--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is hard to prevent oneself from…" description: "\"It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires, and who can doubt that the interest we have in admitting or denying the realit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png" --- # It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so… ![“It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires, and who can doubt that the interest we have in admitting or denying the reality of the Judgement to come determines the faith of most men in accordance with their hopes and fears.” quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png) > “It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires, and who can doubt that the interest we have in admitting or denying the reality of the Judgement to come determines the faith of most men in accordance with their hopes and fears.” [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage suggests that our beliefs are shaped by desires and fears, and that our judgments about the afterlife influence our faith and hopes. **In simple terms:** Desires and fears shape belief and faith. Key Takeaway Examine how hopes drive your convictions. Themes faith desire fear judgment hope Mood thoughtful analytical serious Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - personal moral decisions - religious discussions - ethical debates - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology of belief existential risk moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - What fears drive your core beliefs? - How do hopes shape your moral choices? A Different Perspective May simplify complex theological debates. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bias/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hopes and fears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopes-and-fears/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Judgement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgement/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-believing-what-one-so-keenly/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Anyone who says there is not a change in weather patterns is denying reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-cuomo/anyone-who-says-there-is-not-a-change-in-weather-patterns-is-denying/) [Andrew Cuomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-cuomo/) > [“We can deny reality, but we can't deny the consequences of denying reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/we-can-deny-reality-but-we-can-t-deny-the-consequences-of-denying/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [“Western scientists built an intellectual culture based on the premise that it was worse to fool oneself into believing in something that did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-oreskes/western-scientists-built-an-intellectual-culture-based-on-the-premise/) [Naomi Oreskes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-oreskes/) > [After a person dies, there is always something like a feeling of stupefaction, so difficult is it to comprehend this unexpected advent of nothingness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/after-a-person-dies-there-is-always-something-like-a-feeling-of/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“now I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/now-i-remembered-that-the-real-world-was-wide-and-that-a-varied-field/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfullfilled potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-xxiii/think-not-about-your-frustrations-but-about-your-unfullfilled/) [Pope John XXIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-xxiii/) > [For women ... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of light within which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-women-poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-nicholson/i-remembered-that-the-real-world-was-wide-and-that-a-varied-field-of/) [Hope Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-nicholson/) > [The scientific attitude of mind involves a sweeping away of all other desires in the interests of the desire to know-it involves suppression of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-scientific-attitude-of-mind-involves-a-sweeping-away-of-all-other/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Our analysis of truth and falsehood, or of the nature of judgment, is not very likely to be influenced by our hopes and fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-broad/our-analysis-of-truth-and-falsehood-or-of-the-nature-of-judgment-is/) [Charles D. Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-broad/) > [Let it never be forgotten that it is not by means of war that states are rendered fit for the enjoyment of constitutional freedom;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cobden/let-it-never-be-forgotten-that-it-is-not-by-means-of-war-that-states/) [Richard Cobden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cobden/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“She was famous, and she was insane. Her voice soared out over the audience, holding them spellbound and enraptured, delivering their hopes and fears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-sylvan/she-was-famous-and-she-was-insane-her-voice-soared-out-over-the/) [Dianne Sylvan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-sylvan/) > [“Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief. Amid such a world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/such-in-outline-but-even-more-purposeless-more-void-of-meaning-is-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by Jean-Jacques Rousseau > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-the-course-opposite-to-custom-and-you-will-almost-always-do-well/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given to us by education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/everything-we-do-not-have-at-our-birth-and-which-we-need-when-we-are/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [...in respect of riches, no citizen shall ever be wealthy enough to buy another, and none poor enough to be forced to sell himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/in-respect-of-riches-no-citizen-shall-ever-be-wealthy-enough-to-buy/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-from-the-philosopher-the-pleasure-of-being-heard-and-his-desire/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Men, in general, are not this or that, they are what they are made to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/men-in-general-are-not-this-or-that-they-are-what-they-are-made-to-be/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-would-rather-be-a-man-of-paradoxes-than-a-man-of-prejudices/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“O Fabricius! What would your great soul have thought, if to your own misfortune you had been called back to life and had seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/o-fabricius-what-would-your-great-soul-have-thought-if-to-your-own/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“The sword wears out its sheath, as it is sometimes said. That is my story. My passions have made me live, and my passions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-sword-wears-out-its-sheath-as-it-is-sometimes-said-that-is-my/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Whence do I get my rules of conduct? I find them in my heart. Whatever I feel to be good is good. Whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/whence-do-i-get-my-rules-of-conduct-i-find-them-in-my-heart-whatever/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“If one divided all of human science into two parts - the one common to all men, the other particular to the learned -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-one-divided-all-of-human-science-into-two-parts-the-one-common-to/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The social compact sets up among the citizens as equality of such kind, that they all bind themselves to observe the same conditions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-compact-sets-up-among-the-citizens-as-equality-of-such/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I do not know is a phrase which becomes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-do-not-know-is-a-phrase-which-becomes-us/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“How could I become wicked, when I had nothing but examples of gentleness before my eyes, and none around me but the best people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/how-could-i-become-wicked-when-i-had-nothing-but-examples-of/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) [Explore all 518 Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## More Admitting quotes > [I think there's a lot of power in admitting that you don't know everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-williamson/i-think-there-s-a-lot-of-power-in-admitting-that-you-don-t-know/) [Kit Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-williamson/) > [“The truth is I do love you. 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Most lawyers are very successful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-think-that-lawyers-are-terrible-at-admitting-that-they-re-wrong-and/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Courageous? Courageous would have been admitting weakness and leaving Dauntless, no matter what shame accompanied it. Pride is what killed Al, and it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/courageous-courageous-would-have-been-admitting-weakness-and-leaving/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) Browse all 302 Admitting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires, and who can doubt that the interest we have in admitting or denying the reality of the Judgement to come determines the faith of most men in accordance with their hopes and fears.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-believing-what-one-so-keenly-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Admitting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-believing-what-one-so-keenly-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_admitting_it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-belie_2030628.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires, and who can doubt that the interest…” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is hard to prevent oneself...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-believing-what-one-so-keenly-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-hard-to-prevent-oneself-from-believing-what-one-so-keenly-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```