--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If God permits virtue to be persecuted on…" description: "\"If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions. It may be that his rewards are held over for another life..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/marquis-de-sade-1964_another-life_if-god-permits-virtue-to-be-persecuted-o_2046703.jpg" --- # If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not… ![“If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions. It may be that his rewards are held over for another life, for is it not true as written in Holy Scripture that the Lord chastenenth only the righteous! And after all, is not virtue it's own reward?” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/marquis-de-sade-1964_another-life_if-god-permits-virtue-to-be-persecuted-o_2046703.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/marquis-de-sade-1964_another-life_if-god-permits-virtue-to-be-persecuted-o_2046703.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/marquis-de-sade-1964_another-life_if-god-permits-virtue-to-be-persecuted-o_2046703.jpg) > “If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions. It may be that his rewards are held over for another life, for is it not true as written in Holy Scripture that the Lord chastenenth only the righteous! And after all, is not virtue it's own reward?” [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## 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 suggests that divine justice may allow suffering of the good, with ultimate reward in an afterlife, and that virtue itself is its own reward. **In simple terms:** Divine justice may punish the virtuous now, but they will be rewarded later. Key Takeaway Trust that virtue's reward lies beyond this life. Themes theology justice virtue afterlife faith Mood contemplative hopeful serene Type philosophical theological inspirational When to use this quote - personal hardship - ethical decision making - spiritual reflection - comforting grief Key Concepts Divine providence moral philosophy retribution Questions to Reflect On - Do you believe moral good is ultimately rewarded? - How do you cope with suffering of the virtuous? A Different Perspective Limited by reliance on religious belief; non‑believers may reject the premise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Another life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-life/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Righteous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteous/) [Scripture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scripture/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/virtue-is-persecuted-by-the-wicked-more-than-it-is-loved-by-the-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddha/virtue-is-persecuted-more-by-the-wicked-than-it-is-loved-by-the-good/) [Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddha/) > [Nationalism, like virtue, has its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nationalism-like-virtue-has-its-own-reward/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Virtue is not an end in itself. Virtue is not its own reward or sacrificial fodder for the reward of evil. Life is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/virtue-is-not-an-end-in-itself-virtue-is-not-its-own-reward-or/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Now virtue may not always be its own reward, but in any case it is not usually bought and paid for at market rates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-arrow/now-virtue-may-not-always-be-its-own-reward-but-in-any-case-it-is-not/) [Kenneth Arrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-arrow/) > [Virtue is its own reward. We only invented concepts like heaven and hell to describe how we feel. We don't feel good doing bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/virtue-is-its-own-reward-we-only-invented-concepts-like-heaven-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Love's like virtue, its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vanbrugh/love-s-like-virtue-its-own-reward/) [John Vanbrugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vanbrugh/) > [Virtue is indeed its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudius-claudianus/virtue-is-indeed-its-own-reward/) [Claudius Claudianus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudius-claudianus/) > [We know that the exercise of virtue should be its own reward, and it seems to follow that the enduring of it on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/we-know-that-the-exercise-of-virtue-should-be-its-own-reward-and-it/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Virtue is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/virtue-is-its-own-reward/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Love, like virtue, is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vanbrugh/love-like-virtue-is-its-own-reward/) [John Vanbrugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vanbrugh/) > [Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually thinking of something very different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward-those-who/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Virtue has its own reward, but has no sale at the box office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-west/virtue-has-its-own-reward-but-has-no-sale-at-the-box-office/) [Mae West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-west/) > [“ “Virtue is its own reward.But then, the same could be said for sin.” —The Dowager Marchioness of Wallingham to the Countess of Berne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisa-braden/virtue-is-its-own-reward-but-then-the-same-could-be-said-for-sin-the/) [Elisa Braden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisa-braden/) > [Fine dancing, I believe, like virtue, must be its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fine-dancing-i-believe-like-virtue-must-be-its-own-reward/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More by Marquis de Sade > [What you call disorder is nothing else than one of the laws of the order you comprehend not and which you have erroneously named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-you-call-disorder-is-nothing-else-than-one-of-the-laws-of-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [And if I were a naughty little boy, the idea is to spank me into good