True Believer Quotes

We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression. ~ Eric Hoffer

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self. ~ Eric Hoffer

You care, you dare and you share; this is the unforgettable rule of every true believer and achiever. ~ Israelmore Ayivor

The fact of evolution is the backbone of biology, and biology is thus in the peculiar position of being a science founded on an unproved theory -is it then a science or a faith? Belief in the theory of evolution is thus exactly parallel to belief in special creation - both are concepts which believers know to be true but neither, up to the present, has been capable of proof. ~ L. Harrison Matthews

The bounden duty of a true believer towards men who profess to be Christians, and yet deny the Word of the Lord, and reject the fundamentals of the Gospel, is to come out from among them ~ Charles Spurgeon

The chief thought in life with the true believer is: How can I obey God? ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I know who you are," she said. "You're my enemy. The true believer. The righteous man with the righteous mission. The one that jails people for reading and burns the books. That persecutes people who do exercises the wrong way. That dumps out the medicine and pisses on it. That pushes the button that sends the drones to drop the bombs. And hides behind a bunker and doesn't get hurt. Shielded by God. Or the state. Or whatever lie he uses to hide his envy and self-interest and cowardice and lust for power. It took me a while to see you, though. You saw me right away. You knew I was your enemy. Was unrighteous. How did you know it? ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

In this life struggle, here I am among you fully cognizant that a true believer has no fear of what God has ordained for him. Those who are visited by fear live only for their present, under the illusion that the world began with them and will end with their departure. ~ King Hussein I

The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure. ~ Eric Hoffer

For though ours is a godless age, it is the very opposite of irreligious. The true believer is everywhere on the march, and both by converting and antagonizing he is shaping the world in his own image. And whether we are to line up with him or against him, it is well that we should know all we can concerning his nature and potentialities. ~ Eric Hoffer

[T]he downside of skepticism: it can easily turn into an arrogant position of a priori rejection of any new phenomenon or idea, a position that is as lacking in critical thinking as the one of the true believer, and that simply does not help either science or the public at large. ~ Massimo Pigliucci

As a mother, anything to do with my children, whether it's supporting their school or programs that support their education and enrichment. As a wife, anything that my husband is passionate about and helps to support. As a community member, anything that supports the Vail Valley, the place that I call home. As a friend of the founder and true believer in their mission, an organization called First Descents. They provide adventure camps to young adults and adults with cancer or who have survived cancer. ~ Trista Sutter

No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another. ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Soul-winning is the chief business of the Christian minister; it should be the main pursuit of every true believer. ~ Charles Spurgeon

To lose one's life is but to lose the present; and, clearly, to lose a defiled, worthless present is not to lose much. ~ Eric Hoffer

If the Communists win Europe and a large part of the world, it will not be because they know how to stir up discontent or how to infect people with hatred, but because they know how to preach hope. ~ Eric Hoffer

The True Believer ignores anything that doesn't fit his belief system. Instead, he inevitably comes to hold those beliefs at a very profound level. They can become absolutely part of his identity. It is this that brings together the religious, the psychic, the cynic (as opposed to the open skeptic) and the narrow-minded of all kinds. It is something I encountered a lot among my fellow Christians. At one level it can be seen in the circular discussion which goes as follows:

Why do you believe in the bible?
Because it is Gods word.
And why do you believe in God?
Because of what it says in the bible.

At a less obvious level, it can be seen in the following common exchange:

Why do you believe Christianity is true?
Because I have the experience of a personal relationship with God.
So how do you know you're not fooling yourself?
Because i know it is real.

Even as an enthusiastic believer myself I could see this kind of tautology at work, and over time I realized that it is common to all forms of True Belief., regardless of the particular belief in question. The fact is, it's enormously difficult - and you need to be fantastically brave - to overcome the circularity of your own ideologies. But just because our identity might be tied up with what we believe, it doesn't make that belief any more correct. One wishes that True Believers of any sort would learn a little modesty in their convictions. ~ Derren Brown

The poor on the borderline of starvation live purposeful lives. To be engaged in a desperate struggle for food and shelter is to be wholly free from a sense of futility ~ Eric Hoffer

