--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Therefore, if the gods are immortal and…" description: "\"Therefore, if the gods are immortal and eternal, what need is there of the other sex, when they themselves do not require succession, since they are al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/lactantius-20886_always_therefore-if-the-gods-are-immortal-and-e_525952.jpg" --- # Therefore, if the gods are immortal and eternal, what need… ![“Therefore, if the gods are immortal and eternal, what need is there of the other sex, when they themselves do not require succession, since they are always about to exist?” quote by Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/lactantius-20886_always_therefore-if-the-gods-are-immortal-and-e_525952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/lactantius-20886_always_therefore-if-the-gods-are-immortal-and-e_525952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/lactantius-20886_always_therefore-if-the-gods-are-immortal-and-e_525952.jpg) > “Therefore, if the gods are immortal and eternal, what need is there of the other sex, when they themselves do not require succession, since they are always about to exist?” [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) ## 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 questions the purpose of gender roles among immortal beings, suggesting that reproduction is unnecessary for those who never die. **In simple terms:** Immortals don’t need gender for continuation. Key Takeaway Consider the relevance of gender when mortality isn’t a factor. Themes gender immortality philosophy Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - mythology studies - theology debates - gender theory - fiction world‑building Key Concepts existentialism anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How would society change if death were eliminated? - Do gender roles persist without reproductive need? A Different Perspective If beings are truly eternal, societal structures based on reproduction may become obsolete. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Succession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succession/) ## Related quotes > [When you're a young person, you are biologically driven to believe you are immortal, and that's why you engage in all kinds of risky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/when-you-re-a-young-person-you-are-biologically-driven-to-believe-you/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [“Truth is a thing that is immortal and eternal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flavius-josephus/truth-is-a-thing-that-is-immortal-and-eternal/) [Flavius Josephus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flavius-josephus/) > [What are men? Mortal gods. What are gods? Immortal men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/what-are-men-mortal-gods-what-are-gods-immortal-men/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [As the Hindu gods are 'immortal' only in a very particular sense - for they had born and they die - they experience most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-the-hindu-gods-are-immortal-only-in-a-very-particular-sense-for-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The sun rose on the flawless brimming sea into a sky all brazen-all one brightening for gods immortal and for mortal men on plowlands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-sun-rose-on-the-flawless-brimming-sea-into-a-sky-all-brazen-all/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [All Gods were immortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/all-gods-were-immortal/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [The gods are immortal men, and men are mortal gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/the-gods-are-immortal-men-and-men-are-mortal-gods/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“Zeus in his sphere of power, Aphrodite in hers, are irresistible. To be a god is to be totally absorbed in the exercise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-knox/zeus-in-his-sphere-of-power-aphrodite-in-hers-are-irresistible-to-be/) Bernard Knox > [“As the Hindu gods are ‘immortal’ only in a very particular sense – for they are born, and they die – they experience most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-doniger/as-the-hindu-gods-are-immortal-only-in-a-very-particular-sense-for/) [Wendy Doniger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-doniger/) > [But God, who is immortal, has no need of difference of sex, nor of succession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/but-god-who-is-immortal-has-no-need-of-difference-of-sex-nor-of/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Liberalism's fatal flaw,... is that it has no permanent norms, only a succession of enthusiasms espoused by minor prophets. Each of these seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/liberalism-s-fatal-flaw-is-that-it-has-no-permanent-norms-only-a/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [For me, it's very easy to write a horror movie that's just a succession of scary sequences, but it's hard to find horror movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehren-kruger/for-me-it-s-very-easy-to-write-a-horror-movie-that-s-just-a/) [Ehren Kruger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehren-kruger/) > [The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-sky-was-a-sparkling-succession-of-black-diamonds-on-black-velvet/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More by Lactantius > [Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/can-anyone-be-so-foolish-as-to-believe-that-there-are-men-whose-feet/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [For they, the philosophers, were considered teachers of right living, which is far more excellent, since to speak well belongs only to a few,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/for-they-the-philosophers-were-considered-teachers-of-right-living/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Nobody is poor unless he stand in need of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/nobody-is-poor-unless-he-stand-in-need-of-justice/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false; the second, to know that which is true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/the-first-point-of-wisdom-is-to-discern-that-which-is-false-the/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Cicero, in his treatise concerning the Nature of the Gods, having said that three Jupiters were enumerated by theologians, adds that the third was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/cicero-in-his-treatise-concerning-the-nature-of-the-gods-having-said/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Homer was able to give us no information relating to the truth, for he wrote of human rather than divine things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/homer-was-able-to-give-us-no-information-relating-to-the-truth-for-he/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [When their city was occupied by the Gauls, and the Romans, who were besieged in the Capitol, had made military engines from the hair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/when-their-city-was-occupied-by-the-gauls-and-the-romans-who-were/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [The whole point of justice consists precisely in our providing for others through humanity what we provide for our own family through affection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/the-whole-point-of-justice-consists-precisely-in-our-providing-for/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [There is no one, who possesses intelligence and uses reflection, who does not understand that it is one Being who both created all things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/there-is-no-one-who-possesses-intelligence-and-uses-reflection-who/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [It is possible that Mount Olympus may have supplied the poets with the hint for saying that Jupiter obtained the kingdom of heaven, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/it-is-possible-that-mount-olympus-may-have-supplied-the-poets-with/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [ “I am inclined to think that the corrupting influence of the stage is even worse \[than that of the arena\]. The subjects of comedies… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/i-am-inclined-to-think-that-the-corrupting-influence-of-the-stage-is/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/where-fear-is-present-wisdom-cannot-be/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Therefore let men withdraw themselves from errors; and laying aside corrupt superstitions, let them acknowledge their Father and Lord, whose excellence cannot be estimated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/therefore-let-men-withdraw-themselves-from-errors-and-laying-aside/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [The prophets, who were very many, proclaim and declare the one God; for, being filled with the inspiration of the one God, they predicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/the-prophets-who-were-very-many-proclaim-and-declare-the-one-god-for/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [But God, who is the Eternal Mind, is undoubtedly of excellence, complete and perfect in every part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/but-god-who-is-the-eternal-mind-is-undoubtedly-of-excellence-complete/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) [Explore all 30 Lactantius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. 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This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. 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