Belief Quote by Alexis de Tocqueville
““If I now consider man in his isolated capacity, I find that dogmatic belief is no less indispensable to him in order to live alone than it is to enable him to co-operate with his fellows. If man were forced to demonstrate for himself all the truths of which he makes daily use, his task would never end. He would exhaust his strength in preparatory demonstrations without ever advancing beyond them. As, from the shortness of his life, he has not the time, nor, from the limits of his intelligence, the capacity, to act in this way, he is reduced to take on trust a host of facts and opinions which he has not had either the time or the power to verify for himself, but which men of greater ability have found out, or which the crowd adopts. On this groundwork he raises for himself the structure of his own thoughts; he is not led to proceed in this manner by choice, but is constrained by the inflexible law of his condition. There is no philosopher in the world so great but that he believes a million things on the faith of other people and accepts a great many more truths than he demonstrates. (Tocqueville 1945 2:9-10; Oeuvres Completes (M) 1(2):16-17, (B) 3:15-16).””
About This Quote
Source Book: Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835
Human cognition relies on inherited beliefs because verifying every truth is impossible within limited time and intellect.
In simple terms: We must trust many ideas we cannot fully prove.
Key Takeaway
Accept reasonable trust, focus on critical thinking.
Themes
knowledge
trust
human limitation
philosophy
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
philosophical
critical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- daily decision making
- education
- policy analysis
- media consumption
Key Concepts
epistemology
social cognition
pragmatism
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance trust and skepticism?
- When should you question widely accepted beliefs?
A Different Perspective
Reliance on trust can perpetuate errors if sources are flawed.
![“[L]e philosophe n'a jamais tué de prêtres et le prêtre a tué beaucoup de philosophes... (The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.)” quote by Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c13/denis-diderot-1536_great-man_l-e-philosophe-n-a-jamais-tu-de-pr-tres_506737.jpg)