behavior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/and-if-i-were-a-naughty-little-boy-the-idea-is-to-spank-me-into-good/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/there-is-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-comes-from-sacrilege-or-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“To enlighten mankind and improve its morals is the only lesson which we offer in this story. In reading it, may the world discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/to-enlighten-mankind-and-improve-its-morals-is-the-only-lesson-which/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What we are doing here is only the image of what we would like to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-we-are-doing-here-is-only-the-image-of-what-we-would-like-to-do/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-in-the-sexual-act-that/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [ The law which attempts a man's life \[capital punishment\] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-law-which-attempts-a-man-s-life-capital-punishment-is-impractical/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/between-understanding-and-faith-immediate-connections-must-subsist/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the rays of a sun assembled by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/my-passions-concentrated-on-a-single-point-resemble-the-rays-of-a-sun/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-idea-of-god-is-the-sole-wrong-for-which-i-cannot-forgive-mankind/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/imperious-choleric-irascible-extreme-in-everything-with-a-dissolute/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/lust-s-passion-will-be-served-it-demands-it-militates-it-tyrannizes/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/in-order-to-know-virtue-we-must-acquaint-ourselves-with-vice-only/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Never may an act of possession be exercised upon a free being; the exclusive possession of a woman is no less unjust than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/never-may-an-act-of-possession-be-exercised-upon-a-free-being-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) [Explore all 181 Marquis de Sade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## More Another life quotes > [“Small memories of another life flutter through my head like moths — all grey images and tearstains”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-kahler/small-memories-of-another-life-flutter-through-my-head-like-moths-all/) A.R. Kahler > [When you chopped logs with the ax and they split open they smelled beautiful, like Christmas. But when you split someone's head open it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-you-chopped-logs-with-the-ax-and-they-split-open-they-smelled/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-love-the-dark-hours-of-my-being-my-mind-deepens-into-them-there-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [In another life, I would be your girl. Capable of making promises. We would rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/in-another-life-i-would-be-your-girl-capable-of-making-promises-we/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [I couldn't even think about wanting to be something else; I wouldn't let myself visualize another life. But I wrote because I couldn't stop.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/i-couldn-t-even-think-about-wanting-to-be-something-else-i-wouldn-t/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [And whatever my life had been up to that day, it was another life after that. And that is the gospel truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/and-whatever-my-life-had-been-up-to-that-day-it-was-another-life/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/literature-duplicates-the-experience-of-living-in-a-way-that-nothing/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Whatever you have received more than others-in health, in talents, in ability, in success, in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home life-all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/whatever-you-have-received-more-than-others-in-health-in-talents-in/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“Let me give you a bit of advice.' the girl said bitterly, 'from one working girl to another; life isn't easy, no matter where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/let-me-give-you-a-bit-of-advice-the-girl-said-bitterly-from-one/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [“The vibrations he felt in his sleep had nothing to do with his soul easing out of his body as he dreamily thought; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-poet-aberjhani/the-vibrations-he-felt-in-his-sleep-had-nothing-to-do-with-his-soul/) Author-Poet Aberjhani > [I wasn't born with a tie or with Mark Shields stapled to my left hip. I have another life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-wasn-t-born-with-a-tie-or-with-mark-shields-stapled-to-my-left-hip/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [For many observers, a child who has known nothing but war, a child for whom the Kalashnikov is the only way to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-beah/for-many-observers-a-child-who-has-known-nothing-but-war-a-child-for/) [Ishmael Beah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-beah/) > [I mean, is there a chance for me? To have another life after this, a better one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-mean-is-there-a-chance-for-me-to-have-another-life-after-this-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [We, all who live, have A life that is lived And another life that is thought, And the only life we have It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/we-all-who-live-have-a-life-that-is-lived-and-another-life-that-is/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [The death-change comes. Death is another life. We bow our heads At going out, we think, and enter straight Another golden chamber of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-james-bailey/the-death-change-comes-death-is-another-life-we-bow-our-heads-at/) [Philip James Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-james-bailey/) [Browse all 433 Another life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions. It may be that his rewards are held over for another life, for is it not true as written in Holy Scripture that the Lord chastenenth only the righteous! 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