Wherever they may have come from, and wherever they may have gone,
unicorns live inside the true believer's heart.
Which means as long as we can dream, there will be unicorns. ~ Bruce Coville

The power of God's faith will do miracles when you are a true believer. ~ Ramona Matta

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves. ~ Eric Hoffer

Starting out from the fact that the frustrated predominate among the early adherents of all mass movements and that they usually join of their own accord, it is assumed:
1) that frustration of itself, without any proselytizing prompting from the outside, can generate most of the peculiar characteristics of the true believer;
2) that an effective technique of conversion consists basically in the inculcation and fixation of proclivities and responses indigenous to the frustrated mind. ~ Eric Hoffer

The true believer is rewarded in every thing, even in affliction. ~ Abu Bakr

An atheist is a disappointed true believer; he is an angry and hungry soul who has failed to find a real god to whom he can anchor his hope ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

But Pastor Prince, doesn't such preaching just make believers feel that it is all right to go on sinning?"
Let me ask you a question: when a truly born-again believer knows that he is forgiven of all his sins, does he go, "Yippee! Now I can go sin all I want"?
I submit to you that no true believer of Jesus is looking for an excuse to sin. Many may be struggling with sin, but they are looking for a way out. They know that what they are doing is self-destructive and not glorifying to their Lord and Savior.
"Oh, Pastor Prince, I know of so-and-so, who says he is under grace, and now he has left his wife to be with his mistress."
Friend, let me be the first to tell you that this person isn't living under grace. The Word of God tells us in no uncertain terms that "sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14).
This Scripture shows us that when a person is truly under grace, he is not ruled by sin, nor does he happily continue to live a sinful lifestyle. Notice that it also tells us that the way to be liberated from sin's dominion is to come under grace. ~ Joseph Prince

Reputable scholars might have denied its authenticity, but there are always other scholars who disagree
and people will believe what they want to believe, never mind the evidence. If there is anything life has taught me, it is that there is no idea so absurd that someone will not accept it as truth, and no action so bizarre that it will not be justified in the eyes of a true believer. ~ Elizabeth Peters

In a society like ours, politics is improvisation. To the artful dodger rather than the true believer goes the prize. ~ Gore Vidal

The true believer can no more live without prayer, than without food day by day. ~ George Whitefield

When I argue with devout statists, sometimes other voluntaryists tell me that I'm wasting my time, opining that a particular statist is never going to "get it." I often respond by saying that that's rarely my intention. Most of the time, when I argue with statists, the goal is for ME to learn more about the mentality and psychology of authoritarian indoctrination, and to hopefully help any SPECTATORS--whether statist or anarchist--learn something from the exchange. (Both of those goals can be achieved even if the statist continues to be a lunk-headed dupe.) Earlier today, a funny but possibly profound analogy came to mind about this:

When I argue with "true believer" devout statists, I'm not being a doctor trying to heal an ailing patient; I'm being a coroner, doing an AUTOPSY on a patient who is already beyond any hope of saving, in the hopes that I, and anyone observing, may learn more about the "disease" of statism, in order to better understand the nature of it, and possibly prevent others from experiencing a similar fate. ~ Larken Rose

Kirstein's realization came sometime later, although he could never say exactly where or when. There is not one type of German, went the thought. There were many who were never Nazis, but remained silent out of fear. Nor is there one type of Nazi. There are those who went along to survive, or for career advancement, or out of a sheepish devotion to the status quo. Then there are the hardcases, the true believers. It is possible we will find what we are looking for only when the last true believer is dead. ~ Robert M. Edsel

What never fails inside the mind of an intellectual never works outside the confines of his head. The world's stubborn refusal to vindicate the intellectual's theories serves as proof of humanity's irrationality, not his own. Thus, the true believer retrenches rather than rethinks; he launches a war on the world, denying reality because it fails to conform to his theories. If intellectuals are not prepared to reconcile theory and practice, then why do they bother to venture outside the ivory tower or the coffeehouse? Why not stay in the world of abstractions and fantasy? ~ Daniel J. Flynn

Faith has its price. When misfortune strikes the true believer, he assumes he has done something to deserve punishment, but isn't quite certain what. The realist, recognizing that he lives in a Darwinian universe, is simply grateful to have made it to another sunset. ~ Jack McDevitt

