--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Obviously, you don't have to be religious…" description: "\"Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and beastly people are sometimes religious.\" — Gary Hamel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png" --- # Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and… ![“Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and beastly people are sometimes religious.” quote by Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png) > “Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and beastly people are sometimes religious.” [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Morality is independent of religious belief; devout individuals can still act immorally. **In simple terms:** Morality ≠ religion Key Takeaway Ethics aren't tied to faith Themes ethics religion human behavior morality hypocrisy Mood thoughtful critical Type aphorism observation When to use this quote - debating secularism - evaluating religious hypocrisy - teaching ethics - discussing moral foundations Key Concepts secular ethics faith vs. conduct moral relativism Practical Applications - philosophy courses - diversity training Questions to Reflect On - Can morality exist without belief? - What drives ethical behavior? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) ## Related quotes > [Yet the New Testament treats of man and man's so-called spiritual affairs too exclusively, and is too constantly moral and personal, to alone content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/yet-the-new-testament-treats-of-man-and-man-s-so-called-spiritual/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Marriage has got historic, religious and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time and I think a marriage is as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/marriage-has-got-historic-religious-and-moral-content-that-goes-back/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [It is impossible to maintain freedom and order and justice without religious and moral sanctions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/it-is-impossible-to-maintain-freedom-and-order-and-justice-without/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [“conversion means a religious and moral change in man, by which he gives up his sinful ways and learns to know, love, and serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-bavinck/conversion-means-a-religious-and-moral-change-in-man-by-which-he/) [Herman Bavinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-bavinck/) > [There is a set of religious, or rather moral, writings which teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/there-is-a-set-of-religious-or-rather-moral-writings-which-teach-that/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [I'm celibate. It's not that I'm a religious or moral person or anything, it's just, if you aren't \*\*\*\*ing Thom Yorke, what's the point?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-m-celibate-it-s-not-that-i-m-a-religious-or-moral-person-or/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [It would be a sad thing if the religious and moral convictions upon which the American experiment was founded could now somehow be considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/it-would-be-a-sad-thing-if-the-religious-and-moral-convictions-upon/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Those who believe they have pleased God by the quality of their devotion and moral goodness naturally feel that they and their group deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/those-who-believe-they-have-pleased-god-by-the-quality-of-their/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“There are a set of religious, or rather moral writers, who teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/there-are-a-set-of-religious-or-rather-moral-writers-who-teach-that/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [Zen says: Remain true to your freedom. And then a totally different kind of being arises in you, which is very unexpected, unpredictable. Religious,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/zen-says-remain-true-to-your-freedom-and-then-a-totally-different/) [OSHO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [Imbued with the desire to secure for the German people the great religious, moral, and cultural values rooted in the two Christian Confessions, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/imbued-with-the-desire-to-secure-for-the-german-people-the-great/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I fully respect people whose personal religious or moral code has God giving, and taking, life. But there are moral and responsible people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-macdonald/i-fully-respect-people-whose-personal-religious-or-moral-code-has-god/) [Margo MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-macdonald/) > [Unquestionably, it is the duty of every master to watch over the religious and moral culture of his slaves, and to give them every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-b-taney/unquestionably-it-is-the-duty-of-every-master-to-watch-over-the/) [Roger B. Taney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-b-taney/) > [I do not want to suggest that you have to be religious to be moral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/i-do-not-want-to-suggest-that-you-have-to-be-religious-to-be-moral/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/watch-out-for-people-who-call-themselves-religious-make-sure-you-know/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## More by Gary Hamel > [As human beings, we are the only organisms that create for the sheer stupid pleasure of doing so. Whether it's laying out a garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/as-human-beings-we-are-the-only-organisms-that-create-for-the-sheer/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [Most of us do more than subsist. From the vantage point of our ancestors, we live lives of almost unimaginable ease. Here again, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/most-of-us-do-more-than-subsist-from-the-vantage-point-of-our/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [We've reached the end of incrementalism. Only those companies that are capable of creating industry revolutions will prosper in the new economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/we-ve-reached-the-end-of-incrementalism-only-those-companies-that-are/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [One way of building private foresight out of public data is looking where others aren't ... if you want to see the future, go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/one-way-of-building-private-foresight-out-of-public-data-is-looking/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [The fact is, society is made more hospitable by every individual who acts as if 'do unto others' really was a rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/the-fact-is-society-is-made-more-hospitable-by-every-individual-who/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [Truth be told, there are lots of companies that provide exemplary phone support. DirecTV, Virgin America and Apple are a few that regularly exceed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/truth-be-told-there-are-lots-of-companies-that-provide-exemplary/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [The real damper on employee engagement is the soggy, cold blanket of centralized authority. In most companies, power cascades downwards from the CEO. