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41 " Not only do I not know what I believe, but also I cannot know for sure that I believe. How can I define precisely what my attitude is toward something it cannot conceivably grasp? Can I be said to be in the relation of " belief," in any usual sense of that term, toward something that I cheerfully and readily acknowledge to be absolutely incomprehensible to me?(...) No man can be sure that he is in faith; and we can say of no man with certainty that he has or does not have faith. (...)Not only does faith always carry its opposite uncertainty within itself, but also this faith is never a static condition that is -had-, but a movement toward... And toward what? In the nature of the case we cannot state this " what." We cannot make a flat assertion about our faith like a simple assertion that we have blue eyes or are six feet tall. More than this, the affirmation of our faith can never be made in the simple indicative mood at all. The statement " I believe" can only be uttered as a prayer. "
42 " Our faith is faith in some one else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case. Our belief in truth itself, for instance, that there is a truth, and that our minds and it are made for each other,--what is it but a passionate affirmation of desire, in which our social system backs us up? We want to have a truth; we want to believe that our experiments and studies and discussions must put us in a continually better and better position towards it; and on this line we agree to fight out our thinking lives. "
― William James , The Will to Believe, Human Immortality and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy
43 " Among us, on the other hand, 'the righteous man lives by faith.' Now, if you take away positive affirmation, you take away faith, for without positive affirmation nothing is believed. And there are truths about things unseen, and unless they are believed, we cannot attain to the happy life, which is nothing less than life eternal. It is a question whether we ought to argue with those who profess themselves ignorant not only about the eternity yet to come but also about their present existence, for they [the Academics] even argue that they do not know what they cannot help knowing. For no one can 'not know' that he himself is alive. If he is not alive, he cannot 'not know' about it or anything else at all, because either to know or to 'not know' implies a living subject. But, in such a case, by not positively affirming that they are alive, the skeptics ward off the appearance of error in themselves, yet they do not make errors simply by showing themselves alive; one cannot err who is not alive. That we live is therefore not only true, but it is altogether certain as well. And there are many things that are thus true and certain concerning which, if we withhold positive assent, this ought not to be regarded as a higher wisdom but actually a sort of dementia. "
― Augustine of Hippo , The Enchiridion on Faith Hope and Love (Augustine Series 1)
44 " Nabokov calls every great novel a fairy tale, I said. Well, I would agree. First, let me remind you that fairy tales abound with frightening witches who eat children and wicked stepmothers who poison their beautiful stepdaughters and weak fathers who leave their children behind in forests. But the magic comes from the power of good, that force which tells us we need not give in to the limitations and restrictions imposed on us by McFate, as Nabokov called it.Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies. In all great works of fiction, regardless of the grim reality they present, there is an affirmation of life against the transience of that life, an essential defiance. "
― Azar Nafisi , Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
45 " When you're depressed, it's like you pick up one of those shields in a video game, but instead of protecting your life power, it blocks you from being able to receive any affirmation or encouragement. "
46 " Forgiveness was a mere noun; a fleeting concept of little importance in the grand scheme of written and spoken language, and was thereby spilt freely like cheap, overabundant wine without consequence. Yet forgive was a verb and in turn held far more potency; an action that must be genuine and consciously performed without reservation in order to fully embody the idea behind it. It was both a plea and an affirmation that could only be acknowledged as obtainable through the mutual contract of expression and acceptance between two parties of equal understanding. Enacting forgiveness was and always would be more difficult than simply declaring that the concept itself existed, and the irreversible condition of the human heart would forever ensure that such disparity would remain fact. "
47 " She wished it were evening now, wished for the great relief of the calendar inking itself out, of day done and night coming, of ice cubes knocking about in a glass beneath the whisky spilling in, that fine brown affirmation of need. "
― Michelle Latiolais , Widow: Stories
48 " Affirming others isn’t ‘flattering’ them—it’s when you genuinely and consistently acknowledge their efforts and accomplishments, both large and small. Make affirmation a habit and watch what happens! "
49 " Travel is the discovery of truth; an affirmation of the promise that human kind is far more beautiful than it is flawed. With each trip comes a new optimism that where there is despair and hardship, there are ideas and people just waiting to be energized, to be empowered, to make a difference for good. "
50 " In truth, she disliked books. She felt a peculiar disquiet when opening the pages. She had felt it since childhood. She did not know why. Something in the act itself, the immersion, the seclusion, was disturbing. Reading was an affirmation of being alone, of being separate, trapped. Books were like oubliettes. Her preference was for company, the tactile world, atoms. "
― Sarah Hall , The Beautiful Indifference
51 " There’s a widespread belief that if you have solid self-esteem you don’t need outside affirmation and praise. This is patently untrue, by the way. "
― Harriet Lerner
52 " Do we exist because others perceive our existence, or is, indeed, our own affirmation enough? "
― Neal Shusterman , UnSouled (Unwind, #3)
53 " Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question.[A caution he gives his students, to be wary of dogmatism.] "
54 " Negative self-talk and negative affirmation can keep you anchored in old thought patterns and identities. "
― Bryant McGill , Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life
55 " Tereza's death hurt me so much, it was as if I had two heads smashing into each other. One was full of mown love, the other of hate. I wanted the love to grow back. It grew like grass and straw, all mixed up together, and turned into an icy affirmation on my brow. That was my damn stupid plant. "
― Herta Müller
56 " Hope is affirmation of positive thoughts. "
― Lailah Gifty Akita , The Wings of Hope: Survivor
57 " The essential unity of the formal and material principles of the Reformation lies in the fact that to affirm that Christianity was, formally and materially, solus Christus was perceived by the Reformers ultimately to depend upon the concurrent affirmation that Christ and his benefits could be known sola scriptura. "
― Alister E. McGrath , The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation
58 " This idealization of motherhood is essentially a means of keeping women from developing a sexual consciousness and from breaking through the barriers of sexual repression, of keeping alive their sexual anxieties and guilt feelings. The very existence of woman as a sexual being would threaten authoritarian ideology; her recognition and social affirmation would mean its collapse. "
― Wilhelm Reich , The Mass Psychology of Fascism
59 " Sometimes just the affirmation that a situation sucks can turn a mood around and inspire strength and optimism. "
― Melissa Hart , Wild Within: How Rescuing Owls Inspired a Family
60 " The lecturer points to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's decision to get engaged while in prison as his " positive statement that life will go on," his affirmation of the power of love. "
