yet the objects found buyers.

When archaeologist Henry Cuming publicly denounced them as forgeries in 1858, the resulting controversy even ended up in court. Remarkably, respected antiquary Charles Roach Smith remained convinced that the objects were genuine. Part of his reasoning was effectively that no forger would produce anything so ridiculous.

Unfortunately, Billy and Charley would. Eventually some of their moulds were obtained and displayed at the Society of Antiquaries. The game was up – although the pair continued producing their creations for years afterwards. They made several thousand objects in total.

Today, examples are held by the British Museum. I love that they are exhibited there… as fakes… A worthless fake made to imitate a valuable antiquity survives long enough to become a valuable historical object in its own right.

But Billy and Charley understood something important. People don’t simply believe objects. They believe stories. Give an object a convincing provenance and it changes. A battered piece of metal becomes something recovered from an archaeological excavation. A scrap of handwriting becomes a lost manuscript. A photograph becomes evidence. An ordinary woman in unusual clothes becomes a princess. Sometimes the desire to believe becomes powerful enough to overcome evidence sitting directly in front of us.

It happens to experts too. Especially to experts.

Expertise does not make someone immune to deception. Occasionally it can provide the very framework that makes the deception convincing. A successful forger learns what an expert expects to see and gives it to them.

Collectors can be particularly vulnerable because rarity creates competition. The British Museum notes that wealthy collectors and fierce competition for spectacular antiquities historically created precisely the sort of market in which fakes flourished. When spectacular genuine objects were unavailable, forgers copied them, invented them or even took genuine antiquities and “improved” them with modern additions.

And that brings us to one of the most important ingredients in any successful hoax.

Want. Someone has to want the thing to be true.

The collector wants the extraordinary artefact. The scholar wants the discovery. The newspaper wants the sensational story. The audience wants to see the impossible performance. The believer wants the photograph to show something extraordinary. And sometimes the person being fooled has invested so much – money, reputation, pride or simple emotional attachment – that admitting the truth becomes harder than continuing to believe the lie.

That is why the revelation of a hoax is often almost as fascinating as the hoax itself.

Some victims laugh or become furious. Some quietly disappear while others double down spectacularly. And occasionally the hoax escapes from its creator altogether.

A joke repeated often enough becomes a story. The story is copied into books. Those books become sources for later books. Details change. Names appear. Locations shift. Someone adds something they heard from their grandmother. Eventually the person who started the whole thing could stand up and announce that they invented it and somebody, somewhere, would probably accuse them of participating in the cover-up.

At that point the hoax has become folklore. That is why old hoaxes remain so fascinating.

They aren’t really stories about stupid people being fooled by clever people.

They’re stories about trust. About authority. About reputation. About fashion. About the things a society considers possible at a particular moment in history. And, most of all, about belief.

Over the coming week, Mysterious Times will be looking at some extraordinary examples.

There will be rabbits.

There will be Shakespeare.

There will be a mysterious princess.

There will be an allegedly impossible theatrical performance.

And before we’re finished, one unfortunate London address is going to have a very, very bad day.

Some of the people we meet will be fraudsters. Some will be practical jokers. Some will begin with a relatively small deception and discover, rather too late, that it has grown completely beyond their control.

And plenty of intelligent, educated and perfectly sensible people will fall for them.

Welcome to Fakes, Frauds and Fabulous Hoaxes.

And remember – before we laugh too loudly at our ancestors, perhaps we should ask ourselves one question.

If we’d been there…

would we?

A quotation from Abraham Fortas

Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the view of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk, and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.

Abraham Fortas (1910–1982) American academic, jurist, lawyer; US Supreme Court Justice (1965–69)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 508 (1969) [majority opinion]

More about this quote: wist.info/fortas-abe/13226/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abefortas #America #argument #belief #Constitution #control #debate #disagreement #dissent #disturbance #firstamendment #freespeech #freedom #freedomofexpression #freedomofspeech #heterodoxy #majority #openness #opinion #popularopinion #SCOTUS #troublemaking #protest

A quotation from Abraham Fortas

Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the view of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk, and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.

