--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All that is mere rationalism; the…" description: "\"“All that is mere rationalism; the superstition (that is the unreasoning repugnance and terror) is in the person who admits there can be angels but den..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/g-k-chesterton-224_eugenics_all-that-is-mere-rationalism-the-superst_2219868.jpg" --- # All that is mere rationalism; the superstition (that is… ![“All that is mere rationalism; the superstition (that is the unreasoning repugnance and terror) is in the person who admits there can be angels but denies there can be devils. The superstition is in the person who admits there can be devils but denies there can be diabolists.” quote by G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/g-k-chesterton-224_eugenics_all-that-is-mere-rationalism-the-superst_2219868.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/g-k-chesterton-224_eugenics_all-that-is-mere-rationalism-the-superst_2219868.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffc/g-k-chesterton-224_eugenics_all-that-is-mere-rationalism-the-superst_2219868.jpg) > ““All that is mere rationalism; the superstition (that is the unreasoning repugnance and terror) is in the person who admits there can be angels but denies there can be devils. The superstition is in the person who admits there can be devils but denies there can be diabolists.”” [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rationalism can hide its own superstitions by denying evil while accepting angels. **In simple terms:** Rationalism may hide fear of evil. Key Takeaway Question hidden biases. Themes philosophy religion logic Mood thoughtful skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - theology debates - critical thinking - personal belief systems Key Concepts metaphysics bias awareness Questions to Reflect On - Do you accept both good and evil? - How do you reconcile faith and reason? A Different Perspective Rationalism can also provide useful frameworks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eugenics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eugenics/) [Superstition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstition/) ## Related quotes > [Superstition is an unreasoning fear of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/superstition-is-an-unreasoning-fear-of-god/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [My work explores the frontier between rationalism and superstition and the wavering boundary between the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/my-work-explores-the-frontier-between-rationalism-and-superstition/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [“Most Eugenists are Euphemists. I mean merely that short words startle them, while long words soothe them. And they are utterly incapable of translating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/most-eugenists-are-euphemists-i-mean-merely-that-short-words-startle/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“I hold it clear, therefore, if anything is clear about the business, that the Eugenists do not merely mean that the mass of common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/i-hold-it-clear-therefore-if-anything-is-clear-about-the-business/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“The thing that really is trying to tyrannize through government is Science. The thing that really does use the secular arm is Science. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-thing-that-really-is-trying-to-tyrannize-through-government-is/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Eugenics, as discussed, evidently means the control of some men over the marriage and unmarriage of others; and probably means the control of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/eugenics-as-discussed-evidently-means-the-control-of-some-men-over/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“It is cold anarchy to say that all men are to meddle in all men's marriages. It is cold anarchy to say that any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/it-is-cold-anarchy-to-say-that-all-men-are-to-meddle-in-all-men-s/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“The Eugenic optimism seems to partake generally of the nature of that dazzled and confused confidence, so common in private theatricals, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-eugenic-optimism-seems-to-partake-generally-of-the-nature-of-that/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Though social eugenics was discredited long ago, we still often think of the genome in quasi-eugenic terms. When we read about the latest discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/though-social-eugenics-was-discredited-long-ago-we-still-often-think/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, up to its capital, but we did not consider that a disaster. Why? Because it was very clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/lebanon-was-under-israeli-occupation-up-to-its-capital-but-we-did-not/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/the-climate-crisis-is-not-a-political-issue-it-is-a-moral-and/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Eugenic goals are most likely to be attained under another name than eugenics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-osborn/eugenic-goals-are-most-likely-to-be-attained-under-another-name-than/) [Frederick Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-osborn/) > [“Galton’s gospel of eugenics found fertile soil in Britain, in the intellectual salons of Europe, and in the United States. Beginning in the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-loconte/galton-s-gospel-of-eugenics-found-fertile-soil-in-britain-in-the/) Joseph Loconte ## More by G.K. Chesterton > [“I never use paradox. The statements I make are wearisome and obvious common sense. I have even been driven to the tedium of reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/i-never-use-paradox-the-statements-i-make-are-wearisome-and-obvious/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Nothing, again, could be more prosaic and impenetrable than the domestic energies of Miss Diana Duke. But Innocent had somehow blundered on the discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/nothing-again-could-be-more-prosaic-and-impenetrable-than-the/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“ask yourself how many people you have met who grumbled at a thing as incurable, and how many who attacked it as curable? