--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not all theists insist that there can…" description: "\"“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based upon fear and hop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can_26180.png" --- # Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality… ![“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based upon fear and hope, such morality has always been a vile product, imbued partly with self-righteousness, partly with hypocrisy. As to truth, justice, and fidelity…” quote by Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can_26180.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can_26180.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can_26180.png) > ““Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based upon fear and hope, such morality has always been a vile product, imbued partly with self-righteousness, partly with hypocrisy. As to truth, justice, and fidelity, who have been their brave exponents and daring proclaimers? Nearly always the godless ones: the Atheists; they lived, fought, and died for them. They knew that justice, truth, and fidelity are not conditioned in heaven, but that they are related to and interwoven with the tremendous changes going on in the social and material life of the human race; not fixed and eternal, but fluctuating, even as life itself.”” [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Morality, truth, and justice arise from human experience and social change, not from divine authority, and atheists have historically championed these values. **In simple terms:** Human-derived ethics versus divine command. Key Takeaway Ethics are social, not supernatural. Themes ethics secularism humanism social change justice truth Mood defiant reflective inspirational Type philosophical political historical When to use this quote - philosophical debate - historical analysis - secular activism - education - public policy Key Concepts morality atheism social dynamics human agency Practical Applications - ethical frameworks - human rights advocacy Questions to Reflect On - How do societies maintain moral standards without religious foundations? - What role does social context play in shaping concepts of justice? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Atheists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheists/) [Bravery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bravery/) [Divine power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-power/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Justice truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice-truth/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) [Theists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theists/) ## Related quotes > [Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“What if... all the rules and ways we lay down in our heads, don't even exist at all? What if we only believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/what-if-all-the-rules-and-ways-we-lay-down-in-our-heads-don-t-even/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [Consciously or unconsciously, most theists see in gods and devils, heaven and hell, reward and punishment, a whip to lash the people into obedience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/consciously-or-unconsciously-most-theists-see-in-gods-and-devils-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Have not all theists painted their Deity as the god of love and goodness? Yet after thousands of years of such preachments the gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/have-not-all-theists-painted-their-deity-as-the-god-of-love-and-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Have not all theists painted their Deity as the god of love and goodness? Yet after thousands of years of such preachments the gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/have-not-all-theists-painted-their-deity-as-the-god-of-love-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“Consciously or unconsciously, most theists see in gods and devils, heaven and hell, reward and punishment, a whip to lash the people into obedience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/consciously-or-unconsciously-most-theists-see-in-gods-and-devils/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Most theists are deists most of the time, in practice if not in theory. They practice the absence of God instead of the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/most-theists-are-deists-most-of-the-time-in-practice-if-not-in-theory/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [“High heels are a short (theist) woman's (subconscious) way of telling God to go to hell … in public.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/high-heels-are-a-short-theist-woman-s-subconscious-way-of-telling-god/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Open theists affirm the same openness of the future that religious believers assume when they pray and almost all humans assume when they act.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-clayton/open-theists-affirm-the-same-openness-of-the-future-that-religious/) Philip Clayton > [I do not believe in God. It seems to me that theists of all kinds have very largely failed to make their concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/i-do-not-believe-in-god-it-seems-to-me-that-theists-of-all-kinds-have/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [“The Bible does not speak to all issues (for example, where did AIDS come from?), and science says little about doctrine (for example, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-klusendorf/the-bible-does-not-speak-to-all-issues-for-example-where-did-aids/) [Scott Klusendorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-klusendorf/) > [“Some people think the theists get off easy by offering eternal life, but in my experience it is awfully difficult to reconcile the death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/some-people-think-the-theists-get-off-easy-by-offering-eternal-life/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [I suspect that here theists and atheists would agree: Human beings have within them the ability to choose evil or good. We wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hamilton/i-suspect-that-here-theists-and-atheists-would-agree-human-beings/) [Adam Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hamilton/) > [There's no such thing as spirits or ghosts, no devils, gods or monsters; but always beware that theists exist and they cause all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/there-s-no-such-thing-as-spirits-or-ghosts-no-devils-gods-or-monsters/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [Some theists, observing that all 'effects' need a cause, assert that God is a cause but not an effect. But no one has ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barker/some-theists-observing-that-all-effects-need-a-cause-assert-that-god/) [Dan Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barker/) ## More by Emma Goldman > [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Lack of fairness to an opponent is essentially a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/lack-of-fairness-to-an-opponent-is-essentially-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Only when human sorrows are turned into a toy with glaring colors will baby people become interested - for a while at least. