--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should have to abandon our vested…" description: "\"We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our irrational religions and patriotisms.\" — George Santayana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png" --- # We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our… ![“We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our irrational religions and patriotisms.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png) > “We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our irrational religions and patriotisms.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for discarding unfounded beliefs and blind patriotism to achieve rational clarity. **In simple terms:** Drop irrational beliefs and blind patriotism. Key Takeaway Question inherited doctrines. Themes reason criticism patriotism faith Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political discourse - education - personal belief systems Key Concepts philosophy skepticism social critique Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs do you hold without evidence? - How can societies balance patriotism and rational critique? A Different Perspective Challenging deep-rooted beliefs can cause social friction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Irrational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrational/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing goes on forever. I think that's one of the illusions of life. 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Performance is a roller coaster; to think otherwise is irrational and will cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lynch/remember-that-failure-is-part-of-the-process-of-successful-running/) Jerry Lynch > [“Many people do simply awful things out of sincere religious belief, not using religion as a cover the way that Saddam Hussein may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/many-people-do-simply-awful-things-out-of-sincere-religious-belief/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“steam-tactics saga illustrates that (4) Rationalism, unlike empiricism, tends to assume an accretion of vested interests.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-andrew-hugh-gordon/steam-tactics-saga-illustrates-that-4-rationalism-unlike-empiricism/) [Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-andrew-hugh-gordon/) > [At that moment, she cannot think of a more reckless, irrational thing than choosing to become a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/at-that-moment-she-cannot-think-of-a-more-reckless-irrational-thing/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [My greatest personal mistake is ever to allow a word or moment that “doesn’t count,” i.e., that I do not refer to my own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/my-greatest-personal-mistake-is-ever-to-allow-a-word-or-moment-that/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [America must deal once and for all with an utterly irrational health care financing system that allows private interests to make billions in profits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-gordon/america-must-deal-once-and-for-all-with-an-utterly-irrational-health/) [Suzanne Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-gordon/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [But jealousy... it's a strange thing. So much more powerful then I would have thought. And irrational!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-cullen/but-jealousy-it-s-a-strange-thing-so-much-more-powerful-then-i-would/) [Edward Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-cullen/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“...the irrational will have its say, perhaps because 'irrational' is the wrong word for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/the-irrational-will-have-its-say-perhaps-because-irrational-is-the/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Abandon quotes > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [The purpose of a spirit filled life is to demonstrate the supernatural power of our living God so that the unsaved multitudes will abandon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-l-osborn/the-purpose-of-a-spirit-filled-life-is-to-demonstrate-the/) [T.L. Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-l-osborn/) > [However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/however-however-if-the-goal-is-to-abandon-america-s-free-enterprise/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [I would leave at once, but it would be cruel to abandon a lady in a foreign land with a maniac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-would-leave-at-once-but-it-would-be-cruel-to-abandon-a-lady-in-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/can-you-dissolve-your-ego-can-you-abandon-the-idea-of-self-and-other/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Every great thing starts with an idea, followed by a doubt and finally a resolve to abandon or pursue. Victory is a treacherous journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/every-great-thing-starts-with-an-idea-followed-by-a-doubt-and-finally/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't give up because things are hard, but work harder, when you think of giving up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/don-t-give-up-because-things-are-hard-but-work-harder-when-you-think/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Sex is not the ultimate high, but the ultimate high hangs out around sex. The ultimate high is the dance with another person, played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/sex-is-not-the-ultimate-high-but-the-ultimate-high-hangs-out-around/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I care so deeply about this matter that I'm willing to take on the legal penalties, to sit in this prison cell, to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-care-so-deeply-about-this-matter-that-i-m-willing-to-take-on-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) Browse all 1,142 Abandon quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our irrational religions and patriotisms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-illusions-our-irrational/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abandon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-illusions-our-irrational/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/george-santayana-478_abandon_we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-ill_1252492.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We should have to abandon our vested illusions, our irrational religions and patriotisms.” — George Santayana", "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": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We should have to abandon our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-illusions-our-irrational/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-should-have-to-abandon-our-vested-illusions-our-irrational/#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 } } ] } ```