--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a secularising world, art has replaced…" description: "\"In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg" --- # In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a… ![“In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg) > “In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art now functions as the primary source of awe and meaning in societies where traditional religious authority wanes. **In simple terms:** Art as modern reverence Key Takeaway Art fills spiritual void Themes Secularism Culture Meaning Devotion Religion Mood Contemplative Inspired Reflective Type Philosophical Cultural observation When to use this quote - Museum visits - Public art installations - Personal contemplation - Cultural festivals Key Concepts Symbolism Collective identity Aesthetic experience Practical Applications - Designing community spaces - Educational curricula on art appreciation Questions to Reflect On - How does art shape personal values? - Can art replace communal rituals? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Reverence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reverence/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [somewhere about the eighteenth century, history tacitly replaced religion as the school of public morals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/somewhere-about-the-eighteenth-century-history-tacitly-replaced/) [C. 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Reggae's capacity to be a folk music that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/for-me-reggae-music-and-its-aesthetic-are-touchstones-in-both-simple/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [If you don't find that people find you're easier to live with than you were before, if you don't find that your heart is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/if-you-don-t-find-that-people-find-you-re-easier-to-live-with-than/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Calamity is man's true touchstone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-william-fletcher/calamity-is-man-s-true-touchstone/) [John William Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-william-fletcher/) > [In the midst of regular life, running is the touchstone that breathes adventure into my soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-armstrong/in-the-midst-of-regular-life-running-is-the-touchstone-that-breathes/) [Kristin Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-armstrong/) > [Art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/art-establishes-the-basic-human-truths-which-must-serve-as-the/) [John F. 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The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced-religion-as-a-touchstone-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced-religion-as-a-touchstone-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced_83701.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In a secularising world, art has...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced-religion-as-a-touchstone-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-a-secularising-world-art-has-replaced-religion-as-a-touchstone-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```