Lawyer and technology writer Richard Koman, argued that Google has become a true believer in its own goodness, a belief which justifies its own set of rules regarding corporate ethics, anti-competition, customer service and its place in society. ~ Nicholas Carr

Collective unity is not the result of the brotherly love of the faithful for each other. The loyalty of the true believer is to the whole the church, party, nation and not to his fellow true believer. True loyalty between individuals is possible only in a loose and relatively free society . ~ Eric Hoffer

Your sweet spot is in between the true believers and the scoffing skeptics ... ~ Rob Brezsny

When you put your total faith in God, no matter what happens, to a person who's a true believer, if you die, you know you're going to heaven to be with God. ~ Jim Bakker

I'm a true believer in karma. You get what you give, whether it's bad or good. ~ Sandra Bullock

The loyalty of the true believer is to the whole
the church, party, nation
and not to his fellow true believer. ~ Eric Hoffer

A true believer does not fear physical death, rather he fears the death of his heart ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

True believers are continually shown by reality that their god doesn't exist, but have developed extensive coping mechanisms to deal with this cognitive dissonance. ~ Mark Thomas

Bosses are no more inevitable in state and local governments than dictators are in national governments. They will arise and prosper, nevertheless, if true believers of democracy - citizens devoted to the democratic ideals - do not constantly oppose them. ~ Charles Edison

I am a true believer that a record should not be a bunch of songs that sound exactly the same. ~ Bethany Cosentino

I think you already know that I'm a true believer in words. I believe in their power, in their ability to hurt and their ability to heal. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Everybody is a True Believer. Everybody has a little nugget they're convinced of that is the opposite of the nugget on the other side. And they're convinced it's fact. ~ Jane Haddam

Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. ~ Eric Hoffer

I'm a true believer that you have a moral obligation to keep your employees honest, and that is why you have controls, so I'm never tempted or put in a position where I could do something to defraud my employer. ~ Frank Abagnale

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. ~ Eric Hoffer

We are confident. We have ourselves. We know how to sacrifice. We know how to work. We know how to combat the forces that oppose us. But even more than that, we are true believers in the whole idea of justice. Justice is so much on our side, that that is going to see us through. ~ Cesar Chavez

I am an agnostic on most matters of faith, but on the subject of maps I have always been a true believer. It is on the map, therefore it is, and I am. ~ Tony Horwitz

To understand why I jumped from the Mormon wagon train requires an understanding of what Mormons are and how they think. While Mormons have some quaint, quirky and fanatical ideas, they really aren't much different from millions of poor, guilt-ridden souls who, throughout the march of human history, have hitched their hopes to mass movements of one sort or another. Eric Hoffer, in his brilliant treatise, "The True Believer," explains the attraction of joining a cause: "A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following 'by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness and meaninglessness of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated by freeing them from their ineffectual selves--and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole'. "Of all the cults and philosophies that competed in the Graeco-Roman world, Christianity alone developed from its inception a compact organization."

Once I realized this, it wasn't much of a leap out of religion altogether once I flew the Mormon coop. I simply wanted to be free from organizational groupthink. I escaped from the stuffy attic of religion's "pray, pay and obey" mentality into journalism's open laboratory of "who, what, where, when and why. ~ Steve Benson

Yes, he was leaving, but he'd told her repeatedly that they would find a way to make it work. and yes, it was true that they didn't know each other well, but considering the short time they'd been together, he'd learned enough to know that he could love her forever. all they needed was a chance. ~ Nicholas Sparks

A man asked Muhammad what was the mark whereby he might know the reality of his faith. Muhammad said, 'If thou derive pleasure from the good which thou hast performed and thou be grieved for the evil which thou hast committed, thou art a true believer.' The man said. 'In what doth a fault really consist' Muhammad said, 'when action pricketh thy conscience, forsake it.' ~ Muhammad

There was no point being a fan these days if you weren't willing to go the extra mile for your idols. It wasn't enough anymore to send them fan mail and kiss the posters above our beds. These days you weren't a true fan until you engaged in Twitter death threats and endless stan wars. The fandom landscape was peppered with land mines, and there was no other way to navigate it but to walk until you hit one. You come out the other side a little crazier, yeah, but you're also stronger. You are a true believer. You will do anything for the object of your affection. ~ Goldy Moldavsky

This sort of dwindling band of true believers each year gets together and talks about the wonderful progress that's been made. None of the rest of us can ever see that. ~ Robert L. Park

The card-carrying furfuckers looked down their narrow green true-believer noses at Zeb and his edgy like, ~ Margaret Atwood

I consider myself a Christian - a true believer in Jesus Christ - that He died for our sins. ~ Antonio Sabato, Jr.

