Q0430

Anselm of Canterbury

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand.
Thinker Anselm of Canterbury
School Scholasticism
Source Proslogion 1
Theme Faith
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Proslogion 1, within the tradition of Scholasticism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of faith, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Anselm of Canterbury's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Anselm of Canterbury. (n.d.). I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0430

MLA: Anselm of Canterbury. “I do not seek to understand so that….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0430.

Chicago: Anselm of Canterbury. “I do not seek to understand so that….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0430.

Same thinker

More from Anselm of Canterbury

  1. Faith seeking understanding.

All quotations by Anselm of Canterbury

Same theme

More on faith

  1. Faith seeking understanding.
  2. Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
  3. Certainty is not attained by imitation, but by tasting (direct experience).
  4. If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
  5. Truth does not contradict truth; rather it agrees with it and bears witness to it.

Browse the faith theme