--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why assume so glibly that the God who…" description: "\"Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is still running it? It is certainly conceivable that He may have finished it and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/h-l-mencken-245_assuming_why-assume-so-glibly-that-the-god-who-pr_2412238.png" --- # Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created… ![“Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is still running it? It is certainly conceivable that He may have finished it and then turned it over to lesser gods to operate.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/h-l-mencken-245_assuming_why-assume-so-glibly-that-the-god-who-pr_2412238.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/h-l-mencken-245_assuming_why-assume-so-glibly-that-the-god-who-pr_2412238.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/h-l-mencken-245_assuming_why-assume-so-glibly-that-the-god-who-pr_2412238.png) > “Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is still running it? It is certainly conceivable that He may have finished it and then turned it over to lesser gods to operate.” [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning the ongoing activity of a creator suggests the possibility of a finished universe handed over to lesser powers. **In simple terms:** God may have finished creation and stepped back. Key Takeaway Consider limits of human assumptions about divine control. Themes skepticism theology philosophy control Mood critical curious analytical Type philosophical skeptical When to use this quote - academic debate - philosophical discussion - personal reflection - writing essays Key Concepts existentialism deism cosmology Questions to Reflect On - What evidence would change your view on divine involvement? - How do you reconcile belief with uncertainty? A Different Perspective Assumes lack of evidence equals non-activity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished/) [Glibly God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glibly-god-6077440/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God Presumably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-presumably-6077439/) [Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods/) [Gods Operate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods-operate-6077438/) [Lesser Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lesser-gods-1788514/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [There will always be in society certain persons who are mercuries of its approbation, and whose glance will at any time determinefor the curious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-will-always-be-in-society-certain-persons-who-are-mercuries-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Live and let live, believe and let believe. 'Twas said the lesser gods were only traits Of the one awful God. Just so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/live-and-let-live-believe-and-let-believe-twas-said-the-lesser-gods/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-nicol-gaylor/there-are-no-gods-no-devils-no-angels-no-heaven-or-hell-there-is-only/) [Anne Nicol Gaylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-nicol-gaylor/) > [If anyone decided to call the sea Neptune, and corn Ceres, and to misapply the name of Bacchus rather than to give liquor its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/if-anyone-decided-to-call-the-sea-neptune-and-corn-ceres-and-to/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [The conception of gods originated in fear and curiosity. Primitive man, unable to understand the phenomena of nature, and harassed by them, saw in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-conception-of-gods-originated-in-fear-and-curiosity-primitive-man/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Who will argue that 98.6 Farenheit is the right temperature for man? As for me, I decline to do it. It may be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/who-will-argue-that-98-6-farenheit-is-the-right-temperature-for-man/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The Catholic clergy seldom bother to make their arguments plausible; it is plain that they have little respect for human intelligence, and indeed little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-catholic-clergy-seldom-bother-to-make-their-arguments-plausible/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-most-dangerous-man-to-any-government-is-the-man-who-is-able-to-2/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-most-dangerous-man-to-any-government-is-the-man-who-is-able-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [As long as the Southern colleges have revivals on their campuses and students get converted to Methodism and join the YMCA and are accepted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/as-long-as-the-southern-colleges-have-revivals-on-their-campuses-and/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A dull, dark, depressing day in Winter: the whole world looks like a Methodist church at Wednesday night prayer meeting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-dull-dark-depressing-day-in-winter-the-whole-world-looks-like-a/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [fear has always been a diminisher of life. Whether bred in the bogs of superstition or clothed in the brocades of dogma and ritual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/fear-has-always-been-a-diminisher-of-life-whether-bred-in-the-bogs-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > ["Natural" is a very dangerous word to use about sexuality ... Our society's notions of normality are completely fake and meta-trendy, since they rely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-bright/natural-is-a-very-dangerous-word-to-use-about-sexuality-our-society-s/) [Susie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-bright/) > [I think superstition has a lot to do with fear: the less, the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/i-think-superstition-has-a-lot-to-do-with-fear-the-less-the-better/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## More by H. L. Mencken > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A bad artist almost always tries to conceal his incompetence by whooping up a new formula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-bad-artist-almost-always-tries-to-conceal-his-incompetence-by/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man's objection to love is that it dies hard; woman's, that when it is dead, it stays dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-s-objection-to-love-is-that-it-dies-hard-woman-s-that-when-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-lunatic-fringe-wags-the-underdog/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-have-simple-tastes-they-get-pleasure-out-of-the-conversation-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The critic, to interpret his artist, even to understand his artist, must be able to get into the mind of his artist; he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-critic-to-interpret-his-artist-even-to-understand-his-artist-must/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-in-fact-nothing-about-religious-opinions-that-entitles-them/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/don-t-overestimate-the-decency-of-the-human-race/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [To the extent that I am genuinely educated, I am suspicious of all the things that the average citizen believes and the average pedagogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-the-extent-that-i-am-genuinely-educated-i-am-suspicious-of-all-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/philosophy-first-constructs-a-scheme-of-happiness-and-then-tries-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. In order to overcome that tendency it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-the-natural-tendency-of-the-ignorant-to-believe-what-is-not/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Explore all 827 H. L. Mencken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More Assuming quotes > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Our young Marines of today are courageous, willing to make sacrifices, and are marvelous team players. I am confident our Corps, and indeed our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-conway/our-young-marines-of-today-are-courageous-willing-to-make-sacrifices/) [James T. Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-conway/) > [Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/everyone-assumes-writers-spend-their-time-lounging-around-writing-and/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [A state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/a-state-of-mind-is-something-that-one-assumes-it-cannot-be-purchased/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [One must believe that every living thing whatsoever must change insensibly in its organization and in its form... 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Browse all 2,452 Assuming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is still running it? It is certainly conceivable that He may have finished it and then turned it over to lesser gods to operate.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. 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