Rupert Spira says it so much better and succinctly than I ever could …

If a thought represents a fact, we know it; we do not believe it. And if we know it we do not doubt it. If we doubt it we do not know it. If we do not know it, it is a belief and not a fact.

Rupert Spira

A belief is an idea that we think is true. A fact is an idea that we know is true.

Rupert Spira