--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If only people would realize that moral…" description: "\"If only people would realize that moral principles are like measles… They have to be caught. And only the people who've got them can pass on the contag..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/aldous-huxley-97_caught_if-only-people-would-realize-that-moral_349818.jpg" --- # If only people would realize that moral principles are… ![“If only people would realize that moral principles are like measles… They have to be caught. And only the people who've got them can pass on the contagion.” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/aldous-huxley-97_caught_if-only-people-would-realize-that-moral_349818.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/aldous-huxley-97_caught_if-only-people-would-realize-that-moral_349818.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/aldous-huxley-97_caught_if-only-people-would-realize-that-moral_349818.jpg) > “If only people would realize that moral principles are like measles… They have to be caught. And only the people who've got them can pass on the contagion.” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral values spread like contagion, needing exposure to be adopted and transmitted. **In simple terms:** Values spread through contact. Key Takeaway Expose yourself to good values. Themes ethics social influence culture Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - education - community building - leadership - public policy Key Concepts contagion theory norm transmission Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure positive values spread? - What mechanisms protect societies from harmful moral contagion? A Different Perspective Not all moral ideas are beneficial; harmful norms can also spread. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caught/) [Contagion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contagion/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Like Measles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-measles-440910/) [Measles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measles/) [Measles Caught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measles-caught-3172552/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-principles/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Realize Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realize-moral-3234039/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) ## Related quotes > [Golf, like the measles, should be caught young, for, if postponed to riper years, the results may be serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-2/golf-like-the-measles-should-be-caught-young-for-if-postponed-to/) [P. G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-2/) > [Golf, like measles, should be caught young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-2/golf-like-measles-should-be-caught-young/) [P. G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-2/) > [Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/like-the-measles-love-is-most-dangerous-when-it-comes-late-in-life/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Idyllic follies never last, my little Chauvelin…They come upon us like the measles...and are as easily cured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baroness-orczy/idyllic-follies-never-last-my-little-chauvelin-they-come-upon-us-like/) [Baroness Orczy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baroness-orczy/) > [Love is like the measles, all the worse when it comes late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-the-measles-all-the-worse-when-it-comes-late/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is like a measles-all the worse wen it comes late in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-a-measles-all-the-worse-wen-it-comes-late-in-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love's like the measles - all the worse when it comes late in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-s-like-the-measles-all-the-worse-when-it-comes-late-in-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are things which some people never attempt during their whole lives, but one of these is not poetry. Poetry attacks all human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-are-things-which-some-people-never-attempt-during-their-whole/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Love is like the measles. The older you get it, the worse the attack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/love-is-like-the-measles-the-older-you-get-it-the-worse-the-attack/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Love is like the measles; the older you are when it hits you, the harder it takes. Cheer up, you won't die of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-brackett/love-is-like-the-measles-the-older-you-are-when-it-hits-you-the/) [Leigh Brackett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-brackett/) > [Boyhood, like measles, is one of those complaints which a man should catch young and have done with, for when it comes in middle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/boyhood-like-measles-is-one-of-those-complaints-which-a-man-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/love-is-like-the-measles-we-all-have-to-go-through-it/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Love's like measles-all the worse when it comes late in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-s-like-measles-all-the-worse-when-it-comes-late-in-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is like the measles; we can't have it bad but once, and the later in life we have it the tougher it goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/love-is-like-the-measles-we-can-t-have-it-bad-but-once-and-the-later/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Love Is like Measles, It Only Happens Once In A Lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-kafata/love-is-like-measles-it-only-happens-once-in-a-lifetime/) [Amos Kafata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-kafata/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? 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Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Caught quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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