--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men are most apt to believe what they…" description: "\"Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg" --- # Men are most apt to believe what they least understand. ![“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg) > “Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People tend to trust ideas that feel familiar, even if they lack depth or evidence. **In simple terms:** We trust what we don’t understand less. Key Takeaway Question assumptions before accepting. Themes cognition trust knowledge Mood skeptical reflective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - education - public discourse - media consumption Key Concepts confirmation bias epistemic humility Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports your belief? - How do you verify unfamiliar claims? 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Each of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schneider/we-have-to-offer-up-scary-scenarios-make-simplified-dramatic/) [Stephen Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schneider/) > [The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/the-people-cannot-delegate-to-government-the-power-to-do-anything/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [We are all apt to believe what the world believes about us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/we-are-all-apt-to-believe-what-the-world-believes-about-us/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There comes a time when a moral man can't obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/there-comes-a-time-when-a-moral-man-can-t-obey-a-law-which-his/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. 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Samaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-samaan/) > [Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/mankind-will-in-time-discover-that-unbridled-majorities-are-as/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Here's your enemy for this week, the government says. And some gullible Americans click their heels and salute - often without knowing who or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charley-reese/here-s-your-enemy-for-this-week-the-government-says-and-some-gullible/) [Charley Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charley-reese/) ## More by Michel de Montaigne > [No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-exempt-from-saying-silly-things-the-mischief-is-to-say-them/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-laws-keep-up-their-credit-not-by-being-just-but-because-they-are/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/every-one-rushes-elsewhere-and-into-the-future-because-no-one-wants/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Beauty is the true prerogative of women, and so peculiarly their own, that our sex, though naturally requiring another sort of feature, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/beauty-is-the-true-prerogative-of-women-and-so-peculiarly-their-own/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The height and value of true virtue consists in the facility, utility, and pleasure of its exercise; so far from difficulty, that boys, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-height-and-value-of-true-virtue-consists-in-the-facility-utility/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The corruption of the age is made up by the particular contribution of every individual man; some contribute treachery, others injustice, atheism, tyranny, avarice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-corruption-of-the-age-is-made-up-by-the-particular-contribution/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [If people must be talking about me, I would have it to be truthfully and justly. I would willingly return from the next world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/if-people-must-be-talking-about-me-i-would-have-it-to-be-truthfully/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Most pleasures embrace us but to strangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/most-pleasures-embrace-us-but-to-strangle/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [In true friendship, in which I am expert, I give myself to my friend more than I draw him to me. I not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/in-true-friendship-in-which-i-am-expert-i-give-myself-to-my-friend/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [There are as many and innumerable degrees of wit, as there are cubits between this and heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-are-as-many-and-innumerable-degrees-of-wit-as-there-are-cubits/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [A man has need of tough ears to hear himself fairly judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-man-has-need-of-tough-ears-to-hear-himself-fairly-judged/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Lucius Arruntius killed himself, he said, to escape both the future and the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lucius-arruntius-killed-himself-he-said-to-escape-both-the-future-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I have a vocabulary all my own. I pass the time when itis wet and disagreeable. Whenit is fine I do not wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-a-vocabulary-all-my-own-i-pass-the-time-when-itis-wet-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Explore all 1,131 Michel de Montaigne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? 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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. 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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. 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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": "Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-least-understand/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Belief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-least-understand/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f70/michel-de-montaigne-142_belief_men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-le_472381.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” — Michel de Montaigne", "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": "Michel de Montaigne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Men are most apt to believe...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-least-understand/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/men-are-most-apt-to-believe-what-they-least-understand/#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 } } ] } ```