--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Belief and doubt are living attitudes…" description: "\"“Belief and doubt are living attitudes, and involve conduct on our part. Our only way, for example, of doubting, or refusing to believe, that a certain..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e41/william-james-228_act_belief-and-doubt-are-living-attitudes-an_1878313.png" --- # Belief and doubt are living attitudes, and involve conduct… ![“Belief and doubt are living attitudes, and involve conduct on our part. Our only way, for example, of doubting, or refusing to believe, that a certain thing is, is continuing to act as if it were not.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e41/william-james-228_act_belief-and-doubt-are-living-attitudes-an_1878313.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e41/william-james-228_act_belief-and-doubt-are-living-attitudes-an_1878313.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e41/william-james-228_act_belief-and-doubt-are-living-attitudes-an_1878313.png) > ““Belief and doubt are living attitudes, and involve conduct on our part. Our only way, for example, of doubting, or refusing to believe, that a certain thing is, is continuing to act as if it were not.”” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Belief and doubt are active stances; to doubt is to act as if something isn’t, shaping experience. **In simple terms:** Belief and doubt guide how we act and think. Key Takeaway Act with intention regardless of certainty. Themes philosophy psychology faith action mindset Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - decision making - personal growth - spiritual practice - conflict resolution Key Concepts pragmatism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you act when unsure? - When is doubt beneficial? A Different Perspective Action without certainty can lead to error. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [Like belief, doubt takes a lot of different forms, from ancient Skepticism to modern scientific empiricism, from doubt in many gods to doubt in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-michael-hecht/like-belief-doubt-takes-a-lot-of-different-forms-from-ancient/) [Jennifer Michael Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-michael-hecht/) > [Belief is not truly belief while doubt can still touch it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karlfried-graf-durckheim/belief-is-not-truly-belief-while-doubt-can-still-touch-it/) [Karlfried Graf Durckheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karlfried-graf-durckheim/) > [Doubt is most often the source of our powerlessness. To doubt is to be faithless, to be without hope or belief. When we doubt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-lee-pardoe/doubt-is-most-often-the-source-of-our-powerlessness-to-doubt-is-to-be/) [Blaine Lee Pardoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-lee-pardoe/) > [There are two dogs fighting within your mind. One is named Belief, another is Doubt. Who will win? The dog you feed more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-two-dogs-fighting-within-your-mind-one-is-named-belief/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Question: What is the opposite of faith? Not disbelief. Too final, certain, closed. Itself is a kind of belief. Doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/question-what-is-the-opposite-of-faith-not-disbelief-too-final/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Commitment is when you keep pushing yourself beyond belief, even when others doubt and say you cannot do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/commitment-is-when-you-keep-pushing-yourself-beyond-belief-even-when/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Belief - Yang Doubt - Yin? Or the Middle Way of pure direct experience of Now prior to belief or doubt…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-lewis/belief-yang-doubt-yin-or-the-middle-way-of-pure-direct-experience-of/) [Leland Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-lewis/) > [Both thought and feeling are determinants of conduct, and the same conduct may be determined either by feeling or by thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/both-thought-and-feeling-are-determinants-of-conduct-and-the-same/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I was super doubting myself and if I was even cut out to live this life, but then the fans came to my rescue.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilly-singh/i-was-super-doubting-myself-and-if-i-was-even-cut-out-to-live-this/) [Lilly Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilly-singh/) > [As an actor, you always think your last job is your last job, and you're always doubting yourself and worried that people will see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-marsden/as-an-actor-you-always-think-your-last-job-is-your-last-job-and-you/) [James Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-marsden/) > [I need to have people doubting me, because that's when you dig deep and find out what you're made of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-peavy/i-need-to-have-people-doubting-me-because-that-s-when-you-dig-deep/) [Jake Peavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-peavy/) > [In dealing with the arrogant asserter of doubt, it is not the right method to tell him to stop doubting. It is rather the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-dealing-with-the-arrogant-asserter-of-doubt-it-is-not-the-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The faculty of doubting is rare among men. A few choice spirits carry the germs of it in them, but these do not develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-faculty-of-doubting-is-rare-among-men-a-few-choice-spirits-carry/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [If you keep doubting every issue you come across in life, you will never consider any issue based on its merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/if-you-keep-doubting-every-issue-you-come-across-in-life-you-will/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. 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As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Act quotes > [I once told someone I could act. 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