Terry Eagleton Quotes

Man's mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it. The moment we want to disbelieve anything we have previously believed we suddenly discover not only that there is a mass of evidence against it but that this evidence was starting us in the face all the time.

If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.

I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth.

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

To the fantastic mental illness of Rationalism, hard facts are regrettable things, and to talk about them is to create them.

Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.

Wrong believing puts people in a prison. Even though there are no physical shackles, wrong believing causes its inmates to behave as though they were incarcerated in a maximum-security penitentiary.

We can't assume what we don't believe.

Between believing a thing and thinking you KNOW is only a small step and quickly taken.

The biggest problem we have as human beings is that we confuse our beliefs with reality.

Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.

We recognize that we create a product that is harmful and causes serious disease.

There is no proof that cigarettet smoking is one of the causes of lung cancer.

It's amazing how unwilling most people are to admit they don't know the answer to a question or a problem and instead charge forward on a 'gut instinct' that turns out to be crap.

No one should do drugs thinking that they will make a great record. That's not the way to go, for sure.

As prevalent as loneliness is, many people don't recognize that people that they know may very well be suffering from loneliness. It's important for many reasons, one of which is that it has a profound impact on health.

That idea of being so sure of what has happened, and what will happen, is the most idiotic human thing that anyone can do.

I like illusion when it is so convincing that we might as well see reality this way - I like to present to our belief system something that is convincing, that 'we know not to be.'

We all run the risk of thinking that people have common sense sometimes.

I've always been surprised at the number of people who think we've got it all figured out. It's incorrect, and it's a real problem.

Mental health affects every aspect of your life. It's not just this neat little issue you can put into a box.

When making decisions about people, stop confusing experience with evidence. Just as owning a car doesn't make you an expert on engines, having a brain doesn't mean you understand psychology.

It's scary, the way your mind can overpower what is real and what is right.

I know I am delusional at times, but I'm not completely-out-of-touch delusional.