--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Absolutism, in both religious and…" description: "\"“Absolutism, in both religious and political idealism, is a splendid incentive to heroic action, but a dangerous guide in immediate and concrete situat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/gustav-niebuhr-37990_human-nature_absolutism-in-both-religious-and-politic_2136353.jpg" --- # Absolutism, in both religious and political idealism, is a… ![“Absolutism, in both religious and political idealism, is a splendid incentive to heroic action, but a dangerous guide in immediate and concrete situations. In religion, it permits absurdities and in politics cruelties, which fail to achieve justifying consequences because the inertia of human…” quote by Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/gustav-niebuhr-37990_human-nature_absolutism-in-both-religious-and-politic_2136353.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/gustav-niebuhr-37990_human-nature_absolutism-in-both-religious-and-politic_2136353.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/gustav-niebuhr-37990_human-nature_absolutism-in-both-religious-and-politic_2136353.jpg) > ““Absolutism, in both religious and political idealism, is a splendid incentive to heroic action, but a dangerous guide in immediate and concrete situations. In religion, it permits absurdities and in politics cruelties, which fail to achieve justifying consequences because the inertia of human nature remains a nemesis to the absolute ideal...The fanaticism which in the individual may appear in the guise of a harmless or pathetic vagary, when expressed in political policy, shuts the gates of mercy on mankind. ”” [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Absolute ideals can inspire heroic deeds but become dangerous when applied to real, complex situations, leading to cruelty and absurdity. **In simple terms:** Idealism can be inspiring yet harmful in practice. Key Takeaway Balance ideals with practical wisdom. Themes idealism heroism danger realism morality Mood cautious reflective critical Type philosophical political ethical When to use this quote - policy making - religious leadership - social movements - conflict resolution Key Concepts ethical absolutism human nature political fanaticism Questions to Reflect On - How can we temper lofty ideals with practical concerns? - When does zeal become harmful? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore nuanced realities, causing harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutism/) [Absolutism Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutism-religious-4428120/) [Fanaticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanaticism/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Ideal Fanaticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideal-fanaticism-4428122/) [Political Idealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-idealism-4428121/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [The way in which a certain kind of political idealism has been discredited and scorned makes the danger not that intellectuals keep on making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-way-in-which-a-certain-kind-of-political-idealism-has-been/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The uniting of Orthodoxy with state absolutism came about on the soil of a non-belief in the Divineness of the earth, in the earthly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/the-uniting-of-orthodoxy-with-state-absolutism-came-about-on-the-soil/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [As liberals, men like Richter viewed socialism as the great modern counter-revolution, and believed that the achievement of the socialist goal would lead both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/as-liberals-men-like-richter-viewed-socialism-as-the-great-modern/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [Moral relativism says morality is relative, not absolute, I want to show moral relativism, in its popular form, is logically incoherent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/moral-relativism-says-morality-is-relative-not-absolute-i-want-to/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [Does it seem to you impossible to imagine anything more inextricable than the social contract, when you think of the frightful number of relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/does-it-seem-to-you-impossible-to-imagine-anything-more-inextricable/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) > [The saving principles and doctrines of the Church are established, fixed, and unchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/the-saving-principles-and-doctrines-of-the-church-are-established/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [The absolutist takes himself to speak to the ages, with the tongue of angels, but the relativist hears only one version among others, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-blackburn/the-absolutist-takes-himself-to-speak-to-the-ages-with-the-tongue-of/) [Simon Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-blackburn/) > [“We humans, through old habits, and because of the inherent structure of human knowledge have a tendency to make static, definite, and, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/we-humans-through-old-habits-and-because-of-the-inherent-structure-of/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/george-bush-made-a-mistake-when-he-referred-to-the-saddam-hussein/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The absolutist trumpets his plain vision; the relativist sees only someone who is unaware of his own spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-blackburn/the-absolutist-trumpets-his-plain-vision-the-relativist-sees-only/) [Simon Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-blackburn/) > [Absolutism is a guarantee of objectionable morals in the same way that absolutism in government is a guarantee of objectionable government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/absolutism-is-a-guarantee-of-objectionable-morals-in-the-same-way/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [As Camille Paglia's success has demonstrated, what is most marketable is absolutism and attitude undiluted by thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-kaminer/as-camille-paglia-s-success-has-demonstrated-what-is-most-marketable/) [Wendy Kaminer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-kaminer/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/peace-cannot-be-built-on-exclusivism-absolutism-and-intolerance-but/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [In the light of absolute values (religious or ethical) man himself is judged to be limited or imperfect, while he can occasionally accomplish acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-hulme/in-the-light-of-absolute-values-religious-or-ethical-man-himself-is/) [T. E. Hulme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-hulme/) > [Those who claim absolutism is merely a myth are right that it has been misused simply as a byword for political centralisation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wilson/those-who-claim-absolutism-is-merely-a-myth-are-right-that-it-has/) [Peter Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wilson/) ## More by Gustav Niebuhr > [“Men and women believed and proclaimed God was firmly on their side – and easy and shallow assertion that reduced God to a sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/men-and-women-believed-and-proclaimed-god-was-firmly-on-their-side/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“The terrorism has been a generation growing. It'll take a generation to knock it out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/the-terrorism-has-been-a-generation-growing-it-ll-take-a-generation/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“The criticism that I think is more telling is that the only way you are going to knock out this terrorism eventually is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/the-criticism-that-i-think-is-more-telling-is-that-the-only-way-you/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“The only alternative to talking is the building up of resentment and anger, which in the time must inevitably become open hostility and conflict.