--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your ideas about right and wrong are just…" description: "\"Your ideas about right and wrong are just that-ideas. They are the thoughts which form the shape and create the substance of Who You Are. There would b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/neale-donald-walsch-239_alterations_your-ideas-about-right-and-wrong-are-jus_1603147.png" --- # Your ideas about right and wrong are just that-ideas. They… ![“Your ideas about right and wrong are just that-ideas. They are the thoughts which form the shape and create the substance of Who You Are. There would be only one reason to change any of these; only one purpose in making an alteration: if you are not happy with Who You Are.” quote by Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/neale-donald-walsch-239_alterations_your-ideas-about-right-and-wrong-are-jus_1603147.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/neale-donald-walsch-239_alterations_your-ideas-about-right-and-wrong-are-jus_1603147.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/neale-donald-walsch-239_alterations_your-ideas-about-right-and-wrong-are-jus_1603147.png) > “Your ideas about right and wrong are just that-ideas. They are the thoughts which form the shape and create the substance of Who You Are. There would be only one reason to change any of these; only one purpose in making an alteration: if you are not happy with Who You Are.” [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ideas of morality shape identity; they become part of who we are, and we only alter them when they cause unhappiness. **In simple terms:** Moral ideas define us; change them if they make you unhappy. Key Takeaway Question your beliefs when they cause distress. Themes identity morality self‑growth Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal counseling - life coaching - relationship conflicts - career decisions - spiritual practice Key Concepts self‑concept ethical frameworks Questions to Reflect On - What beliefs limit your happiness? - How can you test if a belief truly reflects you? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑seated beliefs can be painful and may face social resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alterations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alterations/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-right-458935/) [Ideas Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-thoughts-2018405/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Not happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-happy/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-change-248903/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Right and wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-and-wrong/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Substance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance/) [Thoughts Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-form-2332430/) [Who you are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-you-are/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [There are two books that I often travel with; one is 'The Theory on Moral Sentiments' by Adam Smith. The other is 'The Meditations.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wen-jiabao/there-are-two-books-that-i-often-travel-with-one-is-the-theory-on/) [Wen Jiabao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wen-jiabao/) > [Thoughts of themselves have no substance; let them arise and pass away unheeded. Thoughts will not take form of themselves, unless they are grasped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asvaghosa/thoughts-of-themselves-have-no-substance-let-them-arise-and-pass-away/) [Asvaghosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asvaghosa/) > [Ideas and thoughts and creativity is more of who I am than football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dhani-jones/ideas-and-thoughts-and-creativity-is-more-of-who-i-am-than-football/) [Dhani Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dhani-jones/) > [Thoughts cannot form themselves in words so horrid As can express my guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/thoughts-cannot-form-themselves-in-words-so-horrid-as-can-express-my/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Ideas and thoughts collide and sort themselves out in these fruitful collisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sommer/ideas-and-thoughts-collide-and-sort-themselves-out-in-these-fruitful/) [Frederick Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sommer/) > [“Staring into the abyss of the blank page, thoughts form a perception searching for a voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-sagarra/staring-into-the-abyss-of-the-blank-page-thoughts-form-a-perception/) [Steve Sagarra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-sagarra/) > [I hate the idea of always having to interpret other people's ideas and thoughts and words, because I'm very independent and, I guess, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/i-hate-the-idea-of-always-having-to-interpret-other-people-s-ideas/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [“Wherefore the current of my soul hath broken The bounds of sensual life, And I am grown a god, a sinewy token Of Pan’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-b-neuburg/wherefore-the-current-of-my-soul-hath-broken-the-bounds-of-sensual/) [Victor B. Neuburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-b-neuburg/) > [We all know that as we form thoughts, they form deep channels in our minds and in our brains. Chronic pain is an example.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-decharms/we-all-know-that-as-we-form-thoughts-they-form-deep-channels-in-our/) [Christopher deCharms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-decharms/) > [“Ideas and thoughts are like genes...more you keep inside yourself more it multply with same species consuming your whole energy to breed to produce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagdish-poudel/ideas-and-thoughts-are-like-genes-more-you-keep-inside-yourself-more/) [Jagdish Poudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagdish-poudel/) > [Any preoccupation with ideas of what is right or wrong in conduct shows an arrested intellectual development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/any-preoccupation-with-ideas-of-what-is-right-or-wrong-in-conduct/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I had a history for starting something and maybe getting halfway done. Then I'd see the same thing I was doing on the bestseller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-greiner/i-had-a-history-for-starting-something-and-maybe-getting-halfway-done/) [Lori Greiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-greiner/) > [“The takeaway here is worth repeating: Getting the team right is the necessary precursor to getting the ideas right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-catmull/the-takeaway-here-is-worth-repeating-getting-the-team-right-is-the/) [Ed Catmull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-catmull/) > [The job of the leader is to get the big ideas right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/the-job-of-the-leader-is-to-get-the-big-ideas-right/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child's training wheelsTo be laid aside When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/now-is-the-time-to-understand-that-all-your-ideas-of-right-and-wrong/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) ## More by Neale Donald Walsch > [Pain results from a judgment you have made about a thing. Remove the judgment and the pain disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/pain-results-from-a-judgment-you-have-made-about-a-thing-remove-the/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“Mine is always your Highest Thought, your Clearest Word, your Grandest Feeling. Anything less is from another source.