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/the-real-damper-on-employee-engagement-is-the-soggy-cold-blanket-of/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [The problem with the future is that it is different, if you are unable to think differently, the future will always arrive as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/the-problem-with-the-future-is-that-it-is-different-if-you-are-unable/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [An adaptable company is one that captures more than its fair share of new opportunities. It's always redefining its 'core business' in ways that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/an-adaptable-company-is-one-that-captures-more-than-its-fair-share-of/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [people are all there is to an organization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/people-are-all-there-is-to-an-organization/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [To be embraced, a change effort must be socially constructed in a process that gives everyone the right to set priorities, diagnose barriers ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/to-be-embraced-a-change-effort-must-be-socially-constructed-in-a/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [I'm not one of those professors whose office is encased floor-to-ceiling with books. By the way, I think academics do this to intimidate their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/i-m-not-one-of-those-professors-whose-office-is-encased-floor-to/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [In a democracy, you don't need anyone's permission to form a new political party, publish a politically charged article, or organize a 'tea party.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/in-a-democracy-you-don-t-need-anyone-s-permission-to-form-a-new/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [Our biggest challenge is how to create a self-renewing company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/our-biggest-challenge-is-how-to-create-a-self-renewing-company/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [In a well-functioning democracy, citizens have the option of voting their political masters out of office. Not so in most companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/in-a-well-functioning-democracy-citizens-have-the-option-of-voting/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) [Explore all 121 Gary Hamel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) ## More Beastly quotes > [“wow hav u read beastly its really awesome i mean u wont want 2 put it down ever”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/wow-hav-u-read-beastly-its-really-awesome-i-mean-u-wont-want-2-put-it/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [Beastly of him to die before you realized he might be fascinating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-alexander/beastly-of-him-to-die-before-you-realized-he-might-be-fascinating/) [Tasha Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasha-alexander/) > [“Man could be utterly beastly at times and his humour abysmally dark, morbid and demoniac. - Page 105, Blue Jeans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manisha-saxena/man-could-be-utterly-beastly-at-times-and-his-humour-abysmally-dark/) Manisha Saxena > [Eschew all those beastly adjectives...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/eschew-all-those-beastly-adjectives/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“I glances at Sloane, who was having a joyous reunion with fifty close friends she hadn't seen since yesterday.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/i-glances-at-sloane-who-was-having-a-joyous-reunion-with-fifty-close/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [Food conditions the nature of the mind. Mind guides the thinking. Thinking results in action. Actions lead to commensurate or matching results and effects.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/food-conditions-the-nature-of-the-mind-mind-guides-the-thinking/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to place their entire life in the hands of some other person. For this purpose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/the-consuming-desire-of-most-human-beings-is-deliberately-to-place/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [It seems to me that the chief thing about a woman - who is much of a woman - is that in the long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-seems-to-me-that-the-chief-thing-about-a-woman-who-is-much-of-a/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Well, it seems like a miracle to be able to look forward-to-to see all the minutes in front of one come hopping along with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/well-it-seems-like-a-miracle-to-be-able-to-look-forward-to-to-see-all/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I am so beastly tired of mankind and the world that nothing can interest me unless it contains a couple of murders on each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-so-beastly-tired-of-mankind-and-the-world-that-nothing-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How some dare scorn (as if a fabulous lie) that they should rise whom death to dust doth bind -- and like to beasts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-alexander-1st-earl-of-stirling/how-some-dare-scorn-as-if-a-fabulous-lie-that-they-should-rise-whom/) [William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-alexander-1st-earl-of-stirling/) > [Sheep run to the slaughterhouse, silent and hopeless, but at least sheep never vote for the butcher who kills them or the people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/sheep-run-to-the-slaughterhouse-silent-and-hopeless-but-at-least/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) > [Tam: What begg’st thou then? fond woman, let me go. Lav: ’Tis present death I beg; and one thing more That womanhood denies my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/tam-what-begg-st-thou-then-fond-woman-let-me-go-lav-tis-present-death/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“I’m a girl. Every girl pretends she’s a princess at one point, no matter how little her life is like that. And I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/i-m-a-girl-every-girl-pretends-she-s-a-princess-at-one-point-no/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [Karate-do is definitely a martial way, and its identity lies in do or principles. Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshin-nagamine/karate-do-is-definitely-a-martial-way-and-its-identity-lies-in-do-or/) Shoshin Nagamine Browse all 80 Beastly quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and beastly people are sometimes religious.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gary Hamel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious-to-be-moral-and-beastly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beastly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious-to-be-moral-and-beastly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/gary-hamel-3793_beastly_obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious_15268.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Obviously, you don't have to be religious to be moral, and beastly people are sometimes religious.” — Gary Hamel", "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": "Gary Hamel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Obviously, you don't have to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious-to-be-moral-and-beastly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/obviously-you-don-t-have-to-be-religious-to-be-moral-and-beastly/#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 } } ] } ```