No flesh, not even that of the true believer, is so completely under the influence of the Spirit that it will not bite or devour, or at least neglect, the commandment of love. ~ Martin Luther

With the certitude of a true believer, Vellya Paapen had assured the twins that there was no such thing in the world as a black cat. He said that there were only black cat chaped holes in the universe. ~ Arundhati Roy

It is forbidden to decry other sects; the true believer gives honour to whatever in them is worthy of honour. ~ Ashoka

The enemy - the indispensible devil of every mass movement - is omnipresent. He plots both outside and inside the ranks of the faithful. It is his voice that speaks through the mouth of the dissenter, and the deviationists are his stooges. If anything goes wrong within the movement, it is his doing. It is the sacred duty of the true believer to be suspicious. He must be constantly on the lookout for saboteurs, spies and traitors. ~ Eric Hoffer

Ramiel cocked an eyebrow.'We hope you will guide Kara and help her embrace her duties as a guardian angel-without the loss of her soul or rule breaking.'
David flashed his perfect teeth and put on an innocent look:'Me? Rule breaking? Never,your blessedness!I am a true believer in playing by the rules-you remember that.', he beamed. ~ Kim Richardson

To a true believer, death is but going to church: from the church below to the church above. ~ Augustus Toplady

I am a true believer of the three P'S-
Purpose, perseverance and patience ~ Charmaine J. Forde

While some consider God's standards as too confining, a true believer sees them as loving and freeing. ~ Craig Groeschel

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.' Eric Hoffer ~ Minette Walters

One seldom discovers a true believer that is worth knowing ~ H.L. Mencken

A little holiday spirit lives forever in everyone. Test your own holiday spirit. Give away all of it you can. You'll see, it comes right back to you. ~ Ray Palla

Coincidence is the science of the true believer. ~ Chet Raymo

As she told her staff, there was always time to hold someone's hand or listen to their worries or offer a shoulder to cry on, because in the blink of an eye you could be on the other side of that conversation. After all, tragedy didn't discriminate, so everyone was subject to the same whims of fate. No matter what your skin color was or how much money you had, whether you were gay or straight, or an atheist or a true believer, from where she stood, everyone was equal. And loved by someone, somewhere. ~ J.R. Ward

I'm a true believer that unless you're Prince or Stevie Wonder - and even Prince is showing that he needs help - not everybody can produce themselves. I'm definitely not that person. ~ Meshell Ndegeocello

Although God believers don't need evolution to be false, atheists need evolution to be true. ~ Ann Coulter

A true believer is a danger to humanity. ~ Al Jaffee

I'm a true believer that everything happens the way it should. ~ Charlize Theron

Jesus' intention in this parable was to compare the only good soil to the ones that were not legitimate alternatives. To Him, there was one option for a true believer. ~ Francis Chan

Children, savages and true believers remember far less what they have seen than what they have heard. ~ Eric Hoffer

Most true believers, when faced with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, will hold on to those beliefs even more strongly. ~ Mark Thomas

I am the salt of the earth, and I do not believe in the ninety percent rigmarole that is organized religion. But miracles? Miracles, my friend are a different thing entirely. From what I can see, miracles are built from love, and as far as love is concerned, I am a true believer. ~ Lorna Landvik

The true believer, no matter how rowdy and violent his acts, is basically an obedient and submissive person. ~ Eric Hoffer

Pressed for rules and verities, All i recolelct are these: Feed a cold and starve a fever. Argue with no true believer. Think-too-long is never-act. Scratch a myth and find a fact. ~ Phyllis McGinley

I'm a true believer that if someone bothers you, you care. ~ Elisabeth Hasselbeck