Abraham Fortas (1910–1982) American academic, jurist, lawyer; US Supreme Court Justice (1965–69)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 508 (1969) [majority opinion]

More about this quote: wist.info/fortas-abe/13226/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abefortas #America #argument #belief #Constitution #control #debate #disagreement #dissent #disturbance #firstamendment #freespeech #freedom #freedomofexpression #freedomofspeech #heterodoxy #majority #openness #opinion #popularopinion #SCOTUS #troublemaking #protest

A quotation from Abraham Fortas

Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the view of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk, and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.

Abraham Fortas (1910–1982) American academic, jurist, lawyer; US Supreme Court Justice (1965–69)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 508 (1969) [majority opinion]

More about this quote: wist.info/fortas-abe/13226/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abefortas #America #argument #belief #Constitution #control #debate #disagreement #dissent #disturbance #firstamendment #freespeech #freedom #freedomofexpression #freedomofspeech #heterodoxy #majority #openness #opinion #popularopinion #SCOTUS #troublemaking #protest

A quotation from Abraham Fortas

Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the view of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk, and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.

Abraham Fortas (1910–1982) American academic, jurist, lawyer; US Supreme Court Justice (1965–69)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 508 (1969) [majority opinion]

More about this quote: wist.info/fortas-abe/13226/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abefortas #America #argument #belief #Constitution #control #debate #disagreement #dissent #disturbance #firstamendment #freespeech #freedom #freedomofexpression #freedomofspeech #heterodoxy #majority #openness #opinion #popularopinion #SCOTUS #troublemaking #protest

https://theconversation.com/why-criminal-justice-shouldnt-just-be-about-what-punishment-people-deserve-290393; https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-uk-favour-harsher-punishment-than-norwegians-belief-in-free-will-may-help-explain-why-286169; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/6/868 (open access). "The more strongly someone believes in #free #will, the harsher the #punishment they favour for #criminals." This is quite logical: if you believe that a #criminal act results from a free #choice, then you will believe the #person making that choice should be punished for making it. Our criminal #justice #system is founded on #belief in free will - but what if that belief is false?

https://theconversation.com/why-criminal-justice-shouldnt-just-be-about-what-punishment-people-deserve-290393; https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-uk-favour-harsher-punishment-than-norwegians-belief-in-free-will-may-help-explain-why-286169; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/6/868 (open access). "The more strongly someone believes in #free #will, the harsher the #punishment they favour for #criminals." This is quite logical: if you believe that a #criminal act results from a free #choice, then you will believe the #person making that choice should be punished for making it. Our criminal #justice #system is founded on #belief in free will - but what if that belief is false?

https://theconversation.com/why-criminal-justice-shouldnt-just-be-about-what-punishment-people-deserve-290393; https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-uk-favour-harsher-punishment-than-norwegians-belief-in-free-will-may-help-explain-why-286169; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/6/868 (open access). "The more strongly someone believes in #free #will, the harsher the #punishment they favour for #criminals." This is quite logical: if you believe that a #criminal act results from a free #choice, then you will believe the #person making that choice should be punished for making it. Our criminal #justice #system is founded on #belief in free will - but what if that belief is false?

https://theconversation.com/why-criminal-justice-shouldnt-just-be-about-what-punishment-people-deserve-290393; https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-uk-favour-harsher-punishment-than-norwegians-belief-in-free-will-may-help-explain-why-286169; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/6/868 (open access). "The more strongly someone believes in #free #will, the harsher the #punishment they favour for #criminals." This is quite logical: if you believe that a #criminal act results from a free #choice, then you will believe the #person making that choice should be punished for making it. Our criminal #justice #system is founded on #belief in free will - but what if that belief is false?

https://theconversation.com/why-criminal-justice-shouldnt-just-be-about-what-punishment-people-deserve-290393; https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-uk-favour-harsher-punishment-than-norwegians-belief-in-free-will-may-help-explain-why-286169; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/6/868 (open access). "The more strongly someone believes in #free #will, the harsher the #punishment they favour for #criminals." This is quite logical: if you believe that a #criminal act results from a free #choice, then you will believe the #person making that choice should be punished for making it. Our criminal #justice #system is founded on #belief in free will - but what if that belief is false?

