Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.

Man is what he believes.

the current situation being a toss-up as to what you want to believe. Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal. Hence you will find that often what you believe is what you want to believe, rather than being the result of careful thinking.

Man is what be believes.” — Anton Chekhov

It was his nature to believe anything, before he would believe he could be wrong.

Man is a rational animal. So at least we have been told. Throughout a long life I have searched diligently for evidence in favor of this statement. So far, I have not had the good fortune to come across it.

A credulous mind . . . finds most delight in believing
strange things, and the stranger they are the easier they pass
with him; but never regards those that are plain and
feasible, for every man can believe such.

Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile.

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish

According to his opinion, man should only believe what he can grasp with his intellectual faculties, or perceive by his senses, or what he can accept on trustworthy authority. Beyond this nothing should be believed.

A man lives by believing something; not by debating and arguing about many things.

A consistent man believes in destiny; a capricious man in chance.

Demosthenes noted, “What a man wishes, he will believe.” And

There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed.