---
title: "1 Religious Authority Quotes By Van Wyck Brooks"
description: "1 Religious Authority quotes by Van Wyck Brooks. Plus more from Van Wyck Brooks and more Religious Authority sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/van-wyck-brooks-22156_authority_there-is-no-stopping-the-world-s-tendenc_504060.jpg"
---

> [There is no stopping the world's tendency to throw off imposed restraints, the religious authority that is based on the ignorance of the many, the political authority that is based on the knowledge of the few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/there-is-no-stopping-the-world-s-tendency-to-throw-off-imposed/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/van-wyck-brooks-22156_authority_there-is-no-stopping-the-world-s-tendenc_504060.jpg)

## More by Van Wyck Brooks

> [Better the fragrant herb of wit and a little cream of affability than all the pretty cups in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/better-the-fragrant-herb-of-wit-and-a-little-cream-of-affability-than/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The creative impulses of man are always at war with the possessive impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-creative-impulses-of-man-are-always-at-war-with-the-possessive/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Genius and virtue are to be more often found clothed in gray than in peacock bright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/genius-and-virtue-are-to-be-more-often-found-clothed-in-gray-than-in/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The instructed man is ashamed to pronounce in an Orphic manner what everybody knows, and because he is silent people think he is making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-instructed-man-is-ashamed-to-pronounce-in-an-orphic-manner-what/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/nothing-is-so-soothing-to-our-self-esteem-as-to-find-our-bad-traits/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [No one in this country has any root anywhere; we don't live in America, we board here, we are like spiders that run over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/no-one-in-this-country-has-any-root-anywhere-we-don-t-live-in-america/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-man-who-has-the-courage-of-his-platitudes-is-always-a-successful/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [There is no stopping the world's tendency to throw off imposed restraints, the religious authority that is based on the ignorance of the many,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/there-is-no-stopping-the-world-s-tendency-to-throw-off-imposed/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The American mind, unlike the English, is not formed by books, but, as Carl Sandburg once said to me, by newspapers and the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-american-mind-unlike-the-english-is-not-formed-by-books-but-as/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [People of small caliber are always carping. They are bent on showing their own superiority, their knowledge or prowess or good breeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/people-of-small-caliber-are-always-carping-they-are-bent-on-showing/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Magnanimous people have no vanity, they have no jealousy, and they feed on the true and the solid wherever they find it. And, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/magnanimous-people-have-no-vanity-they-have-no-jealousy-and-they-feed/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and positive in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/how-delightful-is-the-company-of-generous-people-who-overlook-trifles/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [It is not that the French are not profound, but they all express themselves so well that we are led to take their geese…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/it-is-not-that-the-french-are-not-profound-but-they-all-express/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Those of our writers who have possessed a vivid personal talent have been paralyzed by a want of social background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/those-of-our-writers-who-have-possessed-a-vivid-personal-talent-have/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The writer is important only by dint of the territory he colonizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-writer-is-important-only-by-dint-of-the-territory-he-colonizes/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

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