The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Do you sometimes think, if I could just see Christ. If I could meet him. If I could talk to him personally, then this life would be easier. But you have seen him. You have met him. You have talked to him personally. This knowledge, believed in faith, can make life easier.
—Unknown
The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Faith is like love: it cannot be forced.—As trying to force love begets hatred, so trying to compel religious belief leads to unbelief.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is the master of all who are uncertain and wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world.
—James Freeman Clarke (1810–88) American Unitarian Clergyman, Abolitionist, Author
The first step is to fill your life with a positive faith that will help you through anything. The second is to begin where you are.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
Faith is the vision of the heart; it sees God in the dark as well as in the day.
—Unknown
Don’t lose faith in humanity: think of all the people in the United States who have never played you a single nasty trick.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Faith is God’s work within us.
—Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) Italian Catholic Priest, Philosopher, Theologian
Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither away under the slightest stormy weather.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
To me faith means not worrying.
—John Dewey (1859–1952) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Educator
Faith is an act of a finite being who is grasped by and turned to the infinite.
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965) American Lutheran Theologian, Philosopher
One’s own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one’s Maker and no one else’s.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
It is impossible on reasonable grounds to disbelieve miracles.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Whoever falls from God’s right hand is caught into his left.
—Edwin Markham (1852–1940) American Poet, Lecturer
Life is a battle between faith and reason in which each feeds upon the other, drawing sustenance from it and destroying it.
—Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) American Christian Theologian
Your faith is what you believe, not what you know.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
To Be is to live with God.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
You must have absolute faith in your own perceptions of truth. Never act in haste or hurry; be deliberated in everything; wait until you know the true way.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
You can change your faith without changing gods, and vice versa.
—Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909–1966) Polish Aphorist, Poet
At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings so reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate. So many people wanted to believe me! Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile!
—Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I shall have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
It is the heart which experiences God, not the reason.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Faith is hidden household capital.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
To me faith is not just a noun but also a verb.
—Jimmy Carter (b.1924) American Head of State, Military Leader
The only faith that wears well and holds its color in all weathers is that which is woven of conviction and set with the sharp mordant of experience.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic