--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A belief is a lever that, once pulled…" description: "\"“A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything in a person’s life. Are you a scientist? A liberal? A racist? These are merely species ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1f/sam-harris-457_faith_a-belief-is-a-lever-that-once-pulled-mov_682552.jpg" --- # A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost… ![“A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything in a person’s life. Are you a scientist? A liberal? A racist? These are merely species of belief in action. Your beliefs define your vision of the world; they dictate your behavior; they determine your emotional responses to other…” quote by Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1f/sam-harris-457_faith_a-belief-is-a-lever-that-once-pulled-mov_682552.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1f/sam-harris-457_faith_a-belief-is-a-lever-that-once-pulled-mov_682552.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1f/sam-harris-457_faith_a-belief-is-a-lever-that-once-pulled-mov_682552.jpg) > ““A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything in a person’s life. Are you a scientist? A liberal? A racist? These are merely species of belief in action. Your beliefs define your vision of the world; they dictate your behavior; they determine your emotional responses to other human beings. If you doubt this, consider how your experience would suddenly change if you came to believe one of the following propositions: 1. You have only two weeks to live. 2. You've just won the lottery prize of one hundred million dollars. 3. Aliens have implanted a receiver in your skull and are manipulating your thoughts. These are mere words- until you believe them. once believed, they become part of the very apparatus of your mind, determining your desires, fears, expectations, and subsequent behavior.”” [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beliefs act as powerful levers shaping perception, behavior, and emotions; changing a belief can radically alter one's experience of reality. **In simple terms:** Beliefs shape how we think and act. Key Takeaway Examine and consciously choose your core beliefs. Themes psychology belief perception behavior emotion Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal crisis - decision making - therapy - motivational speaking - self‑help Key Concepts cognitive bias self-fulfilling prophecy identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What belief currently limits you? - How would your life differ if you adopted a new belief? A Different Perspective Beliefs may be resistant to change and can be manipulated by misinformation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Beliefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beliefs/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [“A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything in a person’s life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/a-belief-is-a-lever-that-once-pulled-moves-almost-everything-in-a-2/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“On the inner side of the aquarium of reality, beliefs define the area of the prison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-neil-fleischer/on-the-inner-side-of-the-aquarium-of-reality-beliefs-define-the-area/) [Robert Neil Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-neil-fleischer/) > [Tho' there be no such Thing as Chance in the World; our Ignorance of the real Ccause of any Event has the same Influence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/tho-there-be-no-such-thing-as-chance-in-the-world-our-ignorance-of/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Repentance is belief in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/repentance-is-belief-in-action/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is all Knowledge too but recorded Experience, and a product of History; of which, therefore, Reasoning and Belief, no less than Action and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-all-knowledge-too-but-recorded-experience-and-a-product-of/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/it-is-not-so-much-what-you-believe-in-that-matters-as-the-way-in/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [Ultimately we're all responsible for putting our belief into action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stookey/ultimately-we-re-all-responsible-for-putting-our-belief-into-action/) [Paul Stookey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stookey/) > [For, strictly considered, what is all Knowledge too but recorded Experience, and a product of History; of which, therefore, Reasoning and Belief, no less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/for-strictly-considered-what-is-all-knowledge-too-but-recorded/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What you believe, you can achieve, if you love what you do. To succeed in endeavors you have to use stairs of belief and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/what-you-believe-you-can-achieve-if-you-love-what-you-do-to-succeed/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [“In adaptive terms, belief has been extraordinarily useful. It is, after all, by believing various propositions about the world that we predict events and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/in-adaptive-terms-belief-has-been-extraordinarily-useful-it-is-after/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [ \[I\]t is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/i-t-is-difficult-to-imagine-a-set-of-beliefs-more-suggestive-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [I want everybody to worship the God of love instead of worshipping the God of hate and torture. But in the meantime, we don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mosab-hassan-yousef/i-want-everybody-to-worship-the-god-of-love-instead-of-worshipping/) [Mosab Hassan Yousef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mosab-hassan-yousef/) > [Beliefs and values that have held sway for thousands of years will be questioned as never before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-p-christ/beliefs-and-values-that-have-held-sway-for-thousands-of-years-will-be/) [Carol P. Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-p-christ/) > [“My belief is the belief of no beliefs. That's my belief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-scott-mcleod/my-belief-is-the-belief-of-no-beliefs-that-s-my-belief/) [T. Scott McLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-scott-mcleod/) > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) ## More by Sam Harris > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. Miller are doing lasting harm to our discourse by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/there-is-no-question-but-that-nominally-religious-scientists-like/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [We have Christians against Muslims against Jews, and no matter how liberal your theology, merely identifying yourself as a Christian or a Jew lends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-have-christians-against-muslims-against-jews-and-no-matter-how/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Your principal concern appears to be that the Creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked. This prudery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/your-principal-concern-appears-to-be-that-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. 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The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“But the reality of consciousness appears irreducible. Only consciousness can know itself—and directly, through first-person experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/but-the-reality-of-consciousness-appears-irreducible-only/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Whether or not one likes Huntington's formulation, one thing is clear: the evil that has finally reached our shores is not merely the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/whether-or-not-one-likes-huntington-s-formulation-one-thing-is-clear/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-problem-is-that-religion-tends-to-give-people-bad-reasons-to-be/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. 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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. 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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": "“A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything in a person’s life. Are you a scientist? A liberal? A racist? These are merely species of belief in action. 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