--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was once a skeptic but was converted by…" description: "\"I was once a skeptic but was converted by the two missionaries on either side of my nose.\" — Robert Breault" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/robert-breault-304_catholic_i-was-once-a-skeptic-but-was-converted-b_2567250.png" --- # I was once a skeptic but was converted by the two… ![“I was once a skeptic but was converted by the two missionaries on either side of my nose.” quote by Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/robert-breault-304_catholic_i-was-once-a-skeptic-but-was-converted-b_2567250.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/robert-breault-304_catholic_i-was-once-a-skeptic-but-was-converted-b_2567250.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/robert-breault-304_catholic_i-was-once-a-skeptic-but-was-converted-b_2567250.png) > “I was once a skeptic but was converted by the two missionaries on either side of my nose.” [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal transformation can occur through unexpected, close encounters with opposing viewpoints. **In simple terms:** Unexpected encounters can change beliefs. Key Takeaway Embrace dialogue with differing views. Themes conversion dialogue open‑mindedness Mood inspirational curious Type personal reflective When to use this quote - political debate - interfaith dialogue - personal growth Key Concepts psychology of belief social influence Questions to Reflect On - What experiences have shifted your worldview? - How can you test the depth of a new belief? A Different Perspective Conversion may be superficial if not deeply examined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Missionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missionaries/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Skeptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skeptic/) ## Related quotes > [There are more martyrs to nonsense than truth, truth preferring missionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-are-more-martyrs-to-nonsense-than-truth-truth-preferring/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“Measure your life by how much of your time you have converted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/measure-your-life-by-how-much-of-your-time-you-have-converted/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/i-went-to-preaching-again-the-sermons-were-not-different-i-did-not/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [“...she had the conviction of the newly converted, which wouldn't last forever, but would for the moment brook no discouragement or allow for second-guessing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/she-had-the-conviction-of-the-newly-converted-which-wouldn-t-last/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [I converted to Catholicism at age 35, after being raised as a Congregationalist in a New England Yankee family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-long/i-converted-to-catholicism-at-age-35-after-being-raised-as-a/) [Wendy Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-long/) > [“Time can be converted to anything. It is from that time that everything is made.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/time-can-be-converted-to-anything-it-is-from-that-time-that/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I went in, and there, in the front room, a converted bedroom, sat the first radio I had ever seen. The equipment was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waite-hoyt/i-went-in-and-there-in-the-front-room-a-converted-bedroom-sat-the/) [Waite Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waite-hoyt/) > [My study is a converted garage which is largely lined with bookshelves and cardboard boxes filled with manuscripts of my film scripts, plays and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-nicholson/my-study-is-a-converted-garage-which-is-largely-lined-with/) [William Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-nicholson/) > [People have converted - and all because they've fallen in love with the richness, the depth and the tradition of the Catholic Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-roumie/people-have-converted-and-all-because-they-ve-fallen-in-love-with-the/) [Jonathan Roumie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-roumie/) > [Every time I was driving on the L.A. freeway in a small car, it was very unnerving for me. One time I rented an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-lee-smith/every-time-i-was-driving-on-the-l-a-freeway-in-a-small-car-it-was/) [Lauren Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-lee-smith/) > [When I was nine years old, my family lost our home, and the six of us moved into my grandparents' converted garage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-g/when-i-was-nine-years-old-my-family-lost-our-home-and-the-six-of-us/) [Becky G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becky-g/) > [My mother is an ordained minister. I'm a Muslim. She didn't do backflips when I called her to tell her I converted 17 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/my-mother-is-an-ordained-minister-i-m-a-muslim-she-didn-t-do/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [“Only when time is converted can you produce something from it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/only-when-time-is-converted-can-you-produce-something-from-it/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You want to be converted. Trust me on this. You're a breakfast at dinner person if I ever met one. You just haven't been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-klein/you-want-to-be-converted-trust-me-on-this-you-re-a-breakfast-at/) [Katie Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-klein/) > [“Only when that time is converted can you produce something from it. You can only make wealth from a time well converted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/only-when-that-time-is-converted-can-you-produce-something-from-it/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) ## More by Robert Breault > [You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/you-will-not-find-a-soulmate-in-the-quiet-of-your-room-you-must-go-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/never-mind-the-odds-against-you-if-you-doubled-your-effort-what-would/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Retirement is having nothing to do and someone always keeping you from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/retirement-is-having-nothing-to-do-and-someone-always-keeping-you/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [There is in art the notion of less is more, which is to say, you don't torture a painting that has already confessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-is-in-art-the-notion-of-less-is-more-which-is-to-say-you-don-t/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [One's dream is defeated not by unsolvable problems, but by all the more-or-less satisfactory solutions that kill it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/one-s-dream-is-defeated-not-by-unsolvable-problems-but-by-all-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-cultivate-my-garden-and-my-garden-cultivates-me/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The trick to getting ahead is to give it the same effort you give to getting even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/the-trick-to-getting-ahead-is-to-give-it-the-same-effort-you-give-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Man will have replicated his own intelligence not when he teaches a computer to reason but when he teaches a computer to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/man-will-have-replicated-his-own-intelligence-not-when-he-teaches-a/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [To hurt someone you know will forgive you is the unkindiest thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/to-hurt-someone-you-know-will-forgive-you-is-the-unkindiest-thing-of/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For every person who atones, a hundred others find regret sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-every-person-who-atones-a-hundred-others-find-regret-sufficient/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a means to success, determination has this advantage over talent - that it does not have to be recognized by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-means-to-success-determination-has-this-advantage-over-talent/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Genius is a plodding intellect, incapable of dreaming up the obstacles that stop the rest of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/genius-is-a-plodding-intellect-incapable-of-dreaming-up-the-obstacles/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Explore all 710 Robert Breault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## More Catholic quotes > [I am a practicing Catholic, but my lineage is Jewish, so if someone asks me if I'm Jewish, I say yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-campbell/i-am-a-practicing-catholic-but-my-lineage-is-jewish-so-if-someone/) [Neve Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-campbell/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. 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We won the state championship my junior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-rossi/the-reason-i-went-to-an-all-boys-catholic-school-was-because-they-had/) [Theo Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-rossi/) > [I grew up with a religious background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-caruso/i-grew-up-with-a-religious-background/) [Alex Caruso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-caruso/) > [ Girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us follow in his \[Jesus\] paths by the guidance of the Gospel. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-of-nursia/girded-with-faith-and-the-performance-of-good-works-let-us-follow-in/) [Benedict of Nursia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-of-nursia/) > [“Even at the tender age of twelve, when I knelt in front of the bishop for my confirmation, I had the sneaking suspicion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-edwards/even-at-the-tender-age-of-twelve-when-i-knelt-in-front-of-the-bishop/) Megan Edwards > [Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-and-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [My grandmother was a minister as well, which was not that common in the 1930s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/my-grandmother-was-a-minister-as-well-which-was-not-that-common-in/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [My grandmother made sure that I went to church every Sunday. 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