SUPERSTITION QUOTES III
quotations about superstition
To think that now the 19th century is so far advanced, education and knowledge in the power of being acquired by every English-speaking race, and most foreign, superstition still exists, not only amongst the humbler and partially educated, but also amongst the upper classes, the learned, scientific and most erudite minds--is almost unaccountable to ordinary thinking people. The Roman Catholic believes in holy water, the Ritualist in the consecration of churches and burial grounds; the devout but humble Presbyterian in the necessity of a person who has viewed a corpse touching the same before leaving; and thousands of all creeds and classes in the possession of a child's caul as a charm against being drowned, if not other dangers, &c. & c. Now, the only consecration any church or other building can have is when persons assemble in it to worship God, not with outward signs or ceremonies, but with the heart; not according to the letter of the ritual, but in spirit and in truth. Superstition, then, is a clear proof of a weak mind and diluted Christianity. Do then, ye victims to superstition, forebodings of evil, and ye blind followers of the blind, think of Cromwell's grand speech to his army of Roundheads: "Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry." And think of the heroic and simple faith of the Pilgrim Fathers who launched out in their primitively-constructed vessel on the waves of the storm-tossed Atlantic to seek in an unknown world on the other side the freedom to worship that great unknown Being in whom they placed childlike and implicit faith, and at early dawn on the dreary ocean, and at the solemn vesper hour, made more solemn by their lone isolated position on the dreary desert of waters that surrounded them, they joined in one cry, one solemn resolve, which sounded clear above the roaring of the tempestuous waves, and said: Faith of our fathers, simple faith, we will be true to thee.
T. AUGUSTUS FORBES LEITH
"On Superstition", Short Essays
How weak our mind is; how quickly it is terrified and unbalanced as soon as we are confronted with a small, incomprehensible fact. Instead of dismissing the problem with: "We do not understand because we cannot find the cause," we immediately imagine terrible mysteries and supernatural powers.
GUY DE MAUPASSANT
"The Horla"
I am so superstitious that if I had arrived when there was no sunshine I should have been wretched and most anxious until after my first performance. It is a perfect torture to be superstitious to this degree, and, unfortunately for me, I am ten times more so now than I was in those days, for besides the superstitions of my own country, I have, thanks to my travels, added to my stock all the superstitions of other countries. I know them all now, and in any critical moment of my life, they all rise up in armed legions for or against me. I cannot walk a single step or make any movement or gesture, sit down, go out, look at the sky or ground, without feeling some reason for hope or despair, until at last, exasperated by the trammels put upon my actions by my thought, I defy all superstitions and just act as I want to act.
SARAH BERNHARDT
My Double Life
Superstition, without a veil, is a deformed thing; for, as it addeth deformity to an ape, to be so like a man, so the similitude of superstition to religion, makes it the more deformed. And as wholesome meat corrupteth to little worms, so good forms and orders corrupt, into a number of petty observances.
FRANCIS BACON
"Of Superstition", The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral
might be superstition but some kind of somethin'
goin' on down there
it might be superstition but some kind of somethin'
goin' on down there
it's an old time tradition when they play their
drums at night in Congo Square
SONNY LANDRETH
"Congo Square Lyrics"
Once people begin to understand the right relation of things and the real cause of phenomenon, they cease to be superstitious.
BARSHA NAG BHOWMICK
"Black cat, bad luck: Really how superstitious are you?", Times of India, May 22, 2017
What if cards don't go my way?
And it's sure to spoil my day
But in voices loud and clear you say to me, "It's only superstition
It's only your imagination
It's only all of the things that you fear and the things from which you can't escape"
COLDPLAY
"Only Superstition", brothers & sisters
Take theology from the world, and the money wasted on superstition will do away with want.
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
Six Interviews with Robert G. Ingersoll on Six Sermons by the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage
Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.
MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE
The Complete Essays
One of the interesting things about superstitions is their seemingly arbitrary nature. Like, why 13? Why black cats? Why can't you walk under that ladder? It has no rational bearing. Yet somehow you feel like you're tempting fate, and the outcome, a bad outcome, that could befall you is going to be worse because you did something that people say you shouldn't do.
TOM GILOVICH
"Why Do You Believe in Superstitions? Here's What the Science Says", Reader's Digest, December 29, 2016
The general root of superstition: namely, that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss; and commit to memory the one, and forget and pass over the other.
FRANCIS BACON
The Collected Works of Francis Bacon
Men are probably nearer the essential truth in their superstitions than in their science.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Journal, June 27, 1852
Since man cannot live without miracles, he will provide himself with miracles of his own making. He will believe in witchcraft and sorcery, even though he may otherwise be a heretic, an atheist, and a rebel.
FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
The Brothers Karamazov
Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.
CARL SAGAN
Cosmos
Superstitions are usually born from uncertainty of the future and a lack of control. It is easier to blame problems on an outside force than to deal with them head on.
ANNDREA OURS
"Black cats and superstition", The West Georgian, October 28, 2016
You will search the world over and not find a nonsuperstitious community. As long as there is ignorance, there will be adherence to superstition. Dispelling ignorance is the only solution. That is why I teach.
IRVIN D. YALOM
The Spinoza Problem
Although superstitions might seem like holdovers from a different era, plenty of people believe in them today. According to a Gallup poll, nearly a quarter of Americans admitted to being somewhat superstitious, particularly when it came to traditions like knocking on wood and walking under a ladder. Following these traditions doesn't make you irrational; they're simply part of a culture that gets passed down through the generations. Besides, if there's anything universally beloved by humanity, it's coming up with rituals.
CLAIRE WARNER
"The Origins Of These Common Superstitions Are Absolutely Fascinating", Bustle, January 13, 2017
The world's hope is centered on men devoid of superstition.
ABNER KNEELAND
attributed, Day's Collacon
With their backs to the sunrise they worship the night.
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
The Gods and Other Lectures
When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer? Superstition ain't the way!
STEVIE WONDER
"Superstition", Talking Book