--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Had there been any existent vital and…" description: "\"Had there been any existent vital and energetic institution left in Society after the Reformation for the use of small property in coordinated form-tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/hilaire-belloc-2294_average_had-there-been-any-existent-vital-and-en_69404.png" --- # Had there been any existent vital and energetic… ![“Had there been any existent vital and energetic institution left in Society after the Reformation for the use of small property in coordinated form-that is, in combination, so that the average man's holding could be put to useful purpose in company with the holdings of a great number of other men…” quote by Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/hilaire-belloc-2294_average_had-there-been-any-existent-vital-and-en_69404.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/hilaire-belloc-2294_average_had-there-been-any-existent-vital-and-en_69404.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/hilaire-belloc-2294_average_had-there-been-any-existent-vital-and-en_69404.png) > “Had there been any existent vital and energetic institution left in Society after the Reformation for the use of small property in coordinated form-that is, in combination, so that the average man's holding could be put to useful purpose in company with the holdings of a great number of other men of his own sort, the new evils would not have arisen.” [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) ## 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 argues that a lack of cooperative economic institutions after the Reformation prevented small property owners from pooling resources, leading to social . **In simple terms:** Cooperative institutions could have mitigated post‑Reformation problems. Key Takeaway Collective ownership of small assets can curb societal . Themes Economic cooperation Social stability Property rights Historical institutions Collective action Wealth distribution Mood Reflective Critical Hopeful Type Historical analysis Social commentary When to use this quote - Rural farming communities - Urban artisans - Mutual aid societies - Modern credit unions - Community land trusts Key Concepts Cooperatives Smallholder economics Reformation impact Social welfare Practical Applications - Designing cooperative business models - Policy reforms to support collective ownership Questions to Reflect On - How might modern cooperatives address similar inequities? - What historical factors limited collective institutions after the Reformation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Average](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average/) [Average man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average-man/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Combination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combination/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Energetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energetic/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Property Coordinated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property-coordinated-916575/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Reformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reformation/) [Reformation Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reformation-use-916573/) [Small Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-property-916574/) [Society Reformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-reformation-916572/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [The society of Christendom and especially of Western Christendom up to the explosion, which we call the Reformation, had been a society of owners:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-society-of-christendom-and-especially-of-western-christendom-up/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The Reformation has been called in a biting epigram "a rising of the rich against the poor."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-reformation-has-been-called-in-a-biting-epigram-a-rising-of-the/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The presentations and conceptions of the average man of the world are formed and dominated, not by the full and pure desire for knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mach/the-presentations-and-conceptions-of-the-average-man-of-the-world-are/) [Ernst Mach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mach/) > [“As regards his health--and the rest of the things--the average man is what his environment and his superstitions have made him; and their function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-regards-his-health-and-the-rest-of-the-things-the-average-man-is/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The average man thinks that a little falseness goes with beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/the-average-man-thinks-that-a-little-falseness-goes-with-beauty/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [It is just the little touches after the average man would quit that make the master's fame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/it-is-just-the-little-touches-after-the-average-man-would-quit-that/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The average man does not know what to do with his life, yet wants another one which will last forever. —ANATOLE FRANCE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-henry/the-average-man-does-not-know-what-to-do-with-his-life-yet-wants/) [Todd Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-henry/) > [“But that's crazy, " George said. "How can I be the Average American Man? I'm only five foot eight and my name is Blaxter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/but-that-s-crazy-george-said-how-can-i-be-the-average-american-man-i/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [“An average woman is in this superior to an average man—that she never instigates, only responds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/an-average-woman-is-in-this-superior-to-an-average-man-that-she-never/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Apparently the average man sees woman alternatelyas an inferior being and as an angel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-holland/apparently-the-average-man-sees-woman-alternatelyas-an-inferior-being/) [Willa Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-holland/) > [Labor Day symbolizes our determination to achieve an economic freedom for the average man which will give his political freedom realty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/labor-day-symbolizes-our-determination-to-achieve-an-economic-freedom/) [Franklin D. 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Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [My phone rings, they call me up and say, 'Chael, your testosterone level is too high.' I say, 'Well, how high was it?' They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chael-sonnen/my-phone-rings-they-call-me-up-and-say-chael-your-testosterone-level/) [Chael Sonnen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chael-sonnen/) ## More by Hilaire Belloc > [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Kings live in Palaces, and Pigs in sties, And youth in Expectation. 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But here's a happier age: for now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/of-old-when-folk-lay-sick-and-sorely-tried-the-doctors-gave-them/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [It is Mind which determines the change of Society, and it was because the mind at work was a Catholic mind that the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/it-is-mind-which-determines-the-change-of-society-and-it-was-because/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [For no one, in our long decline,So dusty, spiteful and divided,Had quite such pleasant friends as mine,Or loved them half as much as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/for-no-one-in-our-long-decline-so-dusty-spiteful-and-divided-had/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [The smaller man approaching our modern banking system, which controls all issue of credit and therefore pretty well all our industrial and commercial activities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-smaller-man-approaching-our-modern-banking-system-which-controls/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Under the old philosophy which had governed the high Middle Ages things had been everywhere towards a condition of Society in which property was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/under-the-old-philosophy-which-had-governed-the-high-middle-ages/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Torture will give a dozen pence or more To keep a drab from bawling at his door. 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