--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without a common loyalty to either a…" description: "\"Without a common loyalty to either a state or a church they have nevertheless a vast deal in common.\" — Emily Greene Balch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f05/emily-greene-balch-22411_church_without-a-common-loyalty-to-either-a-sta_800648.jpg" --- # Without a common loyalty to either a state or a church… ![“Without a common loyalty to either a state or a church they have nevertheless a vast deal in common.” quote by Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f05/emily-greene-balch-22411_church_without-a-common-loyalty-to-either-a-sta_800648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f05/emily-greene-balch-22411_church_without-a-common-loyalty-to-either-a-sta_800648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f05/emily-greene-balch-22411_church_without-a-common-loyalty-to-either-a-sta_800648.jpg) > “Without a common loyalty to either a state or a church they have nevertheless a vast deal in common.” [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even without loyalty to state or church, people share many commonalities, highlighting shared humanity beyond institutions. **In simple terms:** People share much despite differing loyalties. Key Takeaway Focus on common ground. Themes humanity secularism social cohesion Mood hopeful thoughtful Type sociological inspirational When to use this quote - community building - interfaith dialogue - secular activism Key Concepts common values institutional critique global citizenship Questions to Reflect On - What unites people beyond institutions? - How can shared values bridge divides? A Different Perspective It may overlook deep ideological divides. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-loyalty-3585792/) [Deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deal/) [Deal Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deal-common-3124198/) [Either](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/either/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Loyalty State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty-state-3753668/) [Nevertheless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nevertheless/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state/) [State Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-church-671647/) [Vast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vast/) [Without](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without/) ## Related quotes > [Jealously is more common than loyalty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hockaday/jealously-is-more-common-than-loyalty/) [Dave Hockaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hockaday/) > [“They had a great deal in common, Bowman a little defiantly said. What they had in common was more vital than similar interests--it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/they-had-a-great-deal-in-common-bowman-a-little-defiantly-said-what/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [... the state is not absolute, and loyalty to the state cannot be absolute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petra-kelly/the-state-is-not-absolute-and-loyalty-to-the-state-cannot-be-absolute/) [Petra Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petra-kelly/) > [The mode of reconciling the promise of ever-increasing reward for the cadres and the demands of the working classes for a quid pro quo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-wallerstein/the-mode-of-reconciling-the-promise-of-ever-increasing-reward-for-the/) [Immanuel Wallerstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-wallerstein/) > [One of the primary questions in a state-church arrangement is, 'which controls which?' . . . 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Sometimes there seems to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/we-worry-a-great-deal-about-the-problem-of-church-and-state-now-what/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [In my dreams is a country where the State is the Church and the Church the people: three in one and one in three.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-my-dreams-is-a-country-where-the-state-is-the-church-and-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Both state and church have as their object actions as well as convictions, the former insofar as they are based on the relations between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-mendelssohn/both-state-and-church-have-as-their-object-actions-as-well-as/) [Moses Mendelssohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-mendelssohn/) > [There could be no issue between the Church and the State. The Church, as such, has nothing to do with political affairs. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/there-could-be-no-issue-between-the-church-and-the-state-the-church/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) ## More by Emily Greene Balch > [Human nature seems to me like the Alps. The depths are profound, black as night, and terrifying, but the heights are equally real, uplifted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/human-nature-seems-to-me-like-the-alps-the-depths-are-profound-black/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [Technology gives us the facilities that lessen the barriers of time and distance - the telegraph and cable, the telephone, radio, and the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/technology-gives-us-the-facilities-that-lessen-the-barriers-of-time/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [We have lived through the flood time of fascism and of the nazism which ran its meteoric course at a cost to mankind in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/we-have-lived-through-the-flood-time-of-fascism-and-of-the-nazism/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [The First World War, and especially the latest one, largely swept away what was left in Europe of feudalism and of feudal landlords, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/the-first-world-war-and-especially-the-latest-one-largely-swept-away/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [The question whether the long effort to put an end to war can succeed without another major convulsion challenges not only our minds but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/the-question-whether-the-long-effort-to-put-an-end-to-war-can-succeed/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [Probably people always feel that they are living in a time of transition, but we can hardly be mistaken perhaps in thinking that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/probably-people-always-feel-that-they-are-living-in-a-time-of/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [Men who are scandalized at the lack of freedom in Russia do not ask themselves how real is liberty among the poor, the weak,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/men-who-are-scandalized-at-the-lack-of-freedom-in-russia-do-not-ask/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [Those who are rooted in the depths that are eternal and unchangeable and who rely on unshakeable principles, face change full of courage, courage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/those-who-are-rooted-in-the-depths-that-are-eternal-and-unchangeable/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [A second characteristic of our time is the prevalence of nationalism. This is still spreading, affecting new communities, more peripheral regions and so-called backward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/a-second-characteristic-of-our-time-is-the-prevalence-of-nationalism/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [Industrialization based on machinery, already referred to as a characteristic of our age, is but one aspect of the revolution that is being wrought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/industrialization-based-on-machinery-already-referred-to-as-a/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [The role of Italy and of Austria has diminished as has that of France and Britain; Germany and Japan have suffered catastrophically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/the-role-of-italy-and-of-austria-has-diminished-as-has-that-of-france/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [It is natural to try to understand one's own time and to seek to analyse the forces that move it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/it-is-natural-to-try-to-understand-one-s-own-time-and-to-seek-to/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [We are not asked to subscribe to any utopia or to believe in a perfect world just around the corner. We are asked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/we-are-not-asked-to-subscribe-to-any-utopia-or-to-believe-in-a/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [A major one which no one can overlook is technological and based on inventions and discoveries which have altered the whole basis of production…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/a-major-one-which-no-one-can-overlook-is-technological-and-based-on/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) > [We speculate as to what is in store for us. But we not only undergo events, we in part cause them or at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-greene-balch/we-speculate-as-to-what-is-in-store-for-us-but-we-not-only-undergo/) [Emily Greene Balch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) [Explore all 27 Emily Greene Balch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-greene-balch/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [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/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. 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