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/only-when-human-sorrows-are-turned-into-a-toy-with-glaring-colors/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [More pernicious than the power of a dictator is that of a class; the most terrible - the tyranny of a majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/more-pernicious-than-the-power-of-a-dictator-is-that-of-a-class-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of ecstasy; love, the definer of all laws, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/love-the-strongest-and-deepest-element-in-all-life-the-harbinger-of/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Whether our reformers admit it or not, the economic and social inferiority of women is responsible for prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/whether-our-reformers-admit-it-or-not-the-economic-and-social/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest and only safety in a sane society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-free-expression-of-the-hopes-and-aspirations-of-a-people-is-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Someone has said that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/someone-has-said-that-it-requires-less-mental-effort-to-condemn-than/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The persecution of the innovator and protestant has always been inspired by fear on the part of constituted authority of having its infallibility questioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-persecution-of-the-innovator-and-protestant-has-always-been/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Order derived through submission and maintained by terror is not much of a safe guaranty; yet that is the only "order" that governments have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/order-derived-through-submission-and-maintained-by-terror-is-not-much/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Today is the parent of tomorrow. The present casts its shadow far into the future. That is the law of life, individual and social.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/today-is-the-parent-of-tomorrow-the-present-casts-its-shadow-far-into/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Salvation lies in an energetic march onward towards a brighter and clearer future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/salvation-lies-in-an-energetic-march-onward-towards-a-brighter-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The more hideous the mental contortions, the greater the delight and bravos of the mass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-more-hideous-the-mental-contortions-the-greater-the-delight-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our time, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/leo-tolstoy-the-greatest-anti-patriot-of-our-time-defines-patriotism/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) [Explore all 368 Emma Goldman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## More Anarchism quotes > [I know one thing: that you can do a lot of things but if you don't educate people into conscious anarchism it gets frittered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-know-one-thing-that-you-can-do-a-lot-of-things-but-if-you-don-t/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Anarchism is a definite intellectual current in the life of our times, whose adherents advocate the abolition of economic monopolies and of all political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/anarchism-is-a-definite-intellectual-current-in-the-life-of-our-times/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [“Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/does-it-follow-that-i-reject-all-authority-perish-the-thought-in-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Anarchism as a political philosophy seeks to dissolve all forms of authority and power, and if possible, wishes their complete abolition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marshall/anarchism-as-a-political-philosophy-seeks-to-dissolve-all-forms-of/) [Peter Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marshall/) > [And now, what has Anarchism to say to all this, this bankruptcy of republicanism, this modern empire that has grown up on the ruins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltairine-de-cleyre/and-now-what-has-anarchism-to-say-to-all-this-this-bankruptcy-of/) [Voltairine de Cleyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltairine-de-cleyre/) > [I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-see-anarchism-as-the-theoretical-ideal-to-which-we-are-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/anarchists-are-opposed-to-violence-everyone-knows-that-the-main-plank/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [“They knew that their anarchism was the product of a very high civilization, of a complex diversified culture, of a stable economy and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/they-knew-that-their-anarchism-was-the-product-of-a-very-high/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Anarchism means voluntary co-operation instead of forced participation. It means harmony and order in place of interference and disorder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-berkman/anarchism-means-voluntary-co-operation-instead-of-forced/) [Alexander Berkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-berkman/) > [The Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats. They believe that 'the best government is that which governs least,' and that which governs least is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-anarchists-are-simply-unterrified-jeffersonian-democrats-they/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [We must therefore turn to history for enlightenment; here we find that none of the proclaimed anarchist groups correspond to the libertarian position, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/we-must-therefore-turn-to-history-for-enlightenment-here-we-find-that/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“I became an anarchist very early on. Anarchism, in my mind, meant taking democracy seriously and organizing prefiguratively- that is, in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrej-gruba-i/i-became-an-anarchist-very-early-on-anarchism-in-my-mind-meant-taking/) [Andrej Grubačić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrej-gruba-i/) > [You see something very important is happening. Personality is being eaten out, and with that the idealism that always motivated an anarchist movement -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/you-see-something-very-important-is-happening-personality-is-being/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) [Browse all 388 Anarchism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? 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