--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In our English popular religion the…" description: "\"In our English popular religion the common conception of a future state of bliss is that of ... a kind of perfected middle-class home, with labour ende..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg" --- # In our English popular religion the common conception of a… ![“In our English popular religion the common conception of a future state of bliss is that of ... a kind of perfected middle-class home, with labour ended, the table spread, goodness all around, the lost ones restored, hymnody incessant.” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg) > “In our English popular religion the common conception of a future state of bliss is that of ... a kind of perfected middle-class home, with labour ended, the table spread, goodness all around, the lost ones restored, hymnody incessant.” [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ideal future is imagined as a comfortable, class‑free utopia with endless abundance and restored harmony. **In simple terms:** Utopian vision of perfect society. Key Takeaway Question the realism of such utopias. Themes utopia class future comfort Mood reflective critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - political theory - social planning - religious critique - cultural studies Key Concepts sociology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Is a perfect society achievable? - What trade‑offs are hidden? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore human conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bliss/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Conception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conception/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour/) [Lost ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-ones/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [I can assure you that those who have already passed have not only made it to the Other Side, but are in a state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/i-can-assure-you-that-those-who-have-already-passed-have-not-only/) [Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/) > [Bliss is not a feeling but a state of being. In the state of bliss, everything is loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/bliss-is-not-a-feeling-but-a-state-of-being-in-the-state-of-bliss/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/if-you-want-to-reach-a-state-of-bliss-then-go-beyond-your-ego-and-the/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Only love has the ability to put you in that state of bliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/only-love-has-the-ability-to-put-you-in-that-state-of-bliss/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [Always endeavour to create a state of Bliss where everything is in perfect balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/always-endeavour-to-create-a-state-of-bliss-where-everything-is-in/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [What you will see is love coming out of the trees, love coming out of the sky, love coming out of the light. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-you-will-see-is-love-coming-out-of-the-trees-love-coming-out-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I shall venture to affirm, that there never was a popular religion, which represented the state of departed souls in such a light,as would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/i-shall-venture-to-affirm-that-there-never-was-a-popular-religion/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Popular religion is a coping mechanism for the anxieties of a dysfunctional social and economic environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-s-paul/popular-religion-is-a-coping-mechanism-for-the-anxieties-of-a/) [Gregory S. Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-s-paul/) > [“Nay, if we should suppose, what never happens, that a popular religion were found, in which it was expressly declared, that nothing but morality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/nay-if-we-should-suppose-what-never-happens-that-a-popular-religion/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Popular religion since the time of Kant and Fichte has gone in a direction they tried to prevent and that has been disastrous for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/popular-religion-since-the-time-of-kant-and-fichte-has-gone-in-a/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/why-do-we-believe-in-and-practice-polygamy-because-the-lord/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [The God of popular religion is not holy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/the-god-of-popular-religion-is-not-holy/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/the-radical-novelty-of-modern-science-lies-precisely-in-the-rejection/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [“the ministries of the Church are regarded by the masses merely as dignities, her offices as posts of emolument—in short, popular religion may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-ministries-of-the-church-are-regarded-by-the-masses-merely-as/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Whatever helps you sleep is my opinion on the subject, and that's what I like about the western world's most popular religion, it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/whatever-helps-you-sleep-is-my-opinion-on-the-subject-and-that-s-what/) [Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/) ## More by Matthew Arnold > [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) [Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## More Bliss quotes > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [and Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-venus-among-the-fishes-skips-and-is-a-she-dolphin-she-is-the-gay/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Music is a lot more like solving an intricate puzzle with moments of pure, random creative bliss... whereas painting is much more purely random…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-boyd/music-is-a-lot-more-like-solving-an-intricate-puzzle-with-moments-of/) [Brandon Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-boyd/) > [Work and leisure are complementary parts of the same living process and cannot be separated without destroying the joy of work and the bliss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/work-and-leisure-are-complementary-parts-of-the-same-living-process/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [“Being around her now was nine parts bliss and one part torment. And he wanted it to last as long as possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringle/being-around-her-now-was-nine-parts-bliss-and-one-part-torment-and-he/) [Molly Ringle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringle/) > [“He was still a mystery to me. And God, did I want to play Nancy Drew.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/he-was-still-a-mystery-to-me-and-god-did-i-want-to-play-nancy-drew/) [Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/) > [Eating, drinking, sleeping a little laughter ! much weeping! Is that all ? Do not die here like a worm. Wake up! Attain immortal bliss!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/eating-drinking-sleeping-a-little-laughter-much-weeping-is-that-all/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“The smell of her hair lingered just out of reach of his memory and left him with a nervous hum resonating throughout his body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-tomblin/the-smell-of-her-hair-lingered-just-out-of-reach-of-his-memory-and/) [Erik Tomblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-tomblin/) > [“They happen only when you are distant,aloof. They happen, they cannot be brought. They happen you cannot force them to happen. They are spontaneous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/they-happen-only-when-you-are-distant-aloof-they-happen-they-cannot/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [“Ignorance was bliss. Or at least less painfull”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/ignorance-was-bliss-or-at-least-less-painfull/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) [Browse all 1,311 Bliss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bliss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In our English popular religion the common conception of a future state of bliss is that of ... a kind of perfected middle-class home, with labour ended, the table spread, goodness all around, the lost ones restored, hymnody incessant.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Arnold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/in-our-english-popular-religion-the-common-conception-of-a-future/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bliss" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/in-our-english-popular-religion-the-common-conception-of-a-future/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/matthew-arnold-1235_bliss_in-our-english-popular-religion-the-comm_226900.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In our English popular religion the common conception of a future state of bliss is that of ... a kind of…” — Matthew Arnold", "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": "Matthew Arnold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In our English popular religion the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/in-our-english-popular-religion-the-common-conception-of-a-future/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/in-our-english-popular-religion-the-common-conception-of-a-future/#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 } } ] } ```