If they’re beautiful I don’t much mind if they’re not…
““If they’re beautiful I don’t much mind if they’re not true. It’s asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as to your sense of the aesthetic. I wanted Betty to become a Roman Catholic, I should have liked to see her converted in a crown of paper flowers, but she’s hopelessly Protestant. Besides, religion is a matter of temperament; you will believe anything if you have the religious turn of mind, and if you haven’t it doesn’t matter what beliefs were instilled into you, you will grow out of them. Perhaps religion is the best school of morality. It is like one of those drugs you gentlemen use in medicine which carries another in solution: it is of no efficacy in itself, but enables the other to be absorbed. You take your morality because it is combined with religion; you lose the religion and the morality stays behind. A man is more likely to be a good man if he has learned goodness through the love of God than through a perusal of Herbert Spencer.” This””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The passage argues that aesthetic appeal can outweigh truth, that religion is a temperament‑driven, culturally shaped moral framework, and that moral behavior can persist without religious belief.
In simple terms: Beauty may trump truth; religion shapes but isn’t essential for morality.
Key Takeaway
Morality can exist independently of religion.
Themes
aesthetics
religion
morality
temperament
culture
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
philosophical
critical
literary
When to use this quote
- personal relationships
- ethical decision making
- interfaith dialogue
- education on moral philosophy
Key Concepts
Secular ethics
cultural relativism
psychology of belief
Questions to Reflect On
- Does moral behavior depend on belief or on internal values?
- How does aesthetic preference influence our acceptance of ideas?
A Different Perspective
Religion may not guarantee moral behavior and can be superficial.