--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No amount of manifest absurdity... could…" description: "\"No amount of manifest absurdity... could deter those who wanted to believe from believing.\" — Bernard Levin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/bernard-levin-31024_absurdity_no-amount-of-manifest-absurdity-could-de_2015230.jpg" --- # No amount of manifest absurdity... could deter those who… ![“No amount of manifest absurdity... could deter those who wanted to believe from believing.” quote by Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/bernard-levin-31024_absurdity_no-amount-of-manifest-absurdity-could-de_2015230.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/bernard-levin-31024_absurdity_no-amount-of-manifest-absurdity-could-de_2015230.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/bernard-levin-31024_absurdity_no-amount-of-manifest-absurdity-could-de_2015230.jpg) > “No amount of manifest absurdity... could deter those who wanted to believe from believing.” [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even extreme absurdity cannot stop those who choose belief, showing belief’s emotional power over logic. **In simple terms:** Absurdity doesn’t deter believers. Key Takeaway Recognize belief’s emotional roots. Themes belief psychology logic Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - political persuasion - religious conviction - personal decisions Key Concepts cognitive bias faith irrationality Questions to Reflect On - Why do people cling to beliefs despite absurdity? - How does emotion outweigh reason? A Different Perspective Belief can ignore contradictory evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Absurdity Deter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity-deter-3620627/) [Amount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-believing-698633/) [Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believing/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Manifest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifest/) [Manifest Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifest-absurdity-3620626/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) ## Related quotes > [To try to fix the future is a manifest absurdity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-sinclair/to-try-to-fix-the-future-is-a-manifest-absurdity/) [Iain Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-sinclair/) > [I truly believe that if someone is believing a lie about who they are right now, that God's desire for you is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-west/i-truly-believe-that-if-someone-is-believing-a-lie-about-who-they-are/) [Matthew West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-west/) > [We learn to believe by believing. We learn to love by loving. The practice of acting on a certain thing, even (or especially) when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenia-price/we-learn-to-believe-by-believing-we-learn-to-love-by-loving-the/) [Eugenia Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenia-price/) > [I believe you are more believing in the Bible than I. I am not, and, you are much happier than I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-believe-you-are-more-believing-in-the-bible-than-i-i-am-not-and-you/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Believe you can do it. Believing something can be done puts your mind to work for you and helps you find ways to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-shinn/believe-you-can-do-it-believing-something-can-be-done-puts-your-mind/) [George Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-shinn/) > [“{ In a letter to his friend Rudolf Wagner } I believe you are more believing in the Bible than I. I am not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/in-a-letter-to-his-friend-rudolf-wagner-i-believe-you-are-more/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Organized religion is primarily man putting words in God's mouth. That's how I basically feel about that. But, I do believe in believing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-turner/organized-religion-is-primarily-man-putting-words-in-god-s-mouth-that/) [Kathleen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-turner/) > [“Even if readers claim that they 'take it all with a grain of salt', they do not really. They yearn to believe, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/even-if-readers-claim-that-they-take-it-all-with-a-grain-of-salt-they/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I believe in believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/i-believe-in-believing/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [I believe in believing. My coach John Kavanagh is a big atheist, and he is always trying to persuade people to his way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/i-believe-in-believing-my-coach-john-kavanagh-is-a-big-atheist-and-he/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/a-nation-can-assume-that-the-addition-of-the-words-under-god-to-its/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [To me absurdity is the only reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/to-me-absurdity-is-the-only-reality/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [Life packed a clever one-two punch: cruelty and absurdity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/life-packed-a-clever-one-two-punch-cruelty-and-absurdity/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) [Wendy Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-farley/) > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) ## More by Bernard Levin > [The cure for mixed metaphors, I have always found, is for the patient to be obliged to draw a picture of the result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/the-cure-for-mixed-metaphors-i-have-always-found-is-for-the-patient/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [The less the power, the greater the desire to exercise it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/the-less-the-power-the-greater-the-desire-to-exercise-it/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Countries like ours are full of people who have all of the material comforts they desire, yet lead lives of quiet (and at times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/countries-like-ours-are-full-of-people-who-have-all-of-the-material/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [It is assumed that when anyone gets into debt, the fault is entirely and always the fault of the lender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/it-is-assumed-that-when-anyone-gets-into-debt-the-fault-is-entirely/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [“If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/if-you-cannot-understand-my-argument-and-declare-it-s-greek-to-me-you/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Once, when a British Prime Minister sneezed, men half a world away would blow their noses. Now when a British Prime Minister sneezes nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/once-when-a-british-prime-minister-sneezed-men-half-a-world-away/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Let us never allow ourselves to think that poverty is an excuse for an invitation to totalitarianism, and if we should be tempted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/let-us-never-allow-ourselves-to-think-that-poverty-is-an-excuse-for/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [“The persistence of public officials varies inversely with the importance of the matter on which they are persisting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/the-persistence-of-public-officials-varies-inversely-with-the/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [In every age of transition men are never so firmly bound to one way of life as when they are about to abandon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/in-every-age-of-transition-men-are-never-so-firmly-bound-to-one-way/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Because tobacco is responsible for an impressive one-third of cancers, prevention efforts naturally begin with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/because-tobacco-is-responsible-for-an-impressive-one-third-of-cancers/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Whom the mad would destroy, first they make gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/whom-the-mad-would-destroy-first-they-make-gods/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [What has happened to architecture since the second world war that the only passers-by who can contemplate it without pain are those equipped with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/what-has-happened-to-architecture-since-the-second-world-war-that-the/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [The Stag at Bay with the mentality of a fox at large.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/the-stag-at-bay-with-the-mentality-of-a-fox-at-large/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [I suppose we all tend to remember only the happiness from our childhood, as a sundial refuses to tell the time except in fine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/i-suppose-we-all-tend-to-remember-only-the-happiness-from-our/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [If we expected self-reliance of family groups, if we expected hardiness and resilience and initiative on the part of individuals, and if we rewarded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/if-we-expected-self-reliance-of-family-groups-if-we-expected/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) [Explore all 17 Bernard Levin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) ## More Absurdity quotes > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) [Wendy Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-farley/) > [I've always felt that comedy doesn't just come from misery. It comes from an absurdity around that misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-ve-always-felt-that-comedy-doesn-t-just-come-from-misery-it-comes/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/unaware-of-the-absurdity-of-it-we-introduce-our-own-petty-household/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. 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