---
title: "1 Believe Evidence Quotes By Thomas Gilovich"
description: "1 Believe Evidence quotes by Thomas Gilovich. Plus more from Thomas Gilovich and more Believe Evidence sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-gilovich-10928_truth-seeking_we-tend-to-use-different-criteria-to-eva_1912995.jpg"
---

> [“we tend to use different criteria to evaluate propositions or conclusions we desire, and those we abhor. For propositions we want to believe, we ask only that the evidence not force us to believe otherwise—a rather easy standard to meet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-tend-to-use-different-criteria-to-evaluate-propositions-or/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-gilovich-10928_truth-seeking_we-tend-to-use-different-criteria-to-eva_1912995.jpg)

## More by Thomas Gilovich

> [“Chapter 7 takes a psychological truism, “we tend to believe what we think others believe” and turns it around: We tend to think others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/chapter-7-takes-a-psychological-truism-we-tend-to-believe-what-we/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“As part of this research, one group of participants was asked which two countries are more similar to one another, East Germany and West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/as-part-of-this-research-one-group-of-participants-was-asked-which/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“Finally, it has been shown that the tendency for people to think of themselves as above average is reduced—even for ambiguous traits—when people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/finally-it-has-been-shown-that-the-tendency-for-people-to-think-of/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“It appears that the probabilistic sciences of psychology and medicine teach their students to apply statistical and methodological rules to both scientific and everyday-life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/it-appears-that-the-probabilistic-sciences-of-psychology-and-medicine/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“To live, it seems, is to explain, to justify, and to find coherence among diverse outcomes, characteristics, and causes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/to-live-it-seems-is-to-explain-to-justify-and-to-find-coherence-among/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“social psychologist Ziva Kunda, who argues that people are indeed more likely to believe things they want to believe, but that their capacity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/social-psychologist-ziva-kunda-who-argues-that-people-are-indeed-more/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [We humans seem to be extremely good at generating ideas, theories, and explanations that have the ring of plausibility. We may be relatively deficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-humans-seem-to-be-extremely-good-at-generating-ideas-theories-and/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“our difficulty in accurately recognizing random arrangements of events can lead us to believe things that are not true—to believe something is systematic, ordered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/our-difficulty-in-accurately-recognizing-random-arrangements-of/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“We therefore should be more skeptical than we seem to be about evidence presented to us secondhand. We should become accustomed to asking ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-therefore-should-be-more-skeptical-than-we-seem-to-be-about/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“In other words, when testing a hypothesis of similarity, people look for evidence of similarity rather than dissimilarity, and when testing a hypothesis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/in-other-words-when-testing-a-hypothesis-of-similarity-people-look/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [What we believe is heavily influenced by what we think others believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/what-we-believe-is-heavily-influenced-by-what-we-think-others-believe/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“develop the habit of employing one of several “consider the opposite” strategies. We can learn to ask ourselves, for example, “Suppose the exact opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/develop-the-habit-of-employing-one-of-several-consider-the-opposite/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“Unfortunately, psychology has not adequately come to grips with the difficult subject of entertainment (or with its opposite, boredom). Despite a few initial efforts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/unfortunately-psychology-has-not-adequately-come-to-grips-with-the/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“confirmatory events are in fact much more memorable than non-confirmatory events.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/confirmatory-events-are-in-fact-much-more-memorable-than-non/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

> [“Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit to instill is an appreciation of the folly of trying to draw conclusions from incomplete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/perhaps-the-most-general-and-most-important-mental-habit-to-instill/)

[Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/)

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                        "text": "“we tend to use different criteria to evaluate propositions or conclusions we desire, and those we abhor. For propositions we want to believe, we ask only that the evidence not force us to believe otherwise—a rather easy standard to meet, given the equivocal nature of much information. For propositions we want to resist, however, we ask whether the evidence compels such a distasteful conclusion—a much more difficult standard to achieve. For desired conclusions, in other words, it is as if we ask ourselves, “Can I believe this?”, but for unpalatable conclusions we ask, “Must I believe this?” The evidence required for affirmative answers to these two questions are enormously different. By framing the question in such ways, however, we can often believe what we prefer to believe, and satisfy ourselves that we have an objective basis for doing so.”",
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