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/mine-is-always-your-highest-thought-your-clearest-word-your-grandest/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The more that you act on your intuition fearlessly, the more your intuition will serve you. Intuition is the ear of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/the-more-that-you-act-on-your-intuition-fearlessly-the-more-your/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [All change in life comes from within. It is what's in humanity's soul, not what's in humanity's wallet, that will purchase our freedom from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/all-change-in-life-comes-from-within-it-is-what-s-in-humanity-s-soul/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [It is not nearly so important how well a message is received as how well it is sent. You cannot take responsibility for how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/it-is-not-nearly-so-important-how-well-a-message-is-received-as-how/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Fear and caution are two different things. Be cautious - be conscious - but do not be fearful. Fear only paralyzes, while consciousness mobilizes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/fear-and-caution-are-two-different-things-be-cautious-be-conscious/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The new spirituality will also base itself on a third very large spiritual understanding, which is that life is eternal. Most religious people claim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/the-new-spirituality-will-also-base-itself-on-a-third-very-large/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Truth is often uncomfortable. It is only comforting to those who do not wish to ignore it. Then, truth becomes not only comforting, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/truth-is-often-uncomfortable-it-is-only-comforting-to-those-who-do/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [What is needed today is for all of us to work to change the world's mind about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/what-is-needed-today-is-for-all-of-us-to-work-to-change-the-world-s/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [By declaring yourself a leader, you're taking initiative and moving into a role of influence in a lively and vital network that's changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/by-declaring-yourself-a-leader-you-re-taking-initiative-and-moving/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“Postanite instrument Moga mira. Postoji li mržnja bilo gdje, širite ljubav; Postoji li povreda bilo gdje, širite oproštaj; Postoji li sumnja bilo gdje, širite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/postanite-instrument-moga-mira-postoji-li-mr-nja-bilo-gdje-irite/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“Government is the perfect portrayer of the accuracy of the axiom that if you lie big enough, long enough, the lie becomes the “truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/government-is-the-perfect-portrayer-of-the-accuracy-of-the-axiom-that/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“When you give your children knowledge, you are telling them what to think. That is, you are telling them what they are supposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/when-you-give-your-children-knowledge-you-are-telling-them-what-to/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [As George Bernard Shaw observed: "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Yet I have to say, the idea that there is intelligent life elsewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/as-george-bernard-shaw-observed-all-great-truths-begin-as-blasphemies/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) [Explore all 840 Neale Donald Walsch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) ## More Alterations quotes > [“When you alter yourself, the alterations become the truth...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-you-alter-yourself-the-alterations-become-the-truth/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Death's not a separation or alteration or parting; it's just a one-handled door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/death-s-not-a-separation-or-alteration-or-parting-it-s-just-a-one/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [There are two processes which we adopt consciously or unconsciously when we try to prophesy. We can seek a period in the past whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-are-two-processes-which-we-adopt-consciously-or-unconsciously/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The present Constitution, with a few alterations of a trifling nature, is just as good as we want; and if it is sustained on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/the-present-constitution-with-a-few-alterations-of-a-trifling-nature/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [My being consists of matter and form, that is, of soul and body; annihilation will reach neither of them, for they were never produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-being-consists-of-matter-and-form-that-is-of-soul-and-body/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Every story is flawed, every story is subject to change. Even after it is set down to print, between covers of a book, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-richmond/every-story-is-flawed-every-story-is-subject-to-change-even-after-it/) [Michelle Richmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-richmond/) > [Human beings were not well served by permanence or stasis. Obviously, if individuals were progressing, they were undergoing a series of presumably desirable alterations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/human-beings-were-not-well-served-by-permanence-or-stasis-obviously/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Everything that makes diversity of kinds, of species, differences, properties... everything that consists in generation, decay, alteration and change is not an entity, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/everything-that-makes-diversity-of-kinds-of-species-differences/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/one-of-the-pleasures-of-reading-is-seeing-this-alteration-on-the/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Whether it is seen in personal terms or trans-personal terms, whether it is Heaven or Nirvana or Happy Hunting Ground or the Garden of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-smith/whether-it-is-seen-in-personal-terms-or-trans-personal-terms-whether/) [John Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-smith/) > [For a woman ... to explore and express the fullness of her sexuality, her ambitions, her emotional and intellectual capacities, her social duties, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-j-kaplan/for-a-woman-to-explore-and-express-the-fullness-of-her-sexuality-her/) [Louise J. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-j-kaplan/) > [When it happens that a person has to give up a sexual object, there quite often ensues an alteration of his ego which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-happens-that-a-person-has-to-give-up-a-sexual-object-there/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Reagan took an approach to the Cold War dramatically different from any other US President. To wit, he thought we should win. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/reagan-took-an-approach-to-the-cold-war-dramatically-different-from/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Contentment is never the outcome of fulfillment, of achievement, or of the possession of things; it is not born of action or inaction. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/contentment-is-never-the-outcome-of-fulfillment-of-achievement-or-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments: love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds-admit-impediments-love-is-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 94 Alterations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alterations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Your ideas about right and wrong are just that-ideas. They are the thoughts which form the shape and create the substance of Who You Are. 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