Our beliefs are what determine our reality.
Our perceptions, actions, and ultimately our lives, are shaped by how we think and what we believe. Imagine our beliefs like filters that determine what we notice and how we interpret what we experience.
The good thing? These filters are malleable.
Even if we’ve had beliefs implanted or dictated to us that no longer serve us, we can examine them, start to challenge them, and reshape them with time.
That’s why I’ve rounded up some of the best quotes about beliefs from famous psychologists, philosophers and thinkers.
May their words give you insights and new perspectives.
Quotes About Quotes
Belief creates the actual fact.
William James
Myths which are believed in tend to become true.
George Orwell
A widespread belief is more often likely to be foolish than sensible.
Bertrand Russell
Ralph Waldo Emerson
People only see what they are prepared to see.
Few really believe. The most only believe that they believe or even make believe.
John Lancaster Spalding
A wise man … proportions his belief to the evidence.
David Hume
You don’t believe things because they make your life better, you believe them because they’re true.
Veronica Roth
One person with a belief is equal to ninety nine who have only interests.
John Stuart Mill
Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.
Seneca
There can be no merit in believing something which you can neither explain nor understand.
John Lubbock
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
William James
He who believes needs no explanation.
Euripides
Belief is the wound that knowledge heals.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Remember that what you believe will depend very much on what you are.
Noah Porter
The more we justify our beliefs, the more narrow-minded we become.
Lin Yutang
To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
Mahatma Gandhi
Strong beliefs win strong men, and then make them stronger.
Richard Bach
If you want to know what your true beliefs are, take a look at your actions.
Robert Anthony
Man is what he believes.
Anton Chekhov
He who does not know how to believe, should not know.
Antonio Porchia
I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself.
G.I. Gurdjieff
Beliefs are choices. First you choose your beliefs. Then your beliefs affect your choices.
Roy T. Bennett
Be brave to stand for what you believe in even if you stand alone.
Roy T. Bennett
A believer…is never disturbed because other persons do not see the fact which he sees.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition.
Jose Bergamin
Men freely believe that which they desire.
Julius Caesar
Beliefs create reality.
Melody Beattie
Believe in one thing too much and you have no room for new ideas.
Ray Bradbury
First we have to believe, and then we believe.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
It’s what you choose to believe that makes you the person you are.
Karen Marie Moning
Generally the theories we believe we call facts, and the facts we disbelieve we call theories.
Felix Cohen
Belief gets in the way of learning.
Robert A. Heinlein
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Belief is the death of intelligence.
Robert Anton Wilson
When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.
Walt Disney
The belief that others think they are right doesn’t mean that they are.
Steven Redhead
Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.
Bob Ross
I believe that deep inside us, we all strive to move forward and up, to scale new heights.
Erik Weihenmayer
Believe and have trust and faith that you are really capable of doing what you want to do.
Jamie Anderson
As a man believes, so he will act.
Sam Harris
Our success is measured by personal beliefs, not by anybody else’s standards or beliefs.
Henry Marsh
Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.
Michael Jordan
But if we’re skeptical about our ability to affect belief, we merely have to look at naturally sticky ideas, because some of them persuade us to believe some pretty incredible things. Chip Heath;
Dan Heath
The fact is, you do not believe what you see, but rather, you see what you already believe. Your deeply held beliefs distort your worldview and cause you to see things not the way they are but the way you are.
Brian Tracy
It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.
Muhammad Ali
Our beliefs led us to make certain decisions about what is valuable to us as human beings. As the day goes by, we choose to do whatever we think is valuable.
Jim Rohn
He who believes he can and he who believes he can’t are both usually right.
Confucius
On the other hand, if you believe in happiness and abundance, think only about them, talk about them with others, and act on your belief in them, it is a very good bet that you are seeing what you believe.
Wayne Dyer
I believe if you truly have a passion for something – and if you believe it’s your God-given purpose in life – you can do it.
Zig Ziglar
It’s what you choose to believe that makes you the person you are.
Karen Marie Moning
Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.
Gail Devers
Men willingly believe what they wish.
Julius Ceaser
You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.
Neil Gaiman
Stuart Chase
For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.
You are what you believe yourself to be.
Paulo Coelho
Norman Vincent Peale
What the mind can conceive and believe, and the heart desire, you can achieve.
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.
Mahatma Gandhi
Henry Miller
What distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their ability to act according to their beliefs.
Believing is a type of magic. It can make something true.
Emily X.R. Pan
Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.
Belva Davis
Sigmund Freud
He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.
Seeing is not believing; believing is seeing! You see things, not as they are, but as you are.
Eric Butterworth
We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Robertson Davies
The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
To believe in something and not to live it is dishonest.
Mahatma Gandhi
Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.
Robert Collier
Faith is expectancy. You do not receive what you want; you do not receive what you pray for, not even what you say you have faith in. You will always receive what you actually expect.
Eric Butterworth
Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
Joseph Campbell
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
Henry David Thoreau
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Marcus Aurelius
The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.
William James
Ralph Hodgson
Some things have to be believed to be seen.
In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true.
John Lilly
The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.
J. M. Barrie
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
Frank Lloyd Wright
To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
Anatole France
Every mental act is composed of doubt and belief, but it is belief that is the positive, it is belief that sustains thought and holds the world together.
Søren Kierkegaard
Anthony Robbins
What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.
Jennifer Donnelly
Believe that you can make your way. Or don’t. Either way, you are right.
Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.
Robert Collier
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Mark Victor Hansen
Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe.
Mary Kay Ash
Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
Robert Anthony
If you want to know what your true beliefs are, take a look at your actions.
Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.
Henry David Thoreau
Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you’ve changed, by believing.
Diane Duane
Parting Words
By being mindful observers, we can start to examine our beliefs and challenge our assumptions.
We all have the right to develop beliefs that empower us, and not keep us held back. Even if that requires challenging societal norms or setting off on our own path, our sovereignty and self-discovery needs to be prioritized.
Here’s to expanding our worldviews and living a life of freedom.
What’s your favorite quote about beliefs? Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. If you liked this, you might also enjoy these related quote collections:
- Quotes About Imagination for Those Who Dream Big
- Quotes About Momentum to Propel You on Your Journey
- Quotes About Vision to Light the Path Forward
- Quotes About Dreams and Reality
- Quotes About Self-Actualization
Originally published July 4, 2022. The date of the last significant edit is reflected at the top of the post.
