--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That which has been believed by everyone…" description: "\"That which has been believed by everyone, always and everywhere, has every chance of being false.\" — Paul Valery" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg" --- # That which has been believed by everyone, always and… ![“That which has been believed by everyone, always and everywhere, has every chance of being false.” quote by Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg) > “That which has been believed by everyone, always and everywhere, has every chance of being false.” [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective belief can become a false consensus, so widespread acceptance does not guarantee truth. **In simple terms:** Popular ideas can be wrong. Key Takeaway Question widely accepted beliefs. Themes philosophy critical thinking truth social influence Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - academic research - media consumption - policy making Key Concepts epistemology groupthink skepticism Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify popular claims? - When should you trust the majority? A Different Perspective Consensus can also reflect genuine insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed/) [Believed Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-chance-876394/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Chance False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance-false-876395/) [False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false/) ## Related quotes > [That's why I won: because I believed I had a chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karolina-pliskova/that-s-why-i-won-because-i-believed-i-had-a-chance/) [Karolina Pliskova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karolina-pliskova/) > [It's amazing to think how powerful of a force optimism and hope can be. It's the thing that saves me. I believed that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance-2/it-s-amazing-to-think-how-powerful-of-a-force-optimism-and-hope-can/) [J. D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance-2/) > [I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-tyler/i-ve-never-quite-believed-that-one-chance-is-all-i-get/) [Anne Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-tyler/) > [That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/that-which-has-always-been-accepted-by-everyone-everywhere-is-almost/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [What is simple is false and what is not is useless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/what-is-simple-is-false-and-what-is-not-is-useless/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [That preconceived notion of me being inaccurate is completely false, and I look forward to changing that over time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-allen/that-preconceived-notion-of-me-being-inaccurate-is-completely-false/) [Josh Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-allen/) > [What is true is true, and what is false is false...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/what-is-true-is-true-and-what-is-false-is-false/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) > [I'm not leading them to some false God or something like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/i-m-not-leading-them-to-some-false-god-or-something-like-that/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“Listen! The court jester's cap and bells. The King is coming!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/listen-the-court-jester-s-cap-and-bells-the-king-is-coming/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [It is better to have no ideas than false ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-better-to-have-no-ideas-than-false-ones/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-we-are-true-to-ourselves-we-can-not-be-false-to-anyone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Don't pretend to be what you're not, instead, pretend to what you want to be, it is not pretence, it is a journey to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/don-t-pretend-to-be-what-you-re-not-instead-pretend-to-what-you-want/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Diffidence is a sort of false modesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/diffidence-is-a-sort-of-false-modesty/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) ## More by Paul Valery > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“O Socrates, the universe cannot for one instant endure to be only what it is. It is strange to think that that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/o-socrates-the-universe-cannot-for-one-instant-endure-to-be-only-what/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/serious-people-have-few-ideas-people-with-ideas-are-never-serious/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“I am now going to make an admission. I confess, I agree, that all these good people who protested, who laughed, who did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/i-am-now-going-to-make-an-admission-i-confess-i-agree-that-all-these/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Degas is one of the very few painters who have given the floor its true importance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/degas-is-one-of-the-very-few-painters-who-have-given-the-floor-its/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/politics-is-the-art-of-preventing-people-from-busying-themselves-with/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/god-created-man-and-finding-him-not-sufficiently-alone-gave-him-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-most-ridiculous-were-those-who-on-their-own-authority-made/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/thought-must-be-hidden-in-the-verse-like-nutritional-virtue-in-a-fruit/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [To be sincere means to be the same person when one is with oneself; that is to say, alone - but that is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/to-be-sincere-means-to-be-the-same-person-when-one-is-with-oneself/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [No work of art is ever completed, it is only abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/no-work-of-art-is-ever-completed-it-is-only-abandoned/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/interruption-incoherence-surprise-are-the-ordinary-conditions-of-our/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) [Explore all 215 Paul Valery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## More Believed quotes > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [“I didn't know if I believed in 'happily ever after' anymore. I mean, I didn't know what would happen tomorrow, let alone for forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kate-strohm/i-didn-t-know-if-i-believed-in-happily-ever-after-anymore-i-mean-i/) [Stephanie Kate Strohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kate-strohm/) > [Alfred Nobel believed that social changes are brought about slowly, and sometimes by indirect means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertha-von-suttner/alfred-nobel-believed-that-social-changes-are-brought-about-slowly/) [Bertha von Suttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertha-von-suttner/) > [Aaron Spelling always had his finger on the pulse of pop culture, he knew what the public wanted to see. He was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-milano/aaron-spelling-always-had-his-finger-on-the-pulse-of-pop-culture-he/) [Alyssa Milano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-milano/) > [I never believed that they was such thing as love at first sight but I think I'm having that feeliing @sarahlovemoody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mishack/i-never-believed-that-they-was-such-thing-as-love-at-first-sight-but/) [Mishack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mishack/) > [“I wish I believed him. He's looking at me like he can see where I begin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-mcnamara/i-wish-i-believed-him-he-s-looking-at-me-like-he-can-see-where-i-begin/) [Amy McNamara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-mcnamara/) > [My life had been defined by the apartheid years. Now we were going into an era of democracy... and I believed that I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/my-life-had-been-defined-by-the-apartheid-years-now-we-were-going/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/on-march-12-2004-acting-attorney-general-james-b-comey-and-the/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I never believed I'd have a six-pack, especially not at 35 years old. I always thought it was a genetic blessing. It's not. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sullivan-stapleton/i-never-believed-i-d-have-a-six-pack-especially-not-at-35-years-old-i/) [Sullivan Stapleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sullivan-stapleton/) > [“For a moment, I believed you.” He ordered me, dryly, recovering his usual poise again. He does not only have a selective hearing, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tionne-rogers/for-a-moment-i-believed-you-he-ordered-me-dryly-recovering-his-usual/) [Tionne Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tionne-rogers/) > [There was a time when idealistic folksingers such as myself believed that Reality TV was a programming vogue that would peak and recede, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/there-was-a-time-when-idealistic-folksingers-such-as-myself-believed/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [I felt uneasy, but sometimes, like I said before, I believed in Col. North and there was a very solid and very valid reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fawn-hall/i-felt-uneasy-but-sometimes-like-i-said-before-i-believed-in-col/) [Fawn Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fawn-hall/) > [And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salmon-p-chase/and-upon-this-act-sincerely-believed-to-be-an-act-of-justice/) [Salmon P. Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salmon-p-chase/) [Browse all 1,214 Believed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That which has been believed by everyone, always and everywhere, has every chance of being false.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Valery" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone-always-and-everywhere-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Believed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone-always-and-everywhere-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/paul-valery-1464_chance_that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone_1672759.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That which has been believed by everyone, always and everywhere, has every chance of being false.” — Paul Valery", "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": "Paul Valery", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That which has been believed by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone-always-and-everywhere-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/that-which-has-been-believed-by-everyone-always-and-everywhere-has/#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 } } ] } ```