Men speak the truth of one another when each reveres the truth in his own mind and in the other’s mind; but how shall my friend revere the truth in my mind when I myself am careless about it, when I believe things because I want to believe them, and because they are comforting and pleasant?

William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879) English mathematician and philosopher

“The Ethics of Belief,” Contemporary Review (Jan 1877)
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