I find that proving God's existence involves examining philosophical arguments, historical evidence, and personal experience rather than relying on empirical science alone.

#Philosophy #Theology #Faith #Existence #Belief

I find that proving God's existence involves examining philosophical arguments, historical evidence, and personal experience rather than relying on empirical science alone.

#Philosophy #Theology #Faith #Existence #Belief

I find that proving God's existence involves examining philosophical arguments, historical evidence, and personal experience rather than relying on empirical science alone.

#Philosophy #Theology #Faith #Existence #Belief

I find that proving God's existence involves examining philosophical arguments, historical evidence, and personal experience rather than relying on empirical science alone.

#Philosophy #Theology #Faith #Existence #Belief

I find that proving God's existence involves examining philosophical arguments, historical evidence, and personal experience rather than relying on empirical science alone.

#Philosophy #Theology #Faith #Existence #Belief

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽💒🛐💜✝️👑🕊️💦❤️‍🔥🏩🫂🗣️🐑🌐🌏💛🌀🍥🫶💒🤗{{{(Jesus SAYS!)}}}*(“If he refuses to listen to them!*tell it to the church!)👉

Matthew 18:15-20
#If #Your #Brother #Sins #Against #You #Church #Jesus #For #where #two #or #three #are #gathered #in #my #name #there #am #I #among #them #Spiritual #God #World #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Pray #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Saints #Savior #Light #Love #Belief #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Caring #Hospitality #Helping #Others #Gentleness #Understanding #Everyone #Unity #Earth

🤗☁️🌈☁️🪽😇🪽💒🛐💜✝️👑🕊️💦❤️‍🔥🏩🫂🗣️🐑🌐🌏💛🌀🍥🫶💒🤗{{{(Jesus SAYS!)}}}*(“If he refuses to listen to them!*tell it to the church!)👉

Matthew 18:15-20
#If #Your #Brother #Sins #Against #You #Church #Jesus #For #where #two #or #three #are #gathered #in #my #name #there #am #I #among #them #Spiritual #God #World #Christ #Holy #Spirit #Pray #Christian #Heaven #Hope #Saints #Savior #Light #Love #Belief #Faith #Truth #Goodness #Kindness #Caring #Hospitality #Helping #Others #Gentleness #Understanding #Everyone #Unity #Earth

A quotation from Margaret Mead

The children must be taught how to think, not what to think.

Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist
Coming of Age in Samoa, ch. 14 (1928)

More about this quote: wist.info/mead-margaret/85496/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #margaretmead #belief #education #orthodoxy #problemsolving #solutions #teaching #thinking #thought

https://youtu.be/vPS5Yw_YsHA

“To be the place the falling angel meets the rising ape”

#pratchett #hogfather #belief

https://youtu.be/vPS5Yw_YsHA

“To be the place the falling angel meets the rising ape”

#pratchett #hogfather #belief

https://youtu.be/vPS5Yw_YsHA

“To be the place the falling angel meets the rising ape”

#pratchett #hogfather #belief

https://youtu.be/vPS5Yw_YsHA

“To be the place the falling angel meets the rising ape”

#pratchett #hogfather #belief

https://youtu.be/vPS5Yw_YsHA

“To be the place the falling angel meets the rising ape”

#pratchett #hogfather #belief

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much that I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, Foreword (1960)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/33…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #actions #belief #choices #living #personalresponsibility #philosophy #responsibility #takeresponsibility #uncertainty #wordsanddeeds

