--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's a pity people pick and choose what…" description: "\"It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible.\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg" --- # It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from… ![“It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg) > “It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques selective interpretation of religious texts, urging comprehensive engagement rather than cherry‑picking. **In simple terms:** Avoid picking only parts you like from the Bible. Key Takeaway Read the whole text for fuller understanding. Themes religion interpretation critical thinking Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal study - theological education - interfaith dialogue - sermons Key Concepts selective reading bias contextual analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does selective reading affect faith? - What benefits come from reading the whole text? A Different Perspective Selective reading can miss core messages and lead to misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [We're allowed to pick and choose what we learn from people. We don't have to absorb them in their totality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-torres/we-re-allowed-to-pick-and-choose-what-we-learn-from-people-we-don-t/) [Julio Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-torres/) > [Isn't it good just to be alive on a day like this? I pity the people who aren't born yet for missing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/isn-t-it-good-just-to-be-alive-on-a-day-like-this-i-pity-the-people/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [“I had great pity on Ansje, because she always acted very happy, but I believed that it was really a front. I could see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diet-eman/i-had-great-pity-on-ansje-because-she-always-acted-very-happy-but-i/) [Diet Eman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diet-eman/) > [Though we must never think to learn above our Bible, as long as we are here in this world, yet we must still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/though-we-must-never-think-to-learn-above-our-bible-as-long-as-we-are/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [When did I learn the Bible? When I was four or five years old. It's still the pull of my childhood, a fascination with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/when-did-i-learn-the-bible-when-i-was-four-or-five-years-old-it-s/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [A man may learn from his Bible to be a more thorough gentleman than if he had been brought up in all the drawing-rooms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/a-man-may-learn-from-his-bible-to-be-a-more-thorough-gentleman-than/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [The way I see it you can never learn enough about the Bible. You can never learn all the answers. I love the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-minis-johnson/the-way-i-see-it-you-can-never-learn-enough-about-the-bible-you-can/) [Frank Minis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-minis-johnson/) > [Everyone makes a few mistake in their life. Weather you choose to learn from it is something you have to decide on your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/everyone-makes-a-few-mistake-in-their-life-weather-you-choose-to/) Unknow > [“When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mckeown/when-we-forget-our-ability-to-choose-we-learn-to-be-helpless/) [Greg Mckeown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mckeown/) > [“You can only provide the optimal environment in which your student can choose to learn and grow. The responsibility to learn is up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-ambrosino/you-can-only-provide-the-optimal-environment-in-which-your-student/) Nick Ambrosino > [Choice is a divine teacher, for when we choose we learn that nothing is ever put in our path without a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/choice-is-a-divine-teacher-for-when-we-choose-we-learn-that-nothing/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [“You cannot teach anyone anything. People have to choose to learn for themselves. Besides,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-kozinn/you-cannot-teach-anyone-anything-people-have-to-choose-to-learn-for/) [Nat Kozinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-kozinn/) > [Every decision that you make either moves you toward your personality, or toward your soul. Each decision you make is an answer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/every-decision-that-you-make-either-moves-you-toward-your-personality/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [“You can have great autonomy in the things you choose to learn and pursue on your own time. When you're learning things that interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bornstein/you-can-have-great-autonomy-in-the-things-you-choose-to-learn-and/) [Kate Bornstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bornstein/) > [“If we choose to learn and grow from the things that happen to us, is it even necessary to guess at why they happened?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-deschene/if-we-choose-to-learn-and-grow-from-the-things-that-happen-to-us-is/) [Lori Deschene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-deschene/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Bible quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/) Michael Arnold > [When you put your hand on the Bible, you are saying something much stronger than just telling your peers that you're going to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-greenwood/when-you-put-your-hand-on-the-bible-you-are-saying-something-much/) [Lee Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-greenwood/) > [“Scripture also teaches that human beings are morally responsible creatures”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-peterson/scripture-also-teaches-that-human-beings-are-morally-responsible/) Robert A. Peterson > [“The wife of a junior officer cooped up in a horrible canvas partition in steerage for five months wrote: "I had enjoyed much peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-taylor/the-wife-of-a-junior-officer-cooped-up-in-a-horrible-canvas-partition/) Stephen Taylor > [O Word of God incarnate . . . It is the golden casket Where gems of truth are stored; It is the heaven-drawn picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walsham-how/o-word-of-god-incarnate-it-is-the-golden-casket-where-gems-of-truth/) Walsham How > [How can I trust that the Bible is reliable?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horton/how-can-i-trust-that-the-bible-is-reliable/) [Michael Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horton/) > [Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted with be uprooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesus-christ/every-plant-which-my-heavenly-father-has-not-planted-with-be-uprooted/) [Jesus Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesus-christ/) > [Where I come from you're not raised to think on your own. It's not that you're pushed to read the Bible. The Bible is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/where-i-come-from-you-re-not-raised-to-think-on-your-own-it-s-not/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [What comes to mind when you think of heaven? Heaven is referred to in fifty-four of the Bible's sixty-six books, and the final two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah/what-comes-to-mind-when-you-think-of-heaven-heaven-is-referred-to-in/) [David Jeremiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah/) > [“While it is in one sense a result of God’s presence within us, the New Testament also describes a process involved in our “putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/while-it-is-in-one-sense-a-result-of-god-s-presence-within-us-the-new/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [The definition of a Church is crystal clear in the New Testament. We see the picture of it. They came together the first day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-macarthur/the-definition-of-a-church-is-crystal-clear-in-the-new-testament-we/) [John MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-macarthur/) [Browse all 8,465 Bible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what-they-learn-from-the-bible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what-they-learn-from-the-bible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/graham-greene-441_bible_it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what_2231145.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible.” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's a pity people pick and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what-they-learn-from-the-bible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/it-s-a-pity-people-pick-and-choose-what-they-learn-from-the-bible/#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 } } ] } ```