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/the-only-alternative-to-talking-is-the-building-up-of-resentment-and/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“I will be a better Catholic, not if I can refute every shade of Protestantism, but if I can affirm the truth in it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/i-will-be-a-better-catholic-not-if-i-can-refute-every-shade-of/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“There can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/there-can-be-no-understanding-where-there-is-mutual-rejection/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“...Dialogue is an activity that represents a state of relations going well beyond tolerance...You can coexist with people without ever having to speak meaningfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/dialogue-is-an-activity-that-represents-a-state-of-relations-going/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“To reach beyond tolerance is to open oneself to getting to know others, to appreciate their role in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/to-reach-beyond-tolerance-is-to-open-oneself-to-getting-to-know/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“If you are mindful, you can eat the bread and the bread represents the whole cosmos...You set the table, you lay the food in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/if-you-are-mindful-you-can-eat-the-bread-and-the-bread-represents-the/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“Authentic religion teaches one to imagine the other -- to consider another's vulnerability and humanity. The beginning of ethics is this trancendent imagination' (Ingrid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/authentic-religion-teaches-one-to-imagine-the-other-to-consider/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [“The wars around the globe into which religion is woven -- violence that over the past two decades has sent many tens of thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/the-wars-around-the-globe-into-which-religion-is-woven-violence-that/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) [Explore all 12 Gustav Niebuhr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) ## More Absolutism quotes > [Those who claim absolutism is merely a myth are right that it has been misused simply as a byword for political centralisation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wilson/those-who-claim-absolutism-is-merely-a-myth-are-right-that-it-has/) [Peter Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wilson/) > [In the light of absolute values (religious or ethical) man himself is judged to be limited or imperfect, while he can occasionally accomplish acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-hulme/in-the-light-of-absolute-values-religious-or-ethical-man-himself-is/) [T. E. Hulme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-hulme/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/peace-cannot-be-built-on-exclusivism-absolutism-and-intolerance-but/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [As Camille Paglia's success has demonstrated, what is most marketable is absolutism and attitude undiluted by thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-kaminer/as-camille-paglia-s-success-has-demonstrated-what-is-most-marketable/) [Wendy Kaminer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-kaminer/) > [Absolutism is a guarantee of objectionable morals in the same way that absolutism in government is a guarantee of objectionable government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/absolutism-is-a-guarantee-of-objectionable-morals-in-the-same-way/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [The absolutist trumpets his plain vision; the relativist sees only someone who is unaware of his own spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-blackburn/the-absolutist-trumpets-his-plain-vision-the-relativist-sees-only/) [Simon Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-blackburn/) > [“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/george-bush-made-a-mistake-when-he-referred-to-the-saddam-hussein/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“We humans, through old habits, and because of the inherent structure of human knowledge have a tendency to make static, definite, and, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/we-humans-through-old-habits-and-because-of-the-inherent-structure-of/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [The absolutist takes himself to speak to the ages, with the tongue of angels, but the relativist hears only one version among others, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-blackburn/the-absolutist-takes-himself-to-speak-to-the-ages-with-the-tongue-of/) [Simon Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-blackburn/) > [The saving principles and doctrines of the Church are established, fixed, and unchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/the-saving-principles-and-doctrines-of-the-church-are-established/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [Does it seem to you impossible to imagine anything more inextricable than the social contract, when you think of the frightful number of relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/does-it-seem-to-you-impossible-to-imagine-anything-more-inextricable/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) > [Moral relativism says morality is relative, not absolute, I want to show moral relativism, in its popular form, is logically incoherent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/moral-relativism-says-morality-is-relative-not-absolute-i-want-to/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [As liberals, men like Richter viewed socialism as the great modern counter-revolution, and believed that the achievement of the socialist goal would lead both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/as-liberals-men-like-richter-viewed-socialism-as-the-great-modern/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [The uniting of Orthodoxy with state absolutism came about on the soil of a non-belief in the Divineness of the earth, in the earthly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/the-uniting-of-orthodoxy-with-state-absolutism-came-about-on-the-soil/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [“The science of absolutism or liberation (Vitaraag Vignan) begins upon the attainment of samkit (the right belief that 'I am pure Soul').”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-science-of-absolutism-or-liberation-vitaraag-vignan-begins-upon/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) [Browse all 84 Absolutism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Absolutism, in both religious and political idealism, is a splendid incentive to heroic action, but a dangerous guide in immediate and concrete situations. 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