Superstitious Men
Men would never be superstitious, if they could govern all their circumstances by set rules, or if they were always favoured by fortune: but being frequently driven into straits where rules are useless, and being often kept fluctuating pitiably between hope and fear by the uncertainty of fortune�s greedily coveted favours, they are consequently for the most part, very prone to credulity.
Baruch Espinoza, in 'Theological-Political Treatise'