A quotation from Orwell

The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time; the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against a solid reality, usually on a battlefield.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-03-22), “In Front of Your Nose,” “As I Please” column, Tribune Newspaper

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/29647/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #belief #cognitivedissonance #confirmationbias #facefacts #facereality #facingfacts #honesty #intellectualhonesty #realitycheck #selectivememory #selfdeceit #selfdelusion #truth #unreliablenarrator

Tommaso Piazza reviews Gabriele Contessa's book Science Denial in SERRC, https://social-epistemology.com/2026/06/12/a-review-of-gabriele-contessas-science-denial-tommaso-piazza/

An eralier review was by Maya Goldenberg, https://social-epistemology.com/2026/04/29/science-denial-post-trust-and-epistemic-blame-a-review-of-contessas-science-denial-maya-goldenberg/

#science #tiede #denial #scienceDenial #epistemology #socialScience #climateDenial #pseudoscience #postTruth #truth #misinformation #trust #motivatedInquiry #evidence #reasoning #motivatedReasoning #harm #egoism #collectiveResponsibility #society #futures #planetEarth #resistance #belief #ideology #epistemicSecurity #psychology #philosophyOfScience #philosophy #filosofia

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule, establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York

More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #zeal #belief #correctness #devotion #earnestness #martyr #martyrdom #opinion #reality #sacrifice #sincerity #truth

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients. The gifted propagandist brings to a boil ideas and passions already simmering in the minds of his hearers. he echoes their innermost feelings. Where opinion is not coerced, people can be made to believe only in what they already “know.”

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 83 (3.14.83) (1951)

More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/11263/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #agitprop #belief #confirmation #confirmationbias #conviction #disinformation #fear #ideas #justification #opinion #passion #predisposition #prejudice #propaganda #reinforcement #truebeliever

A quotation from Emerson

   A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.
   In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

More about this quote: wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #emerson #ralphwaldoemerson #belief #believeinyourself #confidence #creativity #ego #genius #humility #idea #opinion #originality #pride #selfappreciation #selfapproval #selfbetrayal #selfcensorship #selfconfidence #selfconsciousness #selfcriticism #selfdefeating #selfdeprecating #selfeffacing #selfesteem #selfjudgment #selfquestioning #selfreproach #selfsabotage #selftrust #spontaneity #trustyourself

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

I doubt that anyone does not really believe in God. People may think they don’t have any belief, but you will usually find that somewhere down in a human being’s soul there is a belief in something beyond himself. In any case, I would not judge a man’s character by his belief or unbelief. I would judge his character by his deeds; and no matter what he said about his beliefs, his behavior would soon show whether he was a man of good character or bad.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1956-08), “If You Ask Me,” McCall’s Magazine, Vol. 83

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/29…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #actions #atheism #atheist #behavior #belief #character #deeds #faith #higherpower #morality #religion #theism #values #wordsanddeeds #values

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 260 (1955)

More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/19134/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #agitprop #belief #bias #confirmationbias #disinformation #prejudice #propaganda #selfdeception #selfjustification

Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.
-- Sam Harris

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #SamHarris #Atheism #Belief #Religion

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Sunset #Kayaks #Everglades #Florida

A quotation from Claude Bernard

Men who have excessive faith in their theories or ideas are not only ill prepared for making discoveries; they also make very poor observations. Of necessity, they observe with a preconceived idea, and when they devise an experiment, they can see, in its results, only a confirmation of their theory. In this way they distort observation and often neglect very important facts because they do not further their aim.
 
[Les hommes qui ont une foi excessive dans leurs théories ou dans leurs idées sont non-seulement mal disposés pour faire des découvertes, mais ils font aussi de très-mauvaises observations. Ils observent nécessairement avec une idée préconçue, et quand ils ont institué une expérience, ils ne veulent voir dans ses résultats qu’une confirmation de leur théorie. Ils défigurent ainsi l’observation et négligent souvent des faits très-importants, parce qu’ils ne concourent pas à leur but.]

