--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We no longer believe because it is…" description: "\"We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.\" — Julio Cortazar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png" --- # We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd… ![“We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.” quote by Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png) > “We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.” [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The paradox highlights that belief often persists despite irrationality, driven by a compulsion to find meaning. **In simple terms:** We believe absurd things because we feel forced to. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions. Themes paradox belief irrationality Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical literary psychological When to use this quote - personal crises - political ideologies - religious faith - artistic creation Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we cling to contradictory ideas? - What role does absurdity play in shaping convictions? A Different Perspective Belief can be self‑reinforcing even when illogical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Absurd Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd-absurd-2974697/) [Absurd Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd-believe-1242344/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-absurd-629905/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ## Related quotes > [“In the twentieth century nothing can better cure the anthropocentrism that is the author of all our ills than to cast ourselves into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/in-the-twentieth-century-nothing-can-better-cure-the-anthropocentrism/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [I think it's absurd to believe that movies should look like paintings and say something like serious books say something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-morrissey/i-think-it-s-absurd-to-believe-that-movies-should-look-like-paintings/) [Paul Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-morrissey/) > [I believe because it is absurd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tertullian/i-believe-because-it-is-absurd/) [Tertullian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tertullian/) > [“literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/literature-can-very-well-describe-the-absurd-but-it-should-never/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [There obviously are a hell of a lot of people that love Lady Gaga. But to me, she's been the theatre of the absurd.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-trucks/there-obviously-are-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-people-that-love-lady-gaga-but/) [Butch Trucks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-trucks/) > [“Even if it's absurd to think you can change things, it's even more absurd to believe that it is foolish and unimportant to try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-if-it-s-absurd-to-think-you-can-change-things-it-s-even-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The notions of a young man of one or two and twenty,' said he, 'as to what is necessary in manners to make him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-notions-of-a-young-man-of-one-or-two-and-twenty-said-he-as-to/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [In comedy, something may be more absurd, but you have to believe just as much as you do when you're doing drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-elfman/in-comedy-something-may-be-more-absurd-but-you-have-to-believe-just/) [Jenna Elfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-elfman/) > [To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/to-believe-in-god-is-impossible-not-to-believe-in-him-is-absurd/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Absurdism, like methodical doubt, has wiped the slate clean. It leaves us in a blind alley. But, like methodical doubt, it can, by returning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/absurdism-like-methodical-doubt-has-wiped-the-slate-clean-it-leaves/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“When sceptical about reality, man tends to believe the absurd.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/when-sceptical-about-reality-man-tends-to-believe-the-absurd/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [People will believe absurd things - in the 19th century and now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-pekar/people-will-believe-absurd-things-in-the-19th-century-and-now/) [Harvey Pekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-pekar/) > [Credo quia absurdum – I believe because it is absurd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ludlum/credo-quia-absurdum-i-believe-because-it-is-absurd/) [Robert Ludlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ludlum/) > [I still kind of believe this absurd line that if you have to write it down, it's not worth remembering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bird/i-still-kind-of-believe-this-absurd-line-that-if-you-have-to-write-it/) [Andrew Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bird/) > [To believe in God is impossible - to not believe in Him is absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/to-believe-in-god-is-impossible-to-not-believe-in-him-is-absurd/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Julio Cortazar > [“Umblam fara sa ne cautam, dar stiind ca umblam ca sa ne gasim.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/umblam-fara-sa-ne-cautam-dar-stiind-ca-umblam-ca-sa-ne-gasim/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“También hay ríos metafísicos, Horacio. Vos te vas a tirar a uno de esos ríos.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/tambi-n-hay-r-os-metaf-sicos-horacio-vos-te-vas-a-tirar-a-uno-de-esos/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Thus they went along, Punch and Judy, attracting each other and repelling, as love must do if it is not to end up as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/thus-they-went-along-punch-and-judy-attracting-each-other-and/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Me daba asco pensar así, una vez más estar pensando todo lo que a los otros les bastaba sentir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/me-daba-asco-pensar-as-una-vez-m-s-estar-pensando-todo-lo-que-a-los/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Y allá en el fondo está la muerte si no corremos y llegamos antes y comprendemos que ya no importa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/y-all-en-el-fondo-est-la-muerte-si-no-corremos-y-llegamos-antes-y/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Kada otvorim vrata i pojavim se na stepeništu, znaću da dole počinje ulica. Ali ne kalup, unapred prihvaćen, niti dobro poznate kuće, ni onaj…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/kada-otvorim-vrata-i-pojavim-se-na-stepeni-tu-zna-u-da-dole-po-inje/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“As soon as he began to amalate the noeme, the clemise began to smother her and they fell into hydromuries, into savage ambonies, into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/as-soon-as-he-began-to-amalate-the-noeme-the-clemise-began-to-smother/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [ The best literature is always a take \[in the musical sense\]; there is an implicit risk in its execution, a margin of danger that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/the-best-literature-is-always-a-take-in-the-musical-sense-there-is-an/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [What good is a writer if he can't destroy literature? And us... what good are we if we don't help as much as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/what-good-is-a-writer-if-he-can-t-destroy-literature-and-us-what-good/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [I raised the camera, pretended to study a focus which did not include them, and waited and watched closely, sure that I would finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/i-raised-the-camera-pretended-to-study-a-focus-which-did-not-include/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“That's how it is, Rocamadour: in Paris we're like fungus, we grow on the railings of staircases, in dark rooms with greasy smells, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/that-s-how-it-is-rocamadour-in-paris-we-re-like-fungus-we-grow-on-the/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“No puede ser que estemos aquí para no poder ser.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/no-puede-ser-que-estemos-aqu-para-no-poder-ser/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [The more a book is like an opium pipe, the more the Chinaman reader is satisfied with it and tends to discuss the quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/the-more-a-book-is-like-an-opium-pipe-the-more-the-chinaman-reader-is/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“In the twentieth century nothing can better cure the anthropocentrism that is the author of all our ills than to cast ourselves into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/in-the-twentieth-century-nothing-can-better-cure-the-anthropocentrism/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) [Explore all 159 Julio Cortazar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [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/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julio Cortazar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absurd-it-is-absurd-because-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absurd-it-is-absurd-because-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/julio-cort-zar-698_absurd_we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absur_1113062.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.” — Julio Cortazar", "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": "Julio Cortazar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We no longer believe because it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absurd-it-is-absurd-because-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absurd-it-is-absurd-because-we/#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 } } ] } ```