Quote#Hope
Men are naturally disposed to listen to, and believe those who make…
Quote byBaron d'Holbach · 1723–1789
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Ecce Homo.
English (original)
Men are naturally disposed to listen to, and believe those who make them hope for an end to their miseries. Misfortunes render them timorous and credulous, and lead them to superstition. A fanatic easily makes conquests among a wretched people. It is not then wonderful that Jesus should soon acquire partizans, especially among the populace who in every country are easily seduced.
— Baron d'Holbach
More from Baron d'Holbach
Savage and furious nations, perpetually at war, adore, under diverse names, some God, conformable to their ideas, that is to say, cruel, carnivorous, selfish, blood-thirsty.
All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God.
If the ignorance of nature gave birth to such a variety of gods, the knowledge of this nature is calculated to destroy them.
It is thus superstition infatuates man from his infancy, fills him with vanity, and enslaves him with fanaticism.
When we examine the opinions of men, we find that nothing is more uncommon, than common sense; or, in other words, they lack judgment to discover plain truths, or to reject absurdities, and palpable contradictions.
Pascal proves nothing in favour of Religion, unless that a man of genius may be foolish on some subjects, and is but a child, when he is weak enough to listen to his prejudices.