--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That Religion is not devotion, but work…" description: "\"That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for the love of God; this is the true doctrine of Mystics.\" — Florence Nightingale" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png" --- # That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for… ![“That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for the love of God; this is the true doctrine of Mystics.” quote by Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png) > “That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for the love of God; this is the true doctrine of Mystics.” [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True mystic doctrine is seen as devoted work and suffering for God's love, not mere ritual. **In simple terms:** Mystics work and suffer for God's love. Key Takeaway Embrace active love over empty ritual. Themes spirituality devotion work Mood reflective serious Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - religious practice - personal sacrifice - spiritual discipline Key Concepts mysticism theology sacrifice Questions to Reflect On - Is work always a sign of love? - How to balance devotion with self‑care? A Different Perspective May overlook practical needs of daily life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-god/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“Their religion was devotion to the human soul. Their sustenance was its flesh and blood. Their limitless love reached out, to what on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-schimke/their-religion-was-devotion-to-the-human-soul-their-sustenance-was/) Chad Schimke > [True love is like religion. It is full of devotion and free of doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/true-love-is-like-religion-it-is-full-of-devotion-and-free-of-doubt/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Religion to me is devotion to work and devotedly working is being religious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/religion-to-me-is-devotion-to-work-and-devotedly-working-is-being/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Not to oppose erroneous doctrine is to approve of it, and not to defend at all true doctrine is to suppress it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-innocent-iii/not-to-oppose-erroneous-doctrine-is-to-approve-of-it-and-not-to/) [Pope Innocent III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-innocent-iii/) > [When the devil wants to cause offense against the true doctrine and faith, he does not do so through insignificant people, who do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/when-the-devil-wants-to-cause-offense-against-the-true-doctrine-and/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The true doctrine of omnipresence is, that God reappears with all his parts in every moss and cobweb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-true-doctrine-of-omnipresence-is-that-god-reappears-with-all-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thess. 3:5)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scotty-smith/may-the-lord-direct-your-hearts-to-the-love-of-god-and-to-the/) [Scotty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scotty-smith/) > [ “Paul in like manner declares, “Love is the fulfilling of the law:” and \[he declares\] that when all other things have been destroyed, there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-church-fathers/paul-in-like-manner-declares-love-is-the-fulfilling-of-the-law-and-he/) The Church Fathers > [The more we touch the intimate love of God which creates, sustains, and guides us, the more we recognize the multitude of fruits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/the-more-we-touch-the-intimate-love-of-god-which-creates-sustains-and/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [The love of God is amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalyn/the-love-of-god-is-amazing/) [Magdalyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalyn/) > [The love of God is not something vague or generic; the love of God has a name and a face: Jesus Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-love-of-god-is-not-something-vague-or-generic-the-love-of-god-has/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“And I pray mark how he begins: he sets not up trophies to himself, but triumphs in his God-- "I will love thee, O…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/and-i-pray-mark-how-he-begins-he-sets-not-up-trophies-to-himself-but/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/a-christian-should-always-remember-that-the-value-of-his-good-works/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will show itself in the exterior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-mcauley/if-the-love-of-god-really-reigns-in-your-heart-it-will-show-itself-in/) [Catherine McAuley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-mcauley/) > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) ## More by Florence Nightingale > [We know nothing of the principle of health, the positive of which pathology is the negative, except from observation and experience. And nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/we-know-nothing-of-the-principle-of-health-the-positive-of-which/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [The specific disease doctrine is the grand refuge of weak, uncultured, unstable minds, such as now rule in the medical profession. There are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/the-specific-disease-doctrine-is-the-grand-refuge-of-weak-uncultured/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/it-may-seem-a-strange-principle-to-enunciate-as-the-very-first/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [Nursing is a progressive art such that to stand still is to go backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/nursing-is-a-progressive-art-such-that-to-stand-still-is-to-go/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [“It is often thought that medicine is the curative process. It is no such thing; medicine is the surgery of functions, as surgery proper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/it-is-often-thought-that-medicine-is-the-curative-process-it-is-no/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/a-hundred-struggle-and-drown-in-the-breakers-one-discovers-the-new/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [Newton's law is nothing but the statistics of gravitation, it has no power whatever. Let us get rid of the idea of power from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/newton-s-law-is-nothing-but-the-statistics-of-gravitation-it-has-no/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/the-very-first-requirement-in-a-hospital-is-that-it-should-do-the/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [Every