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths. ~ Eric Hoffer

To a man utterly without a sense of belonging, mere life is all that matters. It is the only reality in an eternity of nothingness, and he clings to it with shameless despair. ~ Eric Hoffer

Sometimes I'd see a movie in a private screening room. No fun. People took phone calls and messages while watching. Made jokes, talked. When I go to a movie I'm a true believer. Or I just walk out. ~ Mario Puzo

The true believer is not someone who disengages from this world in order to focus on heaven, but rather the one who tries to make this world more like heaven. ~ Alister E. McGrath

Even if you consider yourself on the right side of environmental issues and a true believer in climate change, chances are that you are actively degrading the earth as much as, or more than, the people you argue with. An effort tempered by humility will go much further than one armored with righteousness. ~ Hope Jahren

You call me an unbeliever. I shall therefore call you a True Believer since a lie is best met with one of similar magnitude. ~ Idries Shah

I'm a true believer in working hard and partying hard. I'm fortunate to be one of those people who can have just as much fun partying without alcohol. ~ Richard Branson

A true believer may worship Jehovah, Allah, or Brahma, the supernatural beings who allegedly created all life; a true believer may slavishly adhere to a dogma designed theoretically to improve life; yet for life itself - its pleasures, wonders, and delights - he or she holds minimal regard. Music, chess, wine, card games, attractive clothing, dancing, meditation, kites, perfume, marijuana, flirting, soccer, cheeseburgers, any expression of beauty, and any recognition of genius or individual excellence: each of those things has been severely condemned and even outlawed by one cadre of true believers or another in modern times. ~ Tom Robbins

No doubt the world's shamans have run the gamut from true believer to calculating fraud, and no doubt many true beliefs have been peppered by doubt. But so it is in other spiritual traditions, too. There are deeply religious Christian ministers who urge the congregation to pray for the ill even though they personally doubt that God uses opinion polls to decide who lives and who dies. ~ Robert Wright

You know for years, I've heard financial experts stress the importance of teaching your kids about money, but it wasn't until I saw my own son's perspective change that I became a true believer. ~ LZ Granderson

Because even more than wanting to hold her or kiss her, he simply ached to see her again. To spend time with her. To talk to her. He wanted to watch her roll her eyes when he said something ridiculous, he wanted to feel her hand on his arms like the day before. he wanted to watch her nervously tuck strands of hair behind her ear,and listen as she told him about her childhood. he wanted to ask her about her dreams and hopes for the future, to know her secrets. ~ Nicholas Sparks

As a composer and as a musician I'm a true believer - and this is not to be overly diplomatic - I'm a believer that there's artistry in everything from a lawn gnome to a desk chair to a symphony to an Andy Warhol painting. There's art in absolutely everything. ~ Darren Criss

He wanted to shout, telling her to stop. He wanted to tell her that he could stay, that he wanted to stay, that if leaving meant losing her, then going home wasn't worth it. But the words stayed trapped inside him ... ~ Nicholas Sparks

I do not understand how a man can be a true believer, in whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble. ~ John Owen

Startups are painful, stressful and at times demoralizing. You need to be a true believer in the vision of what you are doing. You need to passionate about it and love what you're doing. If you don't, there is no way you can sustain the hours, stress and disappointment. There's no way you're going to be able to convince investors, customers and most importantly recruit a world-class team if you not building something you think is going to change the world. ~ Steve Blank

I grew up in a small hotel with many rooms, so when I became aware of 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,' I inspected all the wardrobes, sure one had to be a portal to another world. I was also a true believer in faeries, and perhaps still am. ~ Jo Beverley

The anorexic is the fuse nakedly exposed to the direct power of modern media, a psyche whose wiring has no insulation. The anorexic is an analog to the ideologue, who is likewise devoid of common sense, independent ego, culture, intuitive intelligence, etc.: all the ideologue has to orient himself by is the formalist or abstractivist directives inlaid in modern mass-culture. Both are forms of the True Believer, minds in whom factors of self-active life are reduced to negligibility and pathos reigns. ~ Kenny Smith

No evidence against a firmly-held belief, no matter how good or abundant it may be, will sway the true believer. ~ James Randi

Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil. ~ Eric Hoffer

I believe true evil lies in actions. In deliberate harmful acts.' 'Spoken ~ Ian C. Esslemont