--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People have suffered and become insane…" description: "\"People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/baron-d-holbach-12885_after-death_people-have-suffered-and-become-insane-f_2864328.jpg" --- # People have suffered and become insane for centuries by… ![“People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter... than a god who puts out traps for people, invites them to sin, and allows them to sin and commit crimes he could prevent. Only to finally get…” quote by Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/baron-d-holbach-12885_after-death_people-have-suffered-and-become-insane-f_2864328.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/baron-d-holbach-12885_after-death_people-have-suffered-and-become-insane-f_2864328.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/baron-d-holbach-12885_after-death_people-have-suffered-and-become-insane-f_2864328.jpg) > “People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter... than a god who puts out traps for people, invites them to sin, and allows them to sin and commit crimes he could prevent. Only to finally get the barbarian pleasure to punish them in an excessive way, of no use for himself, without them changing their ways and without their example preventing others from committing crimes.” [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eternal punishment is portrayed as a cruel, ineffective deterrent, suggesting blind materialism may be preferable to a punitive deity. **In simple terms:** Punishment after death seems cruel and pointless. Key Takeaway Consider ethical frameworks beyond divine retribution. Themes ethics theology philosophy Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical skeptical When to use this quote - legal reform - secular education - personal morality - social policy - psychological counseling Key Concepts deterrence free will human nature Questions to Reflect On - Is punishment an effective moral guide? - Can secular ethics replace religious deterrence? A Different Perspective Blind materialism may ignore moral complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [After death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after-death/) [Allows Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allows-sin-3882936/) [Barbarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarians/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Commit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit/) [Committing crimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/committing-crimes/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Eternal Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-punishment-1250835/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Insane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insane/) [Invites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invites/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Preventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preventing/) [Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment/) [Punishment Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment-death-3232667/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sin Allows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-allows-3882937/) [Traps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traps/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [I do not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions by being afraid of punishment after death or that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-do-not-believe-that-a-man-should-be-restrained-in-his-daily-actions/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I shall ask for the abolition for the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-lafayette/i-shall-ask-for-the-abolition-for-the-punishment-of-death-until-i/) [Marquis de Lafayette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-lafayette/) > [This punishment of death is the remedy, as it were, of a sick society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/this-punishment-of-death-is-the-remedy-as-it-were-of-a-sick-society/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [The punishment of death is the war of a nation against a citizen whose destruction it judges to be necessary or useful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-beccaria/the-punishment-of-death-is-the-war-of-a-nation-against-a-citizen/) [Cesare Beccaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-beccaria/) > [On the Continent, every attempt to substitute a lighter punishment for death was fiercely denounced as a direct violation of the Divine law. Indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-edward-hartpole-lecky/on-the-continent-every-attempt-to-substitute-a-lighter-punishment-for/) [William Edward Hartpole Lecky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-edward-hartpole-lecky/) > [Death is less bitter punishment than death's delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/death-is-less-bitter-punishment-than-death-s-delay/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Is it not true that in ancient times the worst punishment of all was not death, but banishment?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-said-makdisi/is-it-not-true-that-in-ancient-times-the-worst-punishment-of-all-was/) [Jean Said Makdisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-said-makdisi/) > [Religion has never befriended the cause of humaneness. Its monstrous doctrine of eternal punishment and the torture of the damned underlies much of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-stephens-salt/religion-has-never-befriended-the-cause-of-humaneness-its-monstrous/) [Henry Stephens Salt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-stephens-salt/) > [“Suppose it were offered to the father of three children to take his choice whether two should be received into heaven and one condemned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-allin/suppose-it-were-offered-to-the-father-of-three-children-to-take-his/) [Thomas Allin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-allin/) > [“For if God sent his Son, and poured out his wrath upon his Son for the sins of the world, then God has taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-davis/for-if-god-sent-his-son-and-poured-out-his-wrath-upon-his-son-for-the/) [Patrick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-davis/) > [“The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. It is in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/the-doctrine-of-eternal-punishment-is-in-perfect-harmony-with-the-2/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [Every night death came, slowly, painfully, and every morning Maddox awoke in bed, knowing he'd have to die again later. That was his greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/every-night-death-came-slowly-painfully-and-every-morning-maddox/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [We declare that a great number of those who are condemned to eternal punishment suffer that everlasting calamity because of ignorance of those mysteries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xiv/we-declare-that-a-great-number-of-those-who-are-condemned-to-eternal/) [Pope Benedict XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xiv/) > [And ultimately, If you sin against an infinitely holy and eternal God, you are infinitely guilty and worthy of eternal punishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/and-ultimately-if-you-sin-against-an-infinitely-holy-and-eternal-god/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. It is in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/the-doctrine-of-eternal-punishment-is-in-perfect-harmony-with-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) ## More by Baron d'Holbach > [Many men without morals have