--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And History will smile to think that this…" description: "\"And History will smile to think that this is the species for which Socrates and Jesus Christ died.\" — Julien Benda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86b/julien-benda-29115_christ_and-history-will-smile-to-think-that-thi_311918.png" --- # And History will smile to think that this is the species… ![“And History will smile to think that this is the species for which Socrates and Jesus Christ died.” quote by Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86b/julien-benda-29115_christ_and-history-will-smile-to-think-that-thi_311918.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86b/julien-benda-29115_christ_and-history-will-smile-to-think-that-thi_311918.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86b/julien-benda-29115_christ_and-history-will-smile-to-think-that-thi_311918.png) > “And History will smile to think that this is the species for which Socrates and Jesus Christ died.” [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes that humanity’s history is marked by those who die for ideas, implying a tragic pattern. **In simple terms:** Great thinkers often die for their beliefs. Key Takeaway Recognize the cost of conviction. Themes philosophy history martyrdom Mood reflective somber Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - political activism - religious reform - academic debate Key Concepts intellectual sacrifice cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do societies celebrate martyrdom? - Is sacrifice necessary for progress? A Different Perspective Idealism can lead to personal loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus/) [Smile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smile/) ## Related quotes > [The difference between Socrates and Jesus? The great conscious and the immeasurably great unconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-difference-between-socrates-and-jesus-the-great-conscious-and-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The difference between Socrates and Jesus is that no one had ever been put to death in Socrates' name. And that is because Socrates'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-difference-between-socrates-and-jesus-is-that-no-one-had-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Both Socrates and Jesus were outstanding teachers; both of them urged and practiced great simplicity of life; both were regarded as traitors to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaroslav-pelikan/both-socrates-and-jesus-were-outstanding-teachers-both-of-them-urged/) [Jaroslav Pelikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaroslav-pelikan/) > [It's very interesting to think about the distinction with mind, which I just made in very general terms, but it can be made more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/it-s-very-interesting-to-think-about-the-distinction-with-mind-which/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [As a rule of thumb I say, if Socrates, Jesus and Tolstoy wouldn't do it, don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-say-if-socrates-jesus-and-tolstoy-wouldn-t-do-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Socrates and Jesus, two teachers of virtue and love, were executed because of the unsettling, threatening power of their souls, which was revealed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-moore/socrates-and-jesus-two-teachers-of-virtue-and-love-were-executed/) [Thomas Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-moore/) > [There are some few people I respect and admire, but I don't think much of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-are-some-few-people-i-respect-and-admire-but-i-don-t-think-much/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I think it's in our nature to try to get beyond that next horizon. I think that when we, as a species, are scratching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-howard/i-think-it-s-in-our-nature-to-try-to-get-beyond-that-next-horizon-i-2/) [Ron Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-howard/) > [“When we use these words and we talk about plants having a strategy to do this or wanting this or desiring this, we’re being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/when-we-use-these-words-and-we-talk-about-plants-having-a-strategy-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [When I am at a dinner table, I love to ask everybody, 'How long do you think our species might last?' I've read that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/when-i-am-at-a-dinner-table-i-love-to-ask-everybody-how-long-do-you/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [I don't think that we are a species or a people that can exist without making mistakes somewhere along the line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-belafonte/i-don-t-think-that-we-are-a-species-or-a-people-that-can-exist/) [Harry Belafonte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-belafonte/) > [“When we’re young, we think we are the only species worth knowing. But the more I come to know people, the better I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/when-we-re-young-we-think-we-are-the-only-species-worth-knowing-but/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [Heads are a good deal, and I think they would be a common feature. It's hard to think of species that don't have heads,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/heads-are-a-good-deal-and-i-think-they-would-be-a-common-feature-it-s/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [“Why do we so dread to think of our species as a species? Can it be that we are afraid of what we may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/why-do-we-so-dread-to-think-of-our-species-as-a-species-can-it-be/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Our inability to think beyond our own species, or to be able to co-habit with other life forms in what is patently a massive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-anthony/our-inability-to-think-beyond-our-own-species-or-to-be-able-to-co/) [Lawrence Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-anthony/) ## More by Julien Benda > [Peace is only possible if men cease to place their happiness in the possession of things "which cannot be shared," and if they raise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-is-only-possible-if-men-cease-to-place-their-happiness-in-the/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Philosophy, which formerly raised man to feel conscious of himself because he was a thinking being and to say, 'I think therefore I am,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/philosophy-which-formerly-raised-man-to-feel-conscious-of-himself/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Nothing seems to me more doubtful than Aristotle's remark that it is probable the arts and philosophy have several times been discovered and several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/nothing-seems-to-me-more-doubtful-than-aristotle-s-remark-that-it-is/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [It may be said that modern Europe with teachers who inform it that its realist instincts are beautiful, acts ill and honors what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/it-may-be-said-that-modern-europe-with-teachers-who-inform-it-that/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Peace is only possible if men cease to place their happiness in the possession of things which cannot be shared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-is-only-possible-if-men-cease-to-place-their-happiness-in-the-2/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Christianity exhorted man to set himself up against Nature, but did so in the name of his spiritual and disinterested attributes. Pragmatism exhorts him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/christianity-exhorted-man-to-set-himself-up-against-nature-but-did-so/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [The modern moralists extol ... the cult of practical activity in defiance of the disinterested life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/the-modern-moralists-extol-the-cult-of-practical-activity-in-defiance/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [The man of science, the artist, the philosopher are attached to their nations as much as the day-laborer and the merchant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/the-man-of-science-the-artist-the-philosopher-are-attached-to-their/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [I shall go further and say that even if an examination of the past could lead to any valid prediction concerning man's future, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/i-shall-go-further-and-say-that-even-if-an-examination-of-the-past/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [The true clerc is Vauvenargues, Lamarck, Fresnel, Spinoza, Schiller, Baudelaire, César Franck, who were never diverted from single-hearted adoration of the beautiful and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/the-true-clerc-is-vauvenargues-lamarck-fresnel-spinoza-schiller/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Since the Greeks the predominant attitude of thinkers towards intellectual activity was to glorify it insofar as (like aesthetic activity) it finds its satisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/since-the-greeks-the-predominant-attitude-of-thinkers-towards/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [The modern clercs have created in so-called cultivated society a positive romanticism of harshness. The have also created a romanticism of contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/the-modern-clercs-have-created-in-so-called-cultivated-society-a/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [All Europe, including Erasmus, has followed Luther.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/all-europe-including-erasmus-has-followed-luther/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war but on the love of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-if-it-ever-exists-will-not-be-based-on-the-fear-of-war-but-on-2/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-if-it-ever-exists-will-not-be-based-on-the-fear-of-war-but-on-3/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) [Explore all 18 Julien Benda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) ## More Christ quotes > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“I would even go so far as to say that the mythical character of a life is just what expresses its universal human validity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/i-would-even-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-the-mythical-character-of-a/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. 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Fire, cross, struggles with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-antioch/may-nothing-entice-me-till-i-happily-make-my-way-to-jesus-christ-fire/) [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-antioch/) > [Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ doesn't seek the glory of Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/whoever-does-not-seek-the-cross-of-christ-doesn-t-seek-the-glory-of/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [Christ never preached any funeral sermons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/christ-never-preached-any-funeral-sermons/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. 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