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/ask-yourself-how-many-people-you-have-met-who-grumbled-at-a-thing-as/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-human-race-to-which-so-many-of-my-readers-belong-has-been-playing/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Internationalism is in any case hostile to democracy….The only purely popular government is local, and founded on local knowledge. The citizens can rule the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/internationalism-is-in-any-case-hostile-to-democracy-the-only-purely/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“There was a short railway official travelling up to the terminus, three fairly short market-gardeners picked up two stations afterwards, one very short widow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/there-was-a-short-railway-official-travelling-up-to-the-terminus/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/humility-is-the-mother-of-giants-one-sees-great-things-from-the/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/anything-worth-doing-is-worth-doing-badly/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/there-exists-in-such-a-case-a-certain-institution-or-law-let-us-say/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Man, by a blind instinct, knew that if once things were wildly questioned, reason could be questioned first. The authority of priests to absolve,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/man-by-a-blind-instinct-knew-that-if-once-things-were-wildly/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/it-is-idle-to-talk-always-of-the-alternative-of-reason-and-faith/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“But in order that life should be a story or romance to us, it is necessary that a great part of it, at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/but-in-order-that-life-should-be-a-story-or-romance-to-us-it-is/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Buddhism seeks after God with the largest conception it can find, the all-producing and all-absorbing One; Christianity seeks after God with the most elementary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/buddhism-seeks-after-god-with-the-largest-conception-it-can-find-the/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Man is more himself, more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing and grief superficial.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/man-is-more-himself-more-manlike-when-joy-is-the-fundamental-thing/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 853 G.K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) ## More Eugenics quotes > [“Galton’s gospel of eugenics found fertile soil in Britain, in the intellectual salons of Europe, and in the United States. Beginning in the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-loconte/galton-s-gospel-of-eugenics-found-fertile-soil-in-britain-in-the/) Joseph Loconte > [Eugenic goals are most likely to be attained under another name than eugenics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-osborn/eugenic-goals-are-most-likely-to-be-attained-under-another-name-than/) [Frederick Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-osborn/) > [The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/the-climate-crisis-is-not-a-political-issue-it-is-a-moral-and/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, up to its capital, but we did not consider that a disaster. Why? Because it was very clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/lebanon-was-under-israeli-occupation-up-to-its-capital-but-we-did-not/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Though social eugenics was discredited long ago, we still often think of the genome in quasi-eugenic terms. When we read about the latest discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/though-social-eugenics-was-discredited-long-ago-we-still-often-think/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) > [Organized charity itself is. . . the surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/organized-charity-itself-is-the-surest-sign-that-our-civilization-has/) [Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/) > [Positive psychology is to the corporate state what eugenics was to the Nazis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/positive-psychology-is-to-the-corporate-state-what-eugenics-was-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Ram, ass, and horse, my Kyrnos, we look over With care, and seek good stock for good to cover; And yet the best men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theognis-of-megara/ram-ass-and-horse-my-kyrnos-we-look-over-with-care-and-seek-good/) [Theognis of Megara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theognis-of-megara/) > [“The eugenics roots of minimum wage laws. Excerpt from \*Principles of Economics\*(1911) by Frank Taussig: "We have not reached the stage where we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-taussig/the-eugenics-roots-of-minimum-wage-laws-excerpt-from-principles-of/) Frank Taussig > [The prospect of cheap fusion energy is the worst thing that could happen to the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/the-prospect-of-cheap-fusion-energy-is-the-worst-thing-that-could/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/the-undeniably-feeble-minded-should-indeed-not-only-be-discouraged/) [Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/) > [“In reality, of course, if any one age really attains, by eugenics and scientific education, the power to make its descendants what it pleases,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/in-reality-of-course-if-any-one-age-really-attains-by-eugenics-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [It's a great relationship when you can work with the person who you consider to be your soul mate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-derringer/it-s-a-great-relationship-when-you-can-work-with-the-person-who-you/) [Rick Derringer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-derringer/) [Browse all 168 Eugenics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eugenics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All that is mere rationalism; the superstition (that is the unreasoning repugnance and terror) is in the person who admits there can be angels but denies there can be devils. The superstition is in the person who admits there can be devils but denies there can be diabolists.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "G.K. 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