--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If anyone proposes to believe, i.e…" description: "\"If anyone proposes to believe, i.e., imagines himself to believe, because many good and upright people living here on the hill have believed, i.e., hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/soren-kierkegaard-578_accounts_if-anyone-proposes-to-believe-i-e-imagin_1624942.jpg" --- # If anyone proposes to believe, i.e., imagines himself to… ![“If anyone proposes to believe, i.e., imagines himself to believe, because many good and upright people living here on the hill have believed, i.e., have said that they believedthen he is a fool, and it is essentially indifferent whether he believes on account of his own and perhaps a widely held…” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/soren-kierkegaard-578_accounts_if-anyone-proposes-to-believe-i-e-imagin_1624942.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/soren-kierkegaard-578_accounts_if-anyone-proposes-to-believe-i-e-imagin_1624942.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/soren-kierkegaard-578_accounts_if-anyone-proposes-to-believe-i-e-imagin_1624942.jpg) > “If anyone proposes to believe, i.e., imagines himself to believe, because many good and upright people living here on the hill have believed, i.e., have said that they believedthen he is a fool, and it is essentially indifferent whether he believes on account of his own and perhaps a widely held opinion about what good and upright people believe, or believes a Münchhausen.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques blind belief based on majority opinion, likening it to Münchhausen’s paradox. **In simple terms:** Blind faith is foolish. Key Takeaway Question beliefs, especially popular ones. Themes faith reason conformity Mood skeptical thought‑provoking Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal decisions - public discourse - ethical judgments Key Concepts existentialism critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - Why do we follow beliefs without personal conviction? - What role does authority play in shaping belief? A Different Perspective Blind belief can be socially reinforced yet still irrational. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever politicians, activists and manipulators propose, it is the phlegmatic, indifferent, ingrained electorate which disposes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-aitkin/whatever-politicians-activists-and-manipulators-propose-it-is-the/) [Don Aitkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-aitkin/) > [ ...the reason for \[this age's\] anxiety and unrest is because in one direction, 'truth' increases in scope and quantity - via science and technology… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-reason-for-this-age-s-anxiety-and-unrest-is-because-in-one/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation, are 1. Security to possessors; 2.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-three-great-ends-which-a-statesman-ought-to-propose-to-himself-in/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [ \[Books\] will visit you at your convenience, whether you are lonesome or not, on rainy days or fair. They propose themselves as either transient… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/books-will-visit-you-at-your-convenience-whether-you-are-lonesome-or/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [If you want to propose marriage to your girlfriend and you live in England and she is in Sicily, do the decent thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/if-you-want-to-propose-marriage-to-your-girlfriend-and-you-live-in/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) > [I propose a Constitutional Amendment providing that, if any public official, elected or appointed, at any level of government, is caught lying to any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-propose-a-constitutional-amendment-providing-that-if-any-public/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [ Conditions in the \[movie\] industry somehow propose the paradox: "We brought you here for your individuality but while you're here we insist that you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/conditions-in-the-movie-industry-somehow-propose-the-paradox-we/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I know that a lot of girls nowadays are proposing to guys but I think I'll be old fashioned. I'll wait until I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-lachey/i-know-that-a-lot-of-girls-nowadays-are-proposing-to-guys-but-i-think/) [Vanessa Lachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-lachey/) > [“Men who want to get married propose. You don’t need to read the signs. 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He will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-are-about-to-part-said-neville-here-are-the-boxes-here-are-the/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Poetry, when it takes sides, when it proposes solutions, isn't any smarter than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-when-it-takes-sides-when-it-proposes-solutions-isn-t-any/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“The truth is, no man has ever wanted me enough to propose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-probst/the-truth-is-no-man-has-ever-wanted-me-enough-to-propose/) [Jennifer Probst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-probst/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [You can’t propose that something be a universal space and at the same time keep control of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/you-can-t-propose-that-something-be-a-universal-space-and-at-the-same/) [Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. 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