--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ethical religion affirms the continuity…" description: "\"Ethical religion affirms the continuity of progress toward moral perfection. It affirms that the spiritual development of the human race cannot be prem..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3b/felix-adler-10212_character_ethical-religion-affirms-the-continuity_2495643.png" --- # Ethical religion affirms the continuity of progress toward… ![“Ethical religion affirms the continuity of progress toward moral perfection. It affirms that the spiritual development of the human race cannot be prematurely cut off, either gradually or suddenly; that every stone of offence against which we stumble is a stepping-stone to some greater good; that…” quote by Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3b/felix-adler-10212_character_ethical-religion-affirms-the-continuity_2495643.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3b/felix-adler-10212_character_ethical-religion-affirms-the-continuity_2495643.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3b/felix-adler-10212_character_ethical-religion-affirms-the-continuity_2495643.png) > “Ethical religion affirms the continuity of progress toward moral perfection. It affirms that the spiritual development of the human race cannot be prematurely cut off, either gradually or suddenly; that every stone of offence against which we stumble is a stepping-stone to some greater good; that, at the end of days, if we choose to put it so, or, rather, in some sphere beyond the world of space and time, all the rays of progress will be summed and centred in a transcendent focus.” [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ethical religion views moral progress as an ongoing, inevitable journey, where each offense becomes a lesson toward a higher spiritual goal. **In simple terms:** Moral growth is continuous and purposeful. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges as lessons. Themes spirituality ethics progress Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - societal reform - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy theology human development Questions to Reflect On - What obstacles impede moral advancement? - How can setbacks become stepping stones? A Different Perspective Progress may be hindered by regression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Continuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuity/) [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [End Of Days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-days/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Ethical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical/) [Ethical Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical-religion-1009891/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Greater good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-good/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-perfection/) [Offence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offence/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-moral-1009892/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Rays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rays/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Affirms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-affirms-1009893/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space and time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-and-time/) [Spheres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spheres/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-development/) [Stepping stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stepping-stones/) [Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stones/) [The end of the day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-end-of-the-day/) [Time and space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-and-space/) [Transcendent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendent/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Ethical religion can be real only to those who are engaged in ceaseless efforts at moral improvement. By moving upward we acquire faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/ethical-religion-can-be-real-only-to-those-who-are-engaged-in/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [“wanted to know how any ethical system—much less a religion so indomitable that it had survived every evil mankind could throw at it—could flow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/wanted-to-know-how-any-ethical-system-much-less-a-religion-so/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“The accidental balance on the side of Progress was far slighter and infinitely more complex and delicate in its adjustments than the people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/the-accidental-balance-on-the-side-of-progress-was-far-slighter-and/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayborne-carson/but-america-as-i-look-at-you-from-afar-i-wonder-whether-your-moral/) [Clayborne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayborne-carson/) > [“But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/but-today-our-very-survival-depends-on-our-ability-to-stay-awake-to/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-work-passionately-and-indefatigably-to-bridge-the-gulf/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The perfecting of one's self is the fundamental base of all progress and all moral development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-perfecting-of-one-s-self-is-the-fundamental-base-of-all-progress/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [If we look at our attitudes consistently and work out the logical implications we're on the road to moral progress, moral understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/if-we-look-at-our-attitudes-consistently-and-work-out-the-logical/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-country-that-demands-moral-perfection-in-its-foreign-policy-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/resolve-to-perform-what-you-ought-perform-without-fail-what-you/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Man has a single basic choice: to think or not, and that is the gauge of his virtue. Moral perfection is an unbreached rationality-not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/man-has-a-single-basic-choice-to-think-or-not-and-that-is-the-gauge/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This is moral perfection: to live each day as though it were the last; to be tranquil, sincere, yet not indifferent to one's fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/this-is-moral-perfection-to-live-each-day-as-though-it-were-the-last/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/make-no-expense-but-to-do-good-to-others-or-yourself/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [How can we say nobody's perfect if there is no perfect to compare to? Perfection implies that there really is a right and wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-king/how-can-we-say-nobody-s-perfect-if-there-is-no-perfect-to-compare-to/) [A.S. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-king/) > [The moral perfections of the Deity, the more attentively, we consider, the more perfectly still shall we know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-moral-perfections-of-the-deity-the-more-attentively-we-consider/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More by Felix Adler > [Love is the expansion of two natures in such fashion that each include the other, each is enriched by the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/love-is-the-expansion-of-two-natures-in-such-fashion-that-each/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/act-so-as-to-elicit-the-best-in-others-and-thereby-in-thyself/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [May the humanity that is within every human being be held precious. The vice that underlies all vices is that we are held cheap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/may-the-humanity-that-is-within-every-human-being-be-held-precious/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [It is the moral element contained in it that alone gives value and dignity to a religion, and only in so far as its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/it-is-the-moral-element-contained-in-it-that-alone-gives-value-and/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [It is written that the last enemy to be vanquished is death. We should begin early in life to vanquish this enemy by obliterating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/it-is-written-that-the-last-enemy-to-be-vanquished-is-death-we-should/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [The human race may be compared to a writer. At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/the-human-race-may-be-compared-to-a-writer-at-the-outset-a-writer-has/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [ “\[His research into biblical criticism had lead him to the conclusion that most of what was contained in traditional religion simply wasn't true\] Was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/his-research-into-biblical-criticism-had-lead-him-to-the-conclusion/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [We measure our enjoyments by the sum expended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/we-measure-our-enjoyments-by-the-sum-expended/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [An anxious unrest, a fierce craving desire for gain has taken possession of the commercial world, and in instances no longer rare the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/an-anxious-unrest-a-fierce-craving-desire-for-gain-has-taken/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [The conception of worth, that each person is an end per se, is not a mere abstraction. Our interest in it is not merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/the-conception-of-worth-that-each-person-is-an-end-per-se-is-not-a/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [Few are there that will leave the secure seclusion of the scholar's life, the peaceful walks of literature and learning, to stand out a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/few-are-there-that-will-leave-the-secure-seclusion-of-the-scholar-s/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [The right for the right's sake is the motto which everyone should take for his own life. With that as a standard of value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/the-right-for-the-right-s-sake-is-the-motto-which-everyone-should/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [FOR a long time the conviction has been dimly felt in the community that, without prejudice to existing institutions, the legal day of weekly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/for-a-long-time-the-conviction-has-been-dimly-felt-in-the-community/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [Admitting the force of these contentions, nevertheless, the custom of meeting together in public assembly for the consideration of the most serious, the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/admitting-the-force-of-these-contentions-nevertheless-the-custom-of/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [The office of the public teacher is an unenviable and thankless one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/the-office-of-the-public-teacher-is-an-unenviable-and-thankless-one/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) [Explore all 67 Felix Adler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ethical religion affirms the continuity of progress toward moral perfection. 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