Claude Bernard (1813-1878) French physiologist, scientist
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine [Introduction à l’Étude de la Médecine Expérimentale] (1865) [tr. Greene (1957)]

More about this quote: wist.info/bernard-claude/81094…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #claudebernard #belief #bias #confirmationbias #experiment #observation #preconceivednotion #preconception #science #theory

A quotation from John F. Kennedy

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Letter (1960-10-26) to the National Conference of Christians and Jews Conference)

More about this quote: wist.info/kennedy-john/2252/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jfk #johnkennedy #johnfkennedy #belief #commitment #faith #freedomofreligion #protection #religiousfreedom #religiousintolerance #religiouspersecution #religioustolerance #tolerance

A quotation from Thomas Carlyle

No iron chain, or outward force of any kind, could ever compel the soul of a man to believe or to disbelieve: it is his own indefeasible light, that judgment of his; he will reign, and believe there, by the grace of God alone!

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London

More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/6667/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomascarlyle #belief #compulsion #force #freethought #freedomofreligion #freedomofthought #intolerance #judgment #orthodoxy #religiousfreedom #religiousintolerance #selfdirection #soul #theocracy

Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.
-- Sam Harris

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #SamHarris #Atheism #Belief #Religion

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Sand #Tracks #Iowa

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

In political life I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed, and had done the very best you could.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/61…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #belief #effort #government #integrity #meaning #politics #satisfaction #standforth #standup #whatmatters

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

In political life I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed, and had done the very best you could.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/61…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #belief #effort #government #integrity #meaning #politics #satisfaction #standforth #standup #whatmatters

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

In political life I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed, and had done the very best you could.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/61…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #belief #effort #government #integrity #meaning #politics #satisfaction #standforth #standup #whatmatters

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

In political life I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed, and had done the very best you could.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/61…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #belief #effort #government #integrity #meaning #politics #satisfaction #standforth #standup #whatmatters

A quotation from David Eddings

A man my age is willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment that comes each morning when I wake up and discover that I’m still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.

David Eddings (1931-2009) American writer
The Shining Ones, Part 1, ch. 7 [Fontan] (1993)

More info about this quote: wist.info/eddings-david/80270/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #davideddings #acceptance #age #belief #credulity #growingold #oldage #openmind

