--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Faith means making a virtue out of not…" description: "\"Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png" --- # Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's… ![“Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders - keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned so much lunacy and destruction.” quote by Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png) > “Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders - keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned so much lunacy and destruction.” [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith is presented as a mental construct that can lead to intellectual servitude and irrationality. **In simple terms:** Faith can become a mental trap. Key Takeaway Question blind belief and its societal effects. Themes faith intellectual freedom criticism Mood provocative skeptical Type philosophical controversial When to use this quote - religious discourse - education - political rhetoric - media analysis Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do people cling to faith despite criticism? - Can faith coexist with critical thinking? A Different Perspective Faith can also provide comfort and community. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Bondage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bondage/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Slaveholders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaveholders/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag-2/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag-3/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about...Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings, who don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag-4/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [So what I do now is to pre-empt that by making the up into a virtue, and telling funny stories about how crap I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-mortimer/so-what-i-do-now-is-to-pre-empt-that-by-making-the-up-into-a-virtue/) [Emily Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-mortimer/) > [Therefore, when some say good works are forbidden when we preach faith alone, it is as if I said to a sick man: If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/therefore-when-some-say-good-works-are-forbidden-when-we-preach-faith/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [When some say that good works are forbidden when we preach faith alone, it is as if I said to a sick man: "If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/when-some-say-that-good-works-are-forbidden-when-we-preach-faith/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The Church seems to totter to its fall, almost all life extinct. On this occasion, any complaisance would be criminal which told you, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-church-seems-to-totter-to-its-fall-almost-all-life-extinct-on/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“When some people say, as they do, that when we preach faith alone good works are forbidden, it is as if I were to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/when-some-people-say-as-they-do-that-when-we-preach-faith-alone-good/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/preach-faith-till-you-have-it-and-then-because-you-have-it-you-will/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [You cannot preach conviction of sin unless you have suffered it. You cannot preach repentance unless you have practiced it. You cannot preach faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/you-cannot-preach-conviction-of-sin-unless-you-have-suffered-it-you/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Faith means the purposeful suspension of critical thinking. It’s nothing to be admired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-the-purposeful-suspension-of-critical-thinking-it-s/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [It's understandable why a minority that was treated as badly as blacks in this country have been for so long would, when they finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/it-s-understandable-why-a-minority-that-was-treated-as-badly-as/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“It was a grand opportunity for the low whites, who had no negroes of their own to scourge. They exulted in such a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/it-was-a-grand-opportunity-for-the-low-whites-who-had-no-negroes-of/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that if the slaveholders were not stopped, it would only be a question of time until they spread their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/men-like-abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-if-the-slaveholders-were-not/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes—a justifier of the most appalling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-assert-most-unhesitatingly-that-the-religion-of-the-south-is-a-mere-2/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) ## More by Bill Maher > [A lot of people say they are dyslexic; some have to realize that they are just stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/a-lot-of-people-say-they-are-dyslexic-some-have-to-realize-that-they/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I saw this anti-drug commercial that showed a kid smoking pot in his dad's room with his friend. This kid finds a gun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-saw-this-anti-drug-commercial-that-showed-a-kid-smoking-pot-in-his/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [To all conservative women out there: If you are so sure the embryo needed for stem cell research are precious human life that can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/to-all-conservative-women-out-there-if-you-are-so-sure-the-embryo/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Curious people are intersting people, I wonder why that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/curious-people-are-intersting-people-i-wonder-why-that-is/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [You see, the difference is the Republicans' hatred of Obama is based on a paranoid feeling about what he might do, what he's thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/you-see-the-difference-is-the-republicans-hatred-of-obama-is-based-on/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [The food is out of this world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-food-is-out-of-this-world/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [New Rule: There is no devil, so stop blaming your screw-ups on him. Last week, one of the biggest evangelical leaders in America, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-there-is-no-devil-so-stop-blaming-your-screw-ups-on-him-last/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [If we were a dog and God owned us, the cops would come and take us away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/if-we-were-a-dog-and-god-owned-us-the-cops-would-come-and-take-us-away/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“New Rule: The White House doesn't have to release the dead Bin Laden photos, but don't pretend we can't take it. We've seen pictures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-the-white-house-doesn-t-have-to-release-the-dead-bin-laden/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I think religion is bad and drugs are good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-think-religion-is-bad-and-drugs-are-good/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I don't hate America. I love America. I want it to be better. The only way we can get it to be better is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-don-t-hate-america-i-love-america-i-want-it-to-be-better-the-only/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“New Rule: Americans must realize what makes NFL football so great: socialism. That's right, the NFL takes money from the rich teams and gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-americans-must-realize-what-makes-nfl-football-so-great/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [So many kids are fat drug addicts these days, it's almost as if Rush Limbaugh had puppies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/so-many-kids-are-fat-drug-addicts-these-days-it-s-almost-as-if-rush/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [What we don't know is about Jeb Bush and cocaine. But we do know that he did once had his brother Florida on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/what-we-don-t-know-is-about-jeb-bush-and-cocaine-but-we-do-know-that/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“I find that the world is changing much, much faster than I can even bitch about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-find-that-the-world-is-changing-much-much-faster-than-i-can-even/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) [Explore all 897 Bill Maher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders - keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned so much lunacy and destruction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Maher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atheism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/bill-maher-211_atheism_faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-t_582231.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and…” — Bill Maher", "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": "Bill Maher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Faith means making a virtue out...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag/#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 } } ] } ```