--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God wept; but that mattered little to an…" description: "\"“God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age; what mattered most was that the world wept and still is weeping and blind with tears and blo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg" --- # God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age… ![“God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age; what mattered most was that the world wept and still is weeping and blind with tears and blood. For there began to rise in America in 1876 a new capitalism and a new enslavement of labor.” quote by Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg) > ““God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age; what mattered most was that the world wept and still is weeping and blind with tears and blood. For there began to rise in America in 1876 a new capitalism and a new enslavement of labor.”” [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s new capitalism in 1876 brings labor exploitation, while the world mourns ongoing suffering. **In simple terms:** Capitalism created new labor oppression. Key Takeaway Advocate for workers’ rights. Themes social justice history economics Mood critical somber Type historical activist When to use this quote - labor movements - policy reform - public awareness Key Concepts labor exploitation capitalist critique social inequality Questions to Reflect On - How can we address systemic exploitation? - What alternatives to capitalism exist? A Different Perspective Change is slow and resisted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [When Alexander had subdued the world, and wept that none were left to dispute his arms, his tears were an involuntary tribute to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-porter/when-alexander-had-subdued-the-world-and-wept-that-none-were-left-to/) [Jane Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-porter/) > [“The world wept a silent, windless downpour, a befitting accompaniment to the arrival of death. However, Lady Brenna Hilliard, only daughter of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-wicklund/the-world-wept-a-silent-windless-downpour-a-befitting-accompaniment/) [Cynthia Wicklund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-wicklund/) > [“I came for the sake of love-devotion; seeing the world, I wept.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirabai/i-came-for-the-sake-of-love-devotion-seeing-the-world-i-wept/) [Mīrābāī](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirabai/) > [“I am thinking now of old Moses sitting on a mountain—sitting with God—looking across the Jordan into the Promised Land. I am thinking of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-am-thinking-now-of-old-moses-sitting-on-a-mountain-sitting-with-god/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [We are fit for the work of God only when we have wept over it, prayed about it, and then we are enabled by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-redpath/we-are-fit-for-the-work-of-god-only-when-we-have-wept-over-it-prayed/) [Alan Redpath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-redpath/) > [Capitalism proceeds through creative destruction. What is created is capitalism in a 'new and improved' form - and what is destroyed is self-sustaining capacity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/capitalism-proceeds-through-creative-destruction-what-is-created-is/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [With the development of industrial capitalism, a new and unanticipated system of injustice, it is libertarian socialism that has preserved and extended the radical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/with-the-development-of-industrial-capitalism-a-new-and-unanticipated/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Anti-capitalism is nothing new in Hollywood. From 'Wall-E' to 'Avatar,' corporations are routinely depicted as evil. The contradiction of corporate-funded films denouncing corporations is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-fisher/anti-capitalism-is-nothing-new-in-hollywood-from-wall-e-to-avatar/) [Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-fisher/) > [I cry myself to sleep sometimes, wept the and the tears From malice, divorce meets to lost peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-grae/i-cry-myself-to-sleep-sometimes-wept-the-and-the-tears-from-malice/) [Jean Grae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-grae/) > [“I long for scenes where man hath never trod A place where woman never smiled or wept There to abide with my Creator, God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-long-for-scenes-where-man-hath-never-trod-a-place-where-woman-never/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) > [“Mr. Crepsley was every bit as composed as he'd sworn he would be. He didn't even shed a tear when the funeral litter was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/mr-crepsley-was-every-bit-as-composed-as-he-d-sworn-he-would-be-he/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/ralph-wept-for-the-end-of-innocence-the-darkness-of-man-s-heart-and/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-mckay/and-hungry-for-the-old-familiar-ways-i-turned-aside-and-bowed-my-head/) [Claude McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-mckay/) > [“Yes,love."He leaned down,his hands splayed on her ankles,up he raked to her knees,her inner thighs until he had her legs spread so wide her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wright/yes-love-he-leaned-down-his-hands-splayed-on-her-ankles-up-he-raked/) [Laura Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wright/) > [“The rain feels good against my face, Sam. It feels like tears. Let me stay a while longer, I pray you. It has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-rain-feels-good-against-my-face-sam-it-feels-like-tears-let-me/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) ## More by Howard Zinn > [“A black man, Benjamin Banneker, who taught himself mathematics and astronomy, predicted accurately a solar eclipse, and was appointed to plan the new city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-black-man-benjamin-banneker-who-taught-himself-mathematics-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. The accumulation of knowledge, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-good-education-is-a-synthesis-of-book-learning-and-involvement-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-mountain-of-history-books-under-which-we-all-stand-leans-so/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Let's face a historical truth: we have never had a "free market", we have always had government intervention in the economy, and indeed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/let-s-face-a-historical-truth-we-have-never-had-a-free-market-we-have/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [I can UNDERSTAND pessimism, but I don't BELIEVE in it. It's not simply a matter of faith, but of historical EVIDENCE. Not overwhelming evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-can-understand-pessimism-but-i-don-t-believe-in-it-it-s-not-simply/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [They were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, they were absent in the Constitution and they were invisible in the new political democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/they-were-not-mentioned-in-the-declaration-of-independence-they-were/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sexual-purity-was-to-be-the-special-virtue-of-a-woman-it-was-assumed/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Middle-class Americans might be invited to join a new elite by attacks against the corruption of the established rich. The New Yorker Cadwallader Colden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/middle-class-americans-might-be-invited-to-join-a-new-elite-by/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-those-in-charge-of-our-society-politicians-corporate-executives/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-were-not-born-critical-of-existing-society-there-was-a-moment-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/behind-the-deceptive-words-designed-to-entice-people-into-supporting/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. So when the British military commander in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/george-washington-had-turned-down-the-requests-of-blacks-seeking/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Explore all 461 Howard Zinn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More Wept quotes > [“The rain feels good against my face, Sam. It feels like tears. Let me stay a while longer, I pray you. It has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-rain-feels-good-against-my-face-sam-it-feels-like-tears-let-me/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“Yes,love."He leaned down,his hands splayed on her ankles,up he raked to her knees,her inner thighs until he had her legs spread so wide her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wright/yes-love-he-leaned-down-his-hands-splayed-on-her-ankles-up-he-raked/) [Laura Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wright/) > [And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-mckay/and-hungry-for-the-old-familiar-ways-i-turned-aside-and-bowed-my-head/) [Claude McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-mckay/) > [Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/ralph-wept-for-the-end-of-innocence-the-darkness-of-man-s-heart-and/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“Mr. Crepsley was every bit as composed as he'd sworn he would be. He didn't even shed a tear when the funeral litter was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/mr-crepsley-was-every-bit-as-composed-as-he-d-sworn-he-would-be-he/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [“I long for scenes where man hath never trod A place where woman never smiled or wept There to abide with my Creator, God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-long-for-scenes-where-man-hath-never-trod-a-place-where-woman-never/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) > [I cry myself to sleep sometimes, wept the and the tears From malice, divorce meets to lost peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-grae/i-cry-myself-to-sleep-sometimes-wept-the-and-the-tears-from-malice/) [Jean Grae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-grae/) > [When he heard there was nothing to eat, he sat down and wept… “Why did I ever wake up!” he cried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-he-heard-there-was-nothing-to-eat-he-sat-down-and-wept-why-did-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We wept, Brooklyn was a lovely place to hit. If you got a ball in the air, you had a chance to get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-snider/we-wept-brooklyn-was-a-lovely-place-to-hit-if-you-got-a-ball-in-the/) [Duke Snider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-snider/) > [“I had often envisioned my funeral—me lying against the rose-colored satin, looking utterly stunning, U2’ s and Ed Sheeran’s sadder songs playing gently in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristan-higgins/i-had-often-envisioned-my-funeral-me-lying-against-the-rose-colored/) [Kristan Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristan-higgins/) > [“When Alexander saw the depth of his empire he wept for there were no more worlds to concquer. Benefits of a classical education.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-gruber/when-alexander-saw-the-depth-of-his-empire-he-wept-for-there-were-no/) Hans Gruber > [“In the silence I felt it all unravelling, the audience waking with the dream unfinished, all my work ruined, wasted. And all the while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/in-the-silence-i-felt-it-all-unravelling-the-audience-waking-with-the/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“He wept because God was unfair, and because this was the way God repaid those who believed in their dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/he-wept-because-god-was-unfair-and-because-this-was-the-way-god/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Semille wept not because she did something stupid; she wept because she \*didn't\* do something stupid. Sometimes, to do something stupid--to disobey your parents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binnie-kirshenbaum/semille-wept-not-because-she-did-something-stupid-she-wept-because/) [Binnie Kirshenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binnie-kirshenbaum/) > [“She had no tears this morning. She had wept them all away last night, and now she felt that dry-eyed morning misery, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-had-no-tears-this-morning-she-had-wept-them-all-away-last-night/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) Browse all 232 Wept quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age; what mattered most was that the world wept and still is weeping and blind with tears and blood. For there began to rise in America in 1876 a new capitalism and a new enslavement of labor.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Howard Zinn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an-unbelieving-age-what-mattered/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Wept" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an-unbelieving-age-what-mattered/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/howard-zinn-576_wept_god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an_2762507.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“God wept; but that mattered little to an unbelieving age; what mattered most was that the world wept and…” — Howard Zinn", "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": "Howard Zinn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“God wept; but that mattered little...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an-unbelieving-age-what-mattered/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/god-wept-but-that-mattered-little-to-an-unbelieving-age-what-mattered/#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 } } ] } ```