Top ten posts in October 2025

https://library.hrmtc.com/2025/11/01/top-ten-posts-in-october-2025/

#account #achieve #AdamHassan #AdamHulse #AdeptusExemptus #AdeptusMajor #AdeptusMinor #adopted #alchemicalInquiry #aleisterCrowley #AlexanderSaxton #AliMaloney #allBeings #AmandaBlake #amongMany #amusement #AmyBoucher #Anat #ancientGods #ancientIsrael #AngelikaMay #Anglican #anthology #archivalMaterials #artists #Asherah #astarte #astralDeities #AtlanticOcean #AtlantisBookshop #Baal #BarneyMuldoon #bbc #BBCRadio #belief #BernhardBeyer #bestPosts #bestRemembered #bestTen #biblicalMagi #Blondie #BobbyCampbell #BookOfTheLaw #buddhism #CJSubko #California #Canaan #CanaanitePolytheism #CanaaniteReligionAndMythology #CatholicSuperstition #celebrated #charlatan #CharlesMocenigo #ChristianIdiom #ChristianKabbalah #ChristianNonDuality #churchRitual #churches #ChymicalWedding #cleansing #commonMetaphysicalTemplate #comparativeFramework #ConfessioFraternitatis #conspiracies #conspiracy #contemplativePractice #cosmic #counterculturalBookshops #counterculturalIcon #cultOfYahweh #curiosity #dangerousManipulator #DanteBonutto #darkArts #DavidMitchell #deliverance #deliveranceMinistry #demanding #demonology #dismissed #distinctlySeparate #divineFeminine #DivineUnity #DoWhatThouWiltShallBeTheWholeOfTheLaw #Doctrinal #doctrineOfRéintégration #Doinel #drugTaking #dues #DutchSchulz #earlyHistory #EdgarBroughton #EdwardianEccentric #ÉgliseGnostique #El #EleanorGraydon #eliphasLevi #ElizabethRMcClellan #ÉlusCoëns #emanation #encounters #esotericChristianity #esotericCurrent #esotericKnowledge #esotericMysteries #EucharisticVision #evangelicalExcess #evilSpirits #evolved #exile #exorcism #expulsion #FUCKUP_ #faith #FamaFraternitatis #fascination #fear #feast #feminineEros #feminineWisdom #figure #finDeSiècle #fire #FissionChips #flamboyantShowman #FlorenceSusanneReppert #folk #Foreign #France #FrancisYoung #fraudster #freemasonry #FrenchEsotericism #FrenchTradition #fullyDefined #GaryLachman #genius #GeorgeDorn #GeraldineBeskin #GérardEncausse #gnosis #GnosticLiturgy #Gnosticism #god #goddeses #gods #greatGoddesses #greaterFeast #greaterMysteries #HagbardCeline #hardRock #HarryCoin #heavyMetal #HebrewBible #HermeticSymbolism #hermeticism #historicallyGrounded #history #historyOfIdeas #horrors #HowardTheDolphin #IanHGladwin #identity #illuminatedTreeOfLife #Illuminatus #ineffableOne #initiated #initiaticOrders #initiatoryCodification #institutionalDiversity #integralSpirituality #integrate #interiorPath #invoked #JDMYoder #JamesFoster #JannHaworth #JazColemanmKillingJoke #jimmyPage #JohnDay #JohnDillinger #JonathanHart #journals #JulesDoinel #Juniorus #keySource #LauraCathcart #leadingGods #LeeIrwin #lesserMysteries #Levi #LindaBromilow #lineage #lodgeRooms #lodges #Logos #louisClaudeDeSaintMartin #lucidDreamers #lucifer #LydiaWaites #madMan #magickalOrder #Magister #magus #MarkSSmith #MartinèsDePasqually #MaryLouServix #masculinePrinciple #masonic #master #metalMusicians #modernEurope #MoggMorgan #Molech #monotheism #monotheisticFaith #moon #Mot #mountaineer #MrCrowley #Musicians #mysteries #mysteriesOfNature #mysticalInsight #nativeChristianNonDuality #NeoplatonicMetaphysics #neoplatonism #newGeneration #nineGrades #occultChurches #occultReligion #occultist #October2025 #OldTestament #OllyPearson #openInvitation #OrderOfTheGoldenAndRosyCross #otherDeities #outrightRejection #OzzyOsbourne #paganGods #pansentience #Papus #PatrickDMiller #PaulMorley #pedagogiesOfUnity #pervert #Philosophus #pioneeringThinker #plymouthBrethren #poet #popularCulture #Power #practicalWisdom #Practicus #primaryDeity #progressiveEstablishment #prophet #provocation #psychedelia #public #publicForm #RLoftiss #realities #rediscover #Reincarnation #reintegration #religion #religiousHorror #religiousTrauma #remarkableTransformation #remarkablyCoherent #Rephaim #Resheph #return #rigorous #riteOfExorcism #ritual #ritualForms #robertAntonWilson #RobertPearson #RobertShea #rockStars #rosicrucian #RosicrucianManifestos #rosicrucianSociety #rosicrucianism #RyanDay #sacredMarriage #SaintMartin #SaintYvesDAlveydre #SashaRavitch #SaulGoodman #scandal #scandalous #selfMythology #seven #SgtPepper #SimonMoon #soleGod #sophia #spiritualEntities #spiritualOutlook #spiritualSignificance #StephenHoward #summary #summaryOfTheMonth #sun #symbol #symbolicSynthesis #syncreticCuriosity #taoism #thaumaturgicalHeritage #TheAMA #TheBeatles #TheGreatBeast #TheOneirocriticalSociety #theWickedestManInTheWorld #theWorldSOldest #theoreticalFoundations #Theoreticus #theurgy #ToddPurse #topPosts #topTen #underworldDeities #unity #unwaveringDevotion #VanessaSantos #Vedanta #vision #westernEsotericism #wholeness #WieboGrobler #worlds #wreckedLives #yahweh

