Materialism Quote by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
““(This sect (the Encyclopaedists) propagate with much zeal the doctrine of materialism, which prevails among the great and the wits; we owe to it partly that kind of practical philosophy which, reducing Egotism to a system, looks upon society as a war of cunning; success the rule of right and wrong, honesty as an affair of taste or decency: and the world as the patrimony of clever scoundrels.))””
About This Quote
Source Book: The History of the English Nation, 1853
Materialism reduces morality to self‑interest, viewing society as a battlefield of cleverness and decency as a taste.
In simple terms: Materialism sees morality as personal taste and society as a cleverness war.
Key Takeaway
Question personal motives and societal values.
Themes
philosophy
materialism
ethics
societal critique
Mood
skeptical
critical
Type
philosophical
analytical
When to use this quote
- political discourse
- academic debate
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
Moral relativism
social Darwinism
Questions to Reflect On
- Is morality purely subjective?
- Can society thrive without shared values?
A Different Perspective
It ignores altruism and collective responsibility.
![“[Materialism] seeks the primary and most simple state of matter, and then tries to develop all the others from it; ascending from mere mechanism, to chemism, to polarity, to the vegetable and to the animal kingdom. And if we suppose this to have been done, the last link in the chain would be…” quote by Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/88c/arthur-schopenhauer-226_animal-kingdom_materialism-seeks-the-primary-and-most-s_50402.jpg)
![“If we do want to do that [ colonise space to survive, ], then vacuous materialism is not going to be enough for us.” quote by Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8c5/quentin-s-crisp-4149_enough_if-we-do-want-to-do-that-colonise-space_40648.jpg)
![“[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion, why do you not believe in materialistic science, which has an unparalleled record of fulfilled prophecy? Consider, for example, eclipses.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/875/carl-sagan-160_belief_when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-a_25095.jpg)
