We often use these two powerful words interchangeably. These words are powerful in that, what they represent runs deep in our veins.
Alan Watts made the distinction clear in the simplest possible way:
Belief is the insistence that the truth is what one would "lief" or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on the condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes.
Faith is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown.
Where belief clings, faith lets go. Faith is the essential virtue of a religion, provided you are not using that religion to deceive yourself.
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