--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Belief is the natural state of things. It…" description: "\"Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. Belief is natural; disbelief, skeptic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/michael-shermer-2567_belief_belief-is-the-natural-state-of-things-it_814378.jpg" --- # Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default… ![“Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. Belief is natural; disbelief, skepticism, science, is not natural.” quote by Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/michael-shermer-2567_belief_belief-is-the-natural-state-of-things-it_814378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/michael-shermer-2567_belief_belief-is-the-natural-state-of-things-it_814378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/michael-shermer-2567_belief_belief-is-the-natural-state-of-things-it_814378.jpg) > “Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. Belief is natural; disbelief, skepticism, science, is not natural.” [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Belief is an innate mental habit; skepticism and scientific inquiry require effort and are not default. **In simple terms:** Belief comes naturally; questioning takes work. Key Takeaway Cultivate critical thinking to counter automatic belief. Themes psychology science skepticism human nature Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - media consumption - decision making - personal reflection Key Concepts cognitive bias epistemology rationality Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs do you accept without evidence? - How can you practice healthy skepticism daily? A Different Perspective People may resist challenging deeply held beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Belief Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-natural-299194/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Default](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/default/) [Disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelief/) [Disbelief Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelief-skepticism-299197/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Just believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-believe/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural Disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-disbelief-299195/) [Natural state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-state/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Things Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-belief-299196/) ## Related quotes > [“But when a belief vanishes, there survives it — more and more ardently, so as to cloak the absence of the power, now lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-when-a-belief-vanishes-there-survives-it-more-and-more-ardently/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [In what concerns divine things, belief is not appropriate. Only certainty will do. Anything less than certainty is unworthy of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-what-concerns-divine-things-belief-is-not-appropriate-only/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [A person can do other things against his will, but belief is possible only in one who is willing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-person-can-do-other-things-against-his-will-but-belief-is-possible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If there is on earth, and among all these things of nothing, a belief worthy of adoration, if there is anything holy, pure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/if-there-is-on-earth-and-among-all-these-things-of-nothing-a-belief/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Acknowledge to yourself that the factory job is dead. Having a factory job is not a natural state. It wasn't at the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/acknowledge-to-yourself-that-the-factory-job-is-dead-having-a-factory/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“Headlong is my natural state, not prudent patience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/headlong-is-my-natural-state-not-prudent-patience/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [“The natural state of man is war. I think that peace is an interval for preparation.” The novel is significant because”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-ricks-2/the-natural-state-of-man-is-war-i-think-that-peace-is-an-interval-for/) [Thomas E. Ricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-ricks-2/) > [“Perfectly stay in the natural flow, There is no other concentration. Perfectly realize the natural state, There is no other wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrul-rinpoche/perfectly-stay-in-the-natural-flow-there-is-no-other-concentration/) [Patrul Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrul-rinpoche/) > [I think entrepreneurship is our natural state--a big adult word that probably boils down to something much more obvious like playfulness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-think-entrepreneurship-is-our-natural-state-a-big-adult-word-that/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I come from a country where you don't wear clothes most of the year. Nudity is the most natural state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-macpherson/i-come-from-a-country-where-you-don-t-wear-clothes-most-of-the-year/) [Elle Macpherson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-macpherson/) > [I want to be in a more natural state while doing acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armaan-malik/i-want-to-be-in-a-more-natural-state-while-doing-acting/) [Armaan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armaan-malik/) > [“The state of civil society, which necessarily generates this aristocracy, is a state of nature; and much more truly so than a savage and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-state-of-civil-society-which-necessarily-generates-this/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Frightened is the natural state for all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/frightened-is-the-natural-state-for-all-men/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond party and beyond factions. It has become a common cause of all the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/restoring-nature-to-its-natural-state-is-a-cause-beyond-party-and/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) ## More by Michael Shermer > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. No brain, no mind. We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/darwin-matters-because-evolution-matters-evolution-matters-because/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic drugs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/neuroscientist-david-comings-drew-out-the-larger-implications-of-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) [Explore all 160 Michael Shermer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [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/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things. 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