Every “unknown” starts with belief. What’s your next mighty continent? #Inspiration #Leadership #Curiosity #Innovation #Vision #GrowthMindset #Exploration #Belief #CourageToExplore #Wisdom #ProfessionalGrowth #HumanPotential #Perspective #Motivation
https://medium.com/@mohindroo.sanjay66/the-courage-to-see-what-others-dont-c20bb1e1d361

A quotation from Will Rogers

If some of those Birds would spend their time following His example instead of trying to figure out His mode of arrival and departure, they would come nearer getting confidence in their Church.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1924-01-20), “Weekly Article: Send Mexico Our Wooden Ships, Too”
[58]

More info about this quote: wist.info/rogers-will/79044/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #WillRogers #example #Jesus #belief #Christianity #church #goodworks #theology #wordsanddeeds #works #organizedreligion #religion

A quotation from Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Know how to rank beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the harm they may cause.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 13 “Appelles the Painter, or What Do You Do If You Cannot Predict” (2007)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/taleb-nassim-nichola…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #blackswan #belief #conclusion #danger #harm #opinion #plausibility #potential #prediction #risk #riskanalysis

A quotation from Thomas Carlyle

But indeed Conviction, were it never so excellent, is worthless till it convert itself into Conduct. Nay properly Conviction is not possible ill then.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 2, ch. 9 (1834)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/7191/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomascarlyle #carlyle #action #behavior #belief #conduct #conviction #integrity #wordsanddeeds

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

There can be nothing more utterly subversive of all that is really valuable than the suppression of honest thought. No man, worthy of the form he bears, will at the command of church or state solemnly repeat a creed his reason scorns.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #honesty #honor #resistance #belief #compulsion #creed #freedomofconscience #freedomofreligion #freedomofthought #profession #religiousfreedom #subversion #suppression #thoughtcontrol #value #worthiness

"The experiment begun in 1492 was accompanied by a new relationship with the world and with each other, based on the novel idea that the prosperity of human societies lay in the submission of a wild and free nature to the rational act of exploitation. From then on, the entire living world was put to work, and in this first planetary empire, people, plants and animals became commodities circulating from one corner of the hemisphere to the other."

wrote Sylvie Laurent in her book "Capital et race : Histoire d'une hydre moderne"

#wilderness #progress #SylvieLaurent #capitalism #extractivism #capture #appropriation #grabbing #marchandization #Discovery #encounter #ChristopheColomb #Colomb #plantations #Antilles #America #Americas #history #slavery #agroBusiness #agriculture #NewWorld #quote #quotes #beliefs #belief #labour #technoCriticism

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

The uncompromising attitude is more indicative of an inner uncertainty than of deep conviction. The implacable stand is directed more against the doubt within than the assailant without.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 63 (1955)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/hoffer-eric/11433/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #belief #compromise #doubt #obstinacy #stubbornness #truebeliever #truth #uncertainty #uncompromising #zeal

"During the Middle Ages, many people believed that demonic possession caused #epilepsy As this belief faded, some people were thought to mimic or fake #seizures for personal gain..."

https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/bringing-epilepsy-out-dark-ages-diagnosis-eeg

...a "#belief" is a guess. Stop guessing, start LISTENING
#awareness starts there...