--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As men's habits of mind differ, so that…" description: "\"As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray may move another to scoff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d90/baruch-spinoza-1338_creeds_as-men-s-habits-of-mind-differ-so-that-s_34712.jpg" --- # As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily… ![“As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray may move another to scoff, I conclude that everyone should be free to choose for himself the foundations of his creed, and that faith should be judged only by its fruits.” quote by Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d90/baruch-spinoza-1338_creeds_as-men-s-habits-of-mind-differ-so-that-s_34712.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d90/baruch-spinoza-1338_creeds_as-men-s-habits-of-mind-differ-so-that-s_34712.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d90/baruch-spinoza-1338_creeds_as-men-s-habits-of-mind-differ-so-that-s_34712.jpg) > “As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray may move another to scoff, I conclude that everyone should be free to choose for himself the foundations of his creed, and that faith should be judged only by its fruits.” [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith should be judged by its outcomes, not its doctrines, and individuals must be free to choose their own beliefs. **In simple terms:** Freedom of belief, judged by results Key Takeaway Judge faith by its fruits Themes religious tolerance individual liberty pragmatic ethics subjectivity faith vs reason Mood thoughtful respectful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal spiritual journey - interfaith dialogue - council debates - education about belief systems - public policy on religion Key Concepts freedom faith judgment individualism Practical Applications - designing inclusive policies - creating interfaith educational programs Questions to Reflect On - How do we assess the impact of a belief system? - What role should personal freedom play in religious expression? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeds/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Habits of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits-of-mind/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [As an undergraduate, I took a theology course titled Religion as Writing. If writing can be considered a form of faith, then inevitably doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/as-an-undergraduate-i-took-a-theology-course-titled-religion-as/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [“Religion is inevitably something that demands faith , or belief from us. Given the variety of forms of religion, it is natural that definitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tagawa-shun-ei/religion-is-inevitably-something-that-demands-faith-or-belief-from-us/) Tagawa Shun'ei > [Art without accomplishment becomes a form of faith, sustained more by the intensity of its common practice than by the pleasure it gives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/art-without-accomplishment-becomes-a-form-of-faith-sustained-more-by/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Faith is indeed the energy of our whole universe directed to the highest form of being. Faith gives stability to our view of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-westcott/faith-is-indeed-the-energy-of-our-whole-universe-directed-to-the/) [Brooke Westcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-westcott/) > [Patience is a form of faith. It says, "I trust God. I believe that God is bigger than this problem."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/patience-is-a-form-of-faith-it-says-i-trust-god-i-believe-that-god-is/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [“faith-ing – rhymes with bathing – is the verb form of faith! EL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evinda-lepins/faith-ing-rhymes-with-bathing-is-the-verb-form-of-faith-el/) [Evinda Lepins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evinda-lepins/) > [I make cinema - I'm a very religious person. Making images is a form of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-rohrwacher/i-make-cinema-i-m-a-very-religious-person-making-images-is-a-form-of/) [Alice Rohrwacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-rohrwacher/) > [Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/artists-are-visionaries-we-routinely-practice-a-form-of-faith-seeing/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [“I've learned through experience that faith moves mountains, hope moves choices, and, more importantly, that love moves you a step closer to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maribel-c-pagan/i-ve-learned-through-experience-that-faith-moves-mountains-hope-moves/) Maribel C. Pagan > [“Faith moves mountains, love transforms hearts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-warren/faith-moves-mountains-love-transforms-hearts/) [John Paul Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-warren/) > [Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/faith-moves-mountains-but-you-have-to-keep-pushing-while-you-are/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [It is love, not faith, that moves mountains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/it-is-love-not-faith-that-moves-mountains/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [I'm not Candide, nor Dr Pangloss, but we know that faith moves mountains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/i-m-not-candide-nor-dr-pangloss-but-we-know-that-faith-moves-mountains/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/where-there-is-the-necessary-technical-skill-to-move-mountains-there/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“I do not believe faith moves mountains...but it makes them so much easier to climb”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-lawrence/i-do-not-believe-faith-moves-mountains-but-it-makes-them-so-much/) Kelly Lawrence ## More by Baruch Spinoza > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/to-know-the-order-of-nature-and-regard-the-universe-as-orderly-is-the/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [If anyone conceives that he is loved by another, and believes that he has given no cause for such love, he will love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/if-anyone-conceives-that-he-is-loved-by-another-and-believes-that-he/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/the-world-would-be-happier-if-men-had-the-same-capacity-to-be-silent/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“So they will pursue their questions from cause to cause, till at last you take refuge in the will of God—in other words, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/so-they-will-pursue-their-questions-from-cause-to-cause-till-at-last/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [If a man had begun to hate an object of his love, so that love is thoroughly destroyed, he will, causes being equal, regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/if-a-man-had-begun-to-hate-an-object-of-his-love-so-that-love-is/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [I make this chief distinction between religion and superstition, that the latter is founded on ignorance, the former on knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/i-make-this-chief-distinction-between-religion-and-superstition-that/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/one-and-the-same-thing-can-at-the-same-time-be-good-bad-and/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [A good thing which prevents us from enjoying a greater good is in truth an evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/a-good-thing-which-prevents-us-from-enjoying-a-greater-good-is-in/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [But if men would give heed to the nature of substance they would doubt less concerning the Proposition that Existence appertains to the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/but-if-men-would-give-heed-to-the-nature-of-substance-they-would/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [The more intelligible a thing is, the more easily it is retained in the memory, and counterwise, the less intelligible it is, the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/the-more-intelligible-a-thing-is-the-more-easily-it-is-retained-in/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [In the state of nature, wrong-doing is impossible; or, if anyone does wrong, it is to himself, not to another. For no one by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/in-the-state-of-nature-wrong-doing-is-impossible-or-if-anyone-does/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character: for obedience is the constant will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/for-peace-is-not-mere-absence-of-war-but-is-a-virtue-that-springs/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/peace-is-not-an-absence-of-war-it-is-a-virtue-a-state-of-mind-a/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [Laws which prescribe what everyone must believe, and forbid men to say or write anything against this or that opinion, are often passed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/laws-which-prescribe-what-everyone-must-believe-and-forbid-men-to-say/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) [Explore all 248 Baruch Spinoza quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) ## More Creeds quotes > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/as-in-the-instances-of-alchemy-astrology-witchcraft-and-other-such/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [People frequently ask me why I devote so much time to seeking out facts about man’s past…the past shows clearly that we all have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leakey/people-frequently-ask-me-why-i-devote-so-much-time-to-seeking-out/) [Louis Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leakey/) > [... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-mccaughey/what-we-should-be-looking-for-is-fresh-ideas-of-how-we-make-moral/) Davis McCaughey > [The history of woman is the history of the continued and universal oppression of one sex by the other. The emancipation of woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-history-of-woman-is-the-history-of-the-continued-and-universal/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [Hinduism... gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/hinduism-gave-itself-no-name-because-it-set-itself-no-sectarian/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Vanity Fair has but two major articles in its editorial creed: first, to believe in the progress and promise of American life, and, second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-crowninshield/vanity-fair-has-but-two-major-articles-in-its-editorial-creed-first/) [Frank Crowninshield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-crowninshield/) > [I believe in an America where the rights that I have described are enjoyed by all, regardless of their race or their creed or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/i-believe-in-an-america-where-the-rights-that-i-have-described-are/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-questioned-the-faithful-of-all-communions-i-particularly-sought-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [No union exists between church and state, and perfect freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects and creeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-polk/no-union-exists-between-church-and-state-and-perfect-freedom-of/) [James K. Polk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-polk/) > [The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. 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