Belief and Knowledge

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about belief and knowledge.  I'm a big fan of knowledge.  I think knowledge is wonderful, and I'm constantly trying to get more, albeit in a somewhat passive way.  Belief I've never considered myself strong on, however.
But this isn't about my personal beliefs.  This is about belief in general.  I've come to realize how important belief is.  I recently read an essay based on a talk that Joseph Campbell, the eminient scholar on mythology, gave.  He discusses a conversation he had with an educated gentleman from India concerning the dating of the Vedas, or holy texts of that man's religion.  The man stated that he knew there were civilizations older than the texts in question, but he believed as an orthodox Hindu that nothing predated his holy texts.
This paradox of knowing one thing and believing another fascinates me.  I have a difficult time reconciling the two.  What a wonderful ability to be able to know one thing and believe another.  This may be a weakness on first glance, but in all reality, I've come to consider it a strength.
Consider on a smaller level how belief and knowledge, when contradictory in our personal lives, can strengthen us.  I can know that the odds are very slim that I can attain a particular achievement, but that might not stop me from believing I can do it.  That believe will lead me to an attempt, and although the odds might be against me, there is a chance I will succeed.  And I always keep in mind that even a failed attempt is instructive in nature.
Knowledge is wonderful.  Knowledge is power.  Knowledge is the ace in the deck.  But belief is the Joker.  I've heard that with belief all things are possible.  While I know that all things are not possible,  I can believe all things are possible, and as long as I believe they are, they are.  I know I can no longer eat pork steak without catastrophic gastrointestinal results, but in the brief moments while I'm looking at a grilled pork steak on my plate, I believe I can.  And I do.  My belief shapes my actions more than knowledge, and while the results in this instance are negative, that will not always be the case.  Knowledge may inform the way we perceive the world around us, but I've come to realize that belief more often shapes how we interact with the world.