--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We do everything by custom, even believe…" description: "\"We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/thomas-carlyle-207_belief_we-do-everything-by-custom-even-believe_2551138.png" --- # We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very… ![“We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have never heard questioned.” quote by Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/thomas-carlyle-207_belief_we-do-everything-by-custom-even-believe_2551138.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/thomas-carlyle-207_belief_we-do-everything-by-custom-even-believe_2551138.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/thomas-carlyle-207_belief_we-do-everything-by-custom-even-believe_2551138.png) > “We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have never heard questioned.” [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Customs shape beliefs, often unexamined, limiting true free-thinking. **In simple terms:** Customs influence unexamined beliefs. Key Takeaway Question traditions critically. Themes customs beliefs free-thinking Mood critical introspective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - education reform - cultural change - personal growth Key Concepts social norms critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What customs have you never questioned? - How can you foster true free-thinking? A Different Perspective May overstate freedom of thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Beliefs Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beliefs-heard-1522018/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Axioms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-axioms-505325/) [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Custom Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/custom-believe-1522016/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Free thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-thinking/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Simply Beliefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simply-beliefs-1522017/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are, the harder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-steffens/we-know-that-there-is-no-absolute-knowledge-that-there-are-only/) [Lincoln Steffens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lincoln-steffens/) > [The Great Man's sincerity is of the kind he cannot speak of, is not conscious of: nay, I suppose, he is conscious rather of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-great-man-s-sincerity-is-of-the-kind-he-cannot-speak-of-is-not/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [It is in general more profitable to reckon up our defeats than to boast of our attainments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/it-is-in-general-more-profitable-to-reckon-up-our-defeats-than-to/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great: Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-thou-art-fair-and-at-thy-birth-dear-boy-nature-and-fortune-join-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/wisdom-can-boast-no-higher-attainment-than-happiness/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aman-jassal/a-classic-is-read-not-to-enjoy-but-only-to-be-boast-about-it/) [Aman Jassal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aman-jassal/) > [Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/boast-is-always-a-cry-of-despair-except-in-the-young-it-is-a-cry-of/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. 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Lose without excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-payson-terhune/win-without-boasting-lose-without-excuse/) [Albert Payson Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-payson-terhune/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More by Thomas Carlyle > [O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/o-thou-that-pinest-in-the-imprisonment-of-the-actual-and-criest/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sadder-proof-can-be-given-by-a-man-of-his-own-littleness-than/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The sincere alone can recognize sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-sincere-alone-can-recognize-sincerity/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The glory of a workman, still more of a master workman, that he does his work well, ought to be his most precious possession;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-glory-of-a-workman-still-more-of-a-master-workman-that-he-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [All human things do require to have an ideal in them; to have some soul in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/all-human-things-do-require-to-have-an-ideal-in-them-to-have-some/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Insurrection, never so necessary, is a most sad necessity; and governors who wait for that to instruct them are surely getting into the fatalest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/insurrection-never-so-necessary-is-a-most-sad-necessity-and-governors/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Let Time and Chance combine, combine! Let Time and Chance combine! The fairest love from heaven above, That love of yours was mine, My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/let-time-and-chance-combine-combine-let-time-and-chance-combine-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Thought will not work except in silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/thought-will-not-work-except-in-silence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The public is anold woman.Let her maunderand mumble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-public-is-anold-woman-let-her-maunderand-mumble/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Does not every true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence to what is really above him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/does-not-every-true-man-feel-that-he-is-himself-made-higher-by-doing/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The press is the fourth estate of the realm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-press-is-the-fourth-estate-of-the-realm/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Explore all 917 Thomas Carlyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? 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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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