--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men are moved most by their religion…" description: "\"“Men are moved most by their religion; especially when it is irreligion.”\" — G.K. Chesterton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/g-k-chesterton-224_irreligion_men-are-moved-most-by-their-religion-esp_2394537.jpg" --- # Men are moved most by their religion; especially when it… ![“Men are moved most by their religion; especially when it is irreligion.” quote by G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/g-k-chesterton-224_irreligion_men-are-moved-most-by-their-religion-esp_2394537.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/g-k-chesterton-224_irreligion_men-are-moved-most-by-their-religion-esp_2394537.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/g-k-chesterton-224_irreligion_men-are-moved-most-by-their-religion-esp_2394537.jpg) > ““Men are moved most by their religion; especially when it is irreligion.”” [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. Religion moves people deeply; even the lack of belief can be a powerful motivator. **In simple terms:** Religion and its absence both strongly influence people. Key Takeaway Recognize both belief and doubt as motivators. Themes philosophy religion human nature Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - debate - writing Key Concepts motivation belief systems Questions to Reflect On - How does irreligion shape actions? - Can belief be a substitute? A Different Perspective May overgeneralize personal experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Irreligion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irreligion/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Worldview](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worldview/) ## Related quotes > [The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-fields-were-fruitful-and-starving-men-moved-on-the-roads/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The columns of mounted men moved forward, passed out through the gates of the Palace of Karma, turned off the roadway and headed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/the-columns-of-mounted-men-moved-forward-passed-out-through-the-gates/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [Not only in sex, but in all things men have moved blindly, have evolved out of slime to dissolve into it when this accident…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/not-only-in-sex-but-in-all-things-men-have-moved-blindly-have-evolved/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [The most intellectual of men are moved quite as much by the circumstances which they are used to as by their own will. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-bagehot/the-most-intellectual-of-men-are-moved-quite-as-much-by-the/) [Walter Bagehot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-bagehot/) > [“The two men moved to either side of his shoulders, close enough that Henry smelled the smell of men who did not spend their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-godbersen/the-two-men-moved-to-either-side-of-his-shoulders-close-enough-that/) [Anna Godbersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-godbersen/) > [It is a myth, not a mandate, a fable not a logic, and symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-edman/it-is-a-myth-not-a-mandate-a-fable-not-a-logic-and-symbol-rather-than/) [Irwin Edman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-edman/) > [A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. Men are moved by only two mechanisms: fear and self-interest. Victory belongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/a-man-will-fight-harder-for-his-interests-than-for-his-rights-men-are/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [All men who have moved the world have been men who would stand true to their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/all-men-who-have-moved-the-world-have-been-men-who-would-stand-true/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/men-are-moved-by-two-levers-only-fear-and-self-interest/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Perhaps all men were moved against their will. 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It was pretty dangerous actually. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-young/i-was-known-to-spout-off-about-politics-and-religion-sometimes/) [Steve Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-young/) > [The best way to understand another person's religion is to listen to the story of what particular practices helped them to deepen and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keating/the-best-way-to-understand-another-person-s-religion-is-to-listen-to/) [Thomas Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keating/) > [Everybody is afraid to touch the topic of religion, especially with the extreme muslims. It's such a touchy subject. You can attack any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-benante/everybody-is-afraid-to-touch-the-topic-of-religion-especially-with/) [Charlie Benante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-benante/) > [“The world is full of questions. Whether the topic is politics, race, relationships, the environment, or religion (especially religion), there seem to be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-bickel/the-world-is-full-of-questions-whether-the-topic-is-politics-race/) Bruce Bickel > [I have always been interested in religion, especially in forms of ecstatic religion, where people are touched directly by the Spirit and go completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-have-always-been-interested-in-religion-especially-in-forms-of/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) ## 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 Irreligion quotes > [“Where a mind gets solution, it is called religion; and when the mind does not get solution it is irreligion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-a-mind-gets-solution-it-is-called-religion-and-when-the-mind/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [The day that this country ceases to be free for irreligion, it will cease to be free for religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jackson/the-day-that-this-country-ceases-to-be-free-for-irreligion-it-will/) [Robert Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jackson/) > [To me it seems that liberty and virtue were made for each other. If any man wish to enslave his country, nothing is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/to-me-it-seems-that-liberty-and-virtue-were-made-for-each-other-if/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [One may sigh for all that one loses in giving up the old religion... but the new irreligion is the manlier, honester and simpler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eliot-norton/one-may-sigh-for-all-that-one-loses-in-giving-up-the-old-religion-but/) [Charles Eliot Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eliot-norton/) > [“When people forget their eternal relationship with God and engage in something other than devotional service, their engagement is called irreligion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-forget-their-eternal-relationship-with-god-and-engage-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When, from the top of any high hill, one looks round the country, and sees the multitude of regularly distributed spires, one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/when-from-the-top-of-any-high-hill-one-looks-round-the-country-and/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [Irreligion - the principal one of the great faiths of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/irreligion-the-principal-one-of-the-great-faiths-of-the-world/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The day that this country ceases to be free for irreligion it will cease to be free for religion - except for the sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-jackson/the-day-that-this-country-ceases-to-be-free-for-irreligion-it-will-2/) [Robert H. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-jackson/) > [the usual attitude of Christians towards Jews is - I hardly know whether to say more impious or more stupid, when viewed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-usual-attitude-of-christians-towards-jews-is-i-hardly-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What man needs is not philosophy or religion in the academic or formalistic sense of the term, but ability to think rightly. The malady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishnananda-saraswati/what-man-needs-is-not-philosophy-or-religion-in-the-academic-or/) [Krishnananda Saraswati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishnananda-saraswati/) > [“One increasingly hears rumors of a reconciliation between science and religion. In major news magazines as well as at academic conferences, the claim is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-carroll/one-increasingly-hears-rumors-of-a-reconciliation-between-science-and/) [Sean Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-carroll/) > [“The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reasoning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-truths-of-religion-are-never-so-well-understood-as-by-those-who-2/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We who defend Christianity find ourselves constantly opposed not by the irreligion of our headers but by their real religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/we-who-defend-christianity-find-ourselves-constantly-opposed-not-by/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It is no religion to have for one's wife a girl who is fit only to sit in one's lap, it is the height…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-no-religion-to-have-for-one-s-wife-a-girl-who-is-fit-only-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-foundation-of-irreligious-criticism-is-man-makes-religion/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) [Browse all 26 Irreligion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irreligion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Men are moved most by their religion; especially when it is irreligion.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "G.K. 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