nurse ought to be careful to wash her hands very frequently during the day. If her face, too, so much the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/every-nurse-ought-to-be-careful-to-wash-her-hands-very-frequently/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [I have learned to know God. I have recast my social belief... All my admirers are married; most of my friends are dead; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/i-have-learned-to-know-god-i-have-recast-my-social-belief-all-my/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [For it may safely be said, not that the habit of ready and correct observation will by itself make us useful nurses, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/for-it-may-safely-be-said-not-that-the-habit-of-ready-and-correct/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [I cannot remember the time when I have not longed for death. ... for years and years I used to watch for death as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/i-cannot-remember-the-time-when-i-have-not-longed-for-death-for-years/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [A dark house is always an unhealthy house, always an ill-aired house, always a dirty house. Want of light stops growth and promotes scrofula,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/a-dark-house-is-always-an-unhealthy-house-always-an-ill-aired-house/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [If I could give you information of my life, it would be to show how a woman of very ordinary ability has been led…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/if-i-could-give-you-information-of-my-life-it-would-be-to-show-how-a/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [Variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects presented to patients are actual means of recovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/variety-of-form-and-brilliancy-of-colour-in-the-objects-presented-to/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) [Explore all 160 Florence Nightingale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) ## More Devotion quotes > [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. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In freedom can be found many devotions: a devotion to love, a desire to believe, a willingness to be happy, a perseverance to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-freedom-can-be-found-many-devotions-a-devotion-to-love-a-desire-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can remember coming downstairs before school every day and my mom would be reading her Bible and doing her devotion and praying. Both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-fisher/i-can-remember-coming-downstairs-before-school-every-day-and-my-mom/) [Mike Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-fisher/) > [I have fallen in love with you my angel. I sought nothing of you but only to see that dazzling smile of yours once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-el-hallab/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-you-my-angel-i-sought-nothing-of-you-but/) [Mahmoud El Hallab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-el-hallab/) > [The discipline of daily devotion to God undergirds decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/the-discipline-of-daily-devotion-to-god-undergirds-decisions/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [I’d never known it was possible to love as he did— with complete devotion yet devoid of promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/i-d-never-known-it-was-possible-to-love-as-he-did-with-complete/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know...It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/every-holy-mass-heard-with-devotion-produces-in-our-souls-marvelous/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Daily simple, sincere, and mighty prayers lift our lives to a higher spiritual altitude. In our prayers we praise God, give thanks to Him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/daily-simple-sincere-and-mighty-prayers-lift-our-lives-to-a-higher/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [True love is like religion. It is full of devotion and free of doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/true-love-is-like-religion-it-is-full-of-devotion-and-free-of-doubt/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Never despise a drink because it is easy to make and/or uses commercial mixes. Unquestioning devotion to authenticity is, in any department of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/never-despise-a-drink-because-it-is-easy-to-make-and-or-uses/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [“It didn’t break the trance. She wasn’t sure that anything could, and briefly wondered if they’d stay like this until flesh rotted away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-morgan/it-didn-t-break-the-trance-she-wasn-t-sure-that-anything-could-and/) Ashton Morgan > [“Godliness is a devotion to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/godliness-is-a-devotion-to-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Devotion is when your involvement with life is so absolute that you yourself do not matter anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/devotion-is-when-your-involvement-with-life-is-so-absolute-that-you/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-aaronovitch/the-general-public-have-a-warped-view-of-the-speed-at-which-an/) [Ben Aaronovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-aaronovitch/) [Browse all 1,481 Devotion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for the love of God; this is the true doctrine of Mystics.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Florence Nightingale" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-and-suffering-for-the-love-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devotion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-and-suffering-for-the-love-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a4/florence-nightingale-2561_devotion_that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-a_2240733.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That Religion is not devotion, but work and suffering for the love of God; this is the true doctrine of…” — Florence Nightingale", "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": "Florence Nightingale", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That Religion is not devotion, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-and-suffering-for-the-love-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/that-religion-is-not-devotion-but-work-and-suffering-for-the-love-of/#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 } } ] } ```