---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And then there is religion. What is…"
description: "\"“And then there is religion. What is religion if not a guide to happiness, to bliss? Every religion instructs followers in the ways of happiness, be it..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg"
---

#  And then there is religion. What is religion if not a…

![“And then there is religion. What is religion if not a guide to happiness, to bliss? Every religion instructs followers in the ways of happiness, be it in this life or the next, be it through submission, meditation, devotion, or, if you happen to belong to the Jewish or Catholic faith, guilt.” quote by Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg)

> ““And then there is religion. What is religion if not a guide to happiness, to bliss? Every religion instructs followers in the ways of happiness, be it in this life or the next, be it through submission, meditation, devotion, or, if you happen to belong to the Jewish or Catholic faith, guilt.””

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Religion is presented as a path to happiness, yet its methods vary and can include guilt, especially in certain traditions.

**In simple terms:** Religion aims for happiness but can involve guilt.

Key Takeaway

Recognize diverse spiritual paths and their emotional impacts.

Themes

happiness religion spirituality

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- personal growth
- interfaith dialogue
- mental health
- counseling

Key Concepts

guides bliss guilt meditation devotion

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your faith define happiness?
- Can guilt be a constructive tool?

A Different Perspective

Some may argue religion can also cause division or oppression.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/)

## Related quotes

> [We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect. Our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-miller/we-need-religion-as-a-guide-we-need-it-because-we-are-imperfect-our/)

[Jeff Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-miller/)

> [Learning to be aware of feelings, how they arise and how to use them creatively so they guide us to happiness, is an essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-z-borysenko/learning-to-be-aware-of-feelings-how-they-arise-and-how-to-use-them/)

[Joan Z. Borysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-z-borysenko/)

> [“You were my wonderfully bespoke original guide to happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/you-were-my-wonderfully-bespoke-original-guide-to-happiness/)

[Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/)

> [Real religion is no religion at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/real-religion-is-no-religion-at-all/)

[Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/)

> [The more I read about religion the more against religion I am. Sorry not sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-i-read-about-religion-the-more-against-religion-i-am-sorry/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It ain't that you get religion. Religion gets you and then milks you dry. Won't let you drink a little whiskey. Won't let you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/it-ain-t-that-you-get-religion-religion-gets-you-and-then-milks-you/)

[Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/)

> [The best religion is the religion that brings you closest to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-storm/the-best-religion-is-the-religion-that-brings-you-closest-to-god/)

Howard Storm

> [My politics is my religion, my religion is my politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-politics-is-my-religion-my-religion-is-my-politics/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [“The great trouble with religion - any religion - is that a religionist, having accepted certain propositions by faith, cannot thereafter judge those propositions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-great-trouble-with-religion-any-religion-is-that-a-religionist/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The Christian religion is the religion of sinners, of such as have sinned, and in whom sin in some measure still dwells. The Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/the-christian-religion-is-the-religion-of-sinners-of-such-as-have/)

[Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/)

> [“I don't believe in religion. Religion is darkness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-don-t-believe-in-religion-religion-is-darkness/)

[Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/)

> [I'm not a fan of religion. Religion ties people up and binds them and puts them back in chains but faith - true relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathie-lee-gifford/i-m-not-a-fan-of-religion-religion-ties-people-up-and-binds-them-and/)

[Kathie Lee Gifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathie-lee-gifford/)

> [The answer to religion is not no religion, but another way of thinking of it. Another way of being in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-answer-to-religion-is-not-no-religion-but-another-way-of-thinking/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [My music is religion, and my religion is music. They are one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilaiyaraaja/my-music-is-religion-and-my-religion-is-music-they-are-one/)

[Ilaiyaraaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilaiyaraaja/)

> [To this day I do not know whether the power which has inspired my works is something related to religion, or is indeed religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-kollwitz/to-this-day-i-do-not-know-whether-the-power-which-has-inspired-my/)

[Kathe Kollwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-kollwitz/)

## More by Eric Weiner

> [We can't love a place or a person if we always have one foot out the door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/we-can-t-love-a-place-or-a-person-if-we-always-have-one-foot-out-the/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Money sometimes buys happiness. You have to break it down, though. Money is a means to an end. The problem is when you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/money-sometimes-buys-happiness-you-have-to-break-it-down-though-money/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“My way of thinking is completely different,” he says. “I have no such mountains to scale; basically, I find that living itself is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/my-way-of-thinking-is-completely-different-he-says-i-have-no-such/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Social scientists estimate that about 70 percent of our happiness stems from our relationships, both quantity and quality, with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/social-scientists-estimate-that-about-70-percent-of-our-happiness/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“It is not the skills we actually have that determine how we feel but the ones we think we have" ... we experience flow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/it-is-not-the-skills-we-actually-have-that-determine-how-we-feel-but/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“In a nutshell, Gross National Happiness seeks to measure a nation’s progress not by its balance sheet but rather by the happiness—or unhappiness—of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/in-a-nutshell-gross-national-happiness-seeks-to-measure-a-nation-s/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [You look around the world at geniuses, and they don't appear randomly, they appear in genius clusters. Athens in 50 BC, Florence 1500, Silicon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/you-look-around-the-world-at-geniuses-and-they-don-t-appear-randomly/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [What is the ideal audio atmosphere for creativity and it turns out it is not complete silence, and it is not a very loud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/what-is-the-ideal-audio-atmosphere-for-creativity-and-it-turns-out-it/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Bhutan is the land of la. The monosyllabic word serves as all-purpose affirmation, honorific, and verbal tic. Mostly, it is a softener, appended to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/bhutan-is-the-land-of-la-the-monosyllabic-word-serves-as-all-purpose/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“He tells me of one American woman, forty-five years old, who was able to conceive only after being blessed by the Holy Dildo. That’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/he-tells-me-of-one-american-woman-forty-five-years-old-who-was-able/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“We need to a new word to describe Swiss happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/we-need-to-a-new-word-to-describe-swiss-happiness/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“The narrator, in a voice-of-God tenor, explains the experiment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/the-narrator-in-a-voice-of-god-tenor-explains-the-experiment/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Yes, but it doesn’t matter, Csíkszentmihalyi argues. Either way, we experience flow, a state of mind where we are so engaged in an activity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/yes-but-it-doesn-t-matter-cs-kszentmihalyi-argues-either-way-we/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone else. Maybe the current conditions in Switzerland .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/maybe-happiness-is-this-not-feeling-like-you-should-be-elsewhere/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

> [“Everyone has their own idea of happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/everyone-has-their-own-idea-of-happiness/)

[Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

[Explore all 194 Eric Weiner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/)

## More Happiness quotes

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/)

[Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/)

> [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/)

[Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/)

> [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/)

[MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/)

> [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/)

[Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/)

> [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/)

[Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/)

[Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/)

> [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/)

[Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/)

> [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/)

[Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/)

> [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/)

Pancho Barnes

[Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“And then there is religion. What is religion if not a guide to happiness, to bliss? Every religion instructs followers in the ways of happiness, be it in this life or the next, be it through submission, meditation, devotion, or, if you happen to belong to the Jewish or Catholic faith, guilt.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Eric Weiner"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-religion-if-not-a-guide-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Happiness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-religion-if-not-a-guide-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/eric-weiner-1843_happiness_and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-relig_619159.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“And then there is religion. What is religion if not a guide to happiness, to bliss? Every religion instructs…” — Eric Weiner",
                "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": "Eric Weiner",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“And then there is religion. What...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-religion-if-not-a-guide-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/and-then-there-is-religion-what-is-religion-if-not-a-guide-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
