--- title: "4 Eternal happiness Quotes By Sam Harris" description: "4 Eternal happiness quotes by Sam Harris. Plus more from Sam Harris and more Eternal happiness sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38e/sam-harris-457_doubt_once-a-person-believes-really-believes-t_1989687.jpg" --- > [“Once a person believes - really believes - that certain ideas can lead to eternal happiness, or to its antithesis, he cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/once-a-person-believes-really-believes-that-certain-ideas-can-lead-to/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38e/sam-harris-457_doubt_once-a-person-believes-really-believes-t_1989687.jpg) > [“Our situation is this: most of the people in this world believe that the Creator of the universe has written a book.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people-in-this-world-believe-that/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/sam-harris-457_beliefs_our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people_2294824.jpg) > [When the stakes are this high- when calling God by the right name can make the difference between eternal happiness and eternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calling-god-by-the-right-name-can/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/sam-harris-457_atheism_when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calli_2466575.jpg) > [“Incompatible religious doctrines have balkanized our world into separate moral communities, and these divisions have become a continuous source of bloodshed. Indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/incompatible-religious-doctrines-have-balkanized-our-world-into/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/sam-harris-457_eternal-happiness_incompatible-religious-doctrines-have-ba_2649471.jpg) ## Other authors on Eternal happiness - [Dada Bhagwan 82 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-happiness/dada-bhagwan/) - [Mark Twain 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-happiness/mark-twain/) ## More by Sam Harris > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. Miller are doing lasting harm to our discourse by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/there-is-no-question-but-that-nominally-religious-scientists-like/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [We have Christians against Muslims against Jews, and no matter how liberal your theology, merely identifying yourself as a Christian or a Jew lends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-have-christians-against-muslims-against-jews-and-no-matter-how/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Your principal concern appears to be that the Creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked. This prudery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/your-principal-concern-appears-to-be-that-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/as-manuals-for-contemplative-understanding-the-bible-and-the-koran/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [About 120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. If our polls are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/about-120-million-of-us-place-the-big-bang-2-500-years-after-the/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“If your golf instructor were to insist that you shave your head, sleep no more than four hours each night, renounce sex, and subsist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/if-your-golf-instructor-were-to-insist-that-you-shave-your-head-sleep/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The fact that one can lose one's sense of self in an ocean of tranquility does not mean that one's consciousness is immaterial or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-fact-that-one-can-lose-one-s-sense-of-self-in-an-ocean-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“But the reality of consciousness appears irreducible. Only consciousness can know itself—and directly, through first-person experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/but-the-reality-of-consciousness-appears-irreducible-only/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Whether or not one likes Huntington's formulation, one thing is clear: the evil that has finally reached our shores is not merely the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/whether-or-not-one-likes-huntington-s-formulation-one-thing-is-clear/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-problem-is-that-religion-tends-to-give-people-bad-reasons-to-be/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. Otherwise, we will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/muslim-moderates-wherever-they-are-must-be-given-every-tool-necessary/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-idea-that-any-one-of-our-religions-represents-the-infallible-word/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“What could possibly cause billions of human beings to reconsider their religious beliefs? And yet, it is obvious that an utter revolution in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/what-could-possibly-cause-billions-of-human-beings-to-reconsider/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-happiness/sam-harris/#itemlist", "name": "4 Eternal happiness Quotes By Sam Harris", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once a person believes - really believes - that certain ideas can lead to eternal happiness, or to its antithesis, he cannot tolerate the possibility that the people he loves might be led astray by the blandishments of unbelievers. Certainty about the next life is simply incompatible with tolerance in this one.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/once-a-person-believes-really-believes-that-certain-ideas-can-lead-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38e/sam-harris-457_doubt_once-a-person-believes-really-believes-t_1989687.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38e/sam-harris-457_doubt_once-a-person-believes-really-believes-t_1989687.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38e/sam-harris-457_doubt_once-a-person-believes-really-believes-t_1989687.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once a person believes - really believes - that certain ideas can lead to eternal happiness, or to its…” — Sam Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our situation is this: most of the people in this world believe that the Creator of the universe has written a book. We have the misfortune of having many such books on hand, each making an exclusive claim as to its infallibility. People tend to organize themselves into factions according to which of these incompatible claims they accept- rather than on the basis of language, skin color, location of birth, or any other criterion of tribalism. Each of these texts urges its readers to adopt a variety of beliefs and practices, some of which are benign, many of which are not. All are in perverse agreement on one point of fundamental importance, however: \"respect\" for other faiths, or for the views of unbelievers, is not an attitude that God endorses. While all faiths have been touched, here and there, by the spirit of ecumenicalism, the central tenet of every religious tradition is that all others are mere repositories of error or, at best, dangerously incomplete. Intolerance is thus intrinsic to every creed. Once a person believes- really believes- that certain ideas can lead to eternal happiness, or to its antithesis, he cannot tolerate the possibility that the people he loves might be led astray by the blandishments of unbelievers. Certainty about the next life is simply incompatible with tolerance in this one.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people-in-this-world-believe-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/sam-harris-457_beliefs_our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people_2294824.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/sam-harris-457_beliefs_our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people_2294824.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/sam-harris-457_beliefs_our-situation-is-this-most-of-the-people_2294824.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our situation is this: most of the people in this world believe that the Creator of the universe has written…” — Sam Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When the stakes are this high- when calling God by the right name can make the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, it is impossible to respect the beliefs of others who don't believe as you do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calling-god-by-the-right-name-can/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/sam-harris-457_atheism_when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calli_2466575.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/sam-harris-457_atheism_when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calli_2466575.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/sam-harris-457_atheism_when-the-stakes-are-this-high-when-calli_2466575.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When the stakes are this high- when calling God by the right name can make the difference between eternal…” — Sam Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Incompatible religious doctrines have balkanized our world into separate moral communities, and these divisions have become a continuous source of bloodshed. Indeed, religion is as much a living spring of violence today as it has been at any time in the past. The recent conflicts in Palestine (Jews vs. Muslims), the Balkans (Orthodox Serbians vs. Catholic Croatians; Orthodox Serbians vs. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims), Northern Ireland (Protestants vs. Catholics), Kashmir (Muslims vs. Hindus), Sudan (Muslims vs. Christians and animists), Nigeria (Muslims vs. Christians), Ethiopia and Eritrea (Muslims vs. Christians), Sri Lanka (Sinhalese Buddhists vs. Tamil Hindus), Indonesia (Muslims vs. Timorese Christians), Iran and Iraq (Shiite vs. Sunni Muslims), and the Caucasus (Orthodox Russians vs. Chechen Muslims; Muslim Azerbaijanis vs. Catholic and Orthodox Armenians) are merely a few cases in point. These are places where religion has been the explicit cause of literally millions of deaths in recent decades. Why is religion such a potent source of violence? There is no other sphere of discourse in which human beings so fully articulate their differences from one another, or cast these differences in terms of everlasting rewards and punishments. Religion is the one endeavor in which us–them thinking achieves a transcendent significance. If you really believe that calling God by the right name can spell the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, then it becomes quite reasonable to treat heretics and unbelievers rather badly. 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