attacked religion because it was contrary to their inclinations. Many wise men have despised it because it seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/many-men-without-morals-have-attacked-religion-because-it-was/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [In Nature nothing; is mean or contemptible, and it is only pride, originating in a false idea of our superiority, which causes our contempt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/in-nature-nothing-is-mean-or-contemptible-and-it-is-only-pride/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [God, we are told, is willing to render himself inconsistent and ridiculous, to confound the curiosity of those whom, we are at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/god-we-are-told-is-willing-to-render-himself-inconsistent-and/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [“. . . In all parts of our globe, fanatics have cut each other's throats, publicly burnt each other, committed without a scruple and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/in-all-parts-of-our-globe-fanatics-have-cut-each-other-s-throats/) [Baron D'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [“An atheist is a man who does not believe the existence of a God; now, no one can be certain of the existence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/an-atheist-is-a-man-who-does-not-believe-the-existence-of-a-god-now/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [The universe, that vast assemblage of every thing that exists, presents only matter and motion: the whole offers to our contemplation, nothing but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/the-universe-that-vast-assemblage-of-every-thing-that-exists-presents/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [If we go back to the beginnings of things, we shall always find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that imagination, rapture and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/if-we-go-back-to-the-beginnings-of-things-we-shall-always-find-that/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one. What is most repellent in the System of Nature - after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/doubt-is-not-a-pleasant-condition-but-certainty-is-an-absurd-one-what/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [“...if in the heat of the dispute he insists and asks, 'Am I not the master of throwing myself out of the window?' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/if-in-the-heat-of-the-dispute-he-insists-and-asks-am-i-not-the-master/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [The Jehovah of the Jews is a suspicious tyrant, who breathes nothing but blood, murder, and carnage, and who demands that they should nourish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/the-jehovah-of-the-jews-is-a-suspicious-tyrant-who-breathes-nothing/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [“When it shall be desired to enlighten man, let him always have truth laid before him. Instead of kindling his imagination by the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/when-it-shall-be-desired-to-enlighten-man-let-him-always-have-truth/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [Men always fool themselves when they give up experience for systems born of the imagination. Man is the work of nature, he exists in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/men-always-fool-themselves-when-they-give-up-experience-for-systems/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [If experience be consulted, it will be found there is no action, however abominable, that has not received the applause of some people. Parricide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/if-experience-be-consulted-it-will-be-found-there-is-no-action/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/all-children-are-born-atheists-they-have-no-idea-of-god/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [The source of man's unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/the-source-of-man-s-unhappiness-is-his-ignorance-of-nature/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) [Explore all 45 Baron d'Holbach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) ## More After death quotes > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [For days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow, but phone calls taper off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/for-days-after-death-hair-and-fingernails-continue-to-grow-but-phone/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [You're a religious man, ... You believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to the other world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/you-re-a-religious-man-you-believe-in-god-and-life-after-death-i-also/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [And after death something new begins, over which all the powers of the world of death can have no more control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/and-after-death-something-new-begins-over-which-all-the-powers-of-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If the Soul sees, after death , what passes on this earth , and watches over the welfare of those it loves, then must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/if-the-soul-sees-after-death-what-passes-on-this-earth-and-watches/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [When we see the many grave-stones which have fallen in, which have been defaced by the footsteps of the congregation, which lie buried under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-we-see-the-many-grave-stones-which-have-fallen-in-which-have/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is for all men that come into the world once to die; and after death the judgment! And since death is a debt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rumbold/it-is-for-all-men-that-come-into-the-world-once-to-die-and-after/) [Richard Rumbold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rumbold/) > [What we should be after death, we have to attain in life, i.e. holiness and bliss. Here on earth the Kingdom of God begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paracelsus/what-we-should-be-after-death-we-have-to-attain-in-life-i-e-holiness/) [Paracelsus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paracelsus/) > [(After death.) So few people who come across, possess awareness of any kind. All they bring along with them are worthless values. All they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-matheson/after-death-so-few-people-who-come-across-possess-awareness-of-any/) [Richard Matheson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-matheson/) > [I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/i-think-i-have-fairly-heard-and-fairly-weighed-the-evidence-on-both/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [I want people to emphasize life before death as opposed to life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/i-want-people-to-emphasize-life-before-death-as-opposed-to-life-after/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [I thought of the priest who'd told me that many religions hold that it is easier to be closely connected to people we love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-thought-of-the-priest-who-d-told-me-that-many-religions-hold-that/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“And a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek, and continue on its way to heaven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/and-a-soul-would-run-by-a-living-being-touch-them-softly-on-the/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) [Browse all 303 After death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after-death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. 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