QuoteProject
Nobody gets argued all the way into becoming a believer on the sheer basis of logic and reason. That requires a leap of faith.
Francis Collins
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Belief often requires more than just logical reasoning; it entails a personal commitment and trust.

This quote emphasizes that rational arguments alone are insufficient to persuade someone to hold a belief. Instead, it highlights the importance of taking a leap of faith, suggesting that faith is a personal choice that transcends logical reasoning and involves deeper emotional and spiritual elements.

Themes

BeliefFaithLogicReasonPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about religion or spirituality, to emphasize the role of personal conviction.

More from Francis Collins

All illnesses have some heredity contribution. It's been said that genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger.
Francis CollinsRead
I think history would say that medical research has, throughout many changes of parties, remained as one of the shining lights of bipartisan agreement, that people are concerned about health for themselves, for their families, for their constituents.
Francis CollinsRead
I finished up my graduate degree in quantum mechanics, but underwent a bit of a personal crisis, recognizing that I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. It was too abstract, too far removed from human concerns.
Francis CollinsRead
The brain is the most complicated organ in the universe. We have learned a lot about other human organs. We know how the heart pumps and how the kidney does what it does. To a certain degree, we have read the letters of the human genome. But the brain has 100 billion neurons. Each one of those has about 10,000 connections.
Francis CollinsRead
I believe God did intend, in giving us intelligence, to give us the opportunity to investigate and appreciate the wonders of His creation. He is not threatened by our scientific adventures.
Francis CollinsRead
I took biology in high school and didn't like it at all. It was focused on memorization. ... I didn't appreciate that biology also had principles and logic ... [rather than dealing with a] messy thing called life. It just wasn't organized, and I wanted to stick with the nice pristine sciences of chemistry and physics, where everything made sense. I wish I had learned sooner that biology could be fun as well.
Francis CollinsRead

Similar quotes

Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf.
DogenRead
Sometimes breaking the rules is extending the rules.
Mary OliverRead
A message came from my youth of vanished days, saying, 'I wait for you among the quivering of unborn May, where smiles ripen for tears and hours ache with songs unsung.' It says, 'Come to me across the worn-out track of age, through the gates of death. For dreams fade, hopes fail, the fathered fruits of the year decay, but I am the eternal truth, and you shall meet me again and again in your voyage of life from shore to shore.
Rabindranath TagoreRead
Jesus was not a white man; He was not a black man. He came from that part of the world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe. Christianity is not a white man's religion and don't let anybody ever tell you that it's white or black. Christ belongs to all people; He belongs to the whole world.
Billy GrahamRead
Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.
Bob DylanRead
I cannot see why we should expect an infinite God to do better in another world than he does in this.
Robert Green IngersollRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Francis Collins | QuoteProject