--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As good heirs of the Bible, we think that…" description: "\"“As good heirs of the Bible, we think that a great misfortune necessarily follows a great infraction. In this respect the intellectual caste, in our wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/pascal-bruckner-16734_bible_as-good-heirs-of-the-bible-we-think-that_2281255.png" --- # As good heirs of the Bible, we think that a great… ![“As good heirs of the Bible, we think that a great misfortune necessarily follows a great infraction. In this respect the intellectual caste, in our world, is the penitential class par excellence, continuing the role of the clergy under the Old Regime. We have to call its members what they are…” quote by Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/pascal-bruckner-16734_bible_as-good-heirs-of-the-bible-we-think-that_2281255.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/pascal-bruckner-16734_bible_as-good-heirs-of-the-bible-we-think-that_2281255.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09e/pascal-bruckner-16734_bible_as-good-heirs-of-the-bible-we-think-that_2281255.png) > ““As good heirs of the Bible, we think that a great misfortune necessarily follows a great infraction. In this respect the intellectual caste, in our world, is the penitential class par excellence, continuing the role of the clergy under the Old Regime. We have to call its members what they are: officials of original sin.”” [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intellectuals, like clergy, are seen as inherently sinful, bearing the burden of original sin. **In simple terms:** Intellectuals are blamed for moral failings. Key Takeaway Recognize humility in scholarship. Themes philosophy morality elitism Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic discourse - public policy debates - media criticism Key Concepts original sin penitential class intellectual caste Questions to Reflect On - How does power influence moral judgments? - Can intellectuals be both critical and compassionate? A Different Perspective Not all intellectual work is sinful; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Good Heirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-heirs-5325917/) [Heirs Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heirs-bible-5325918/) [Intellectual Caste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-caste-5325915/) [Original sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-sin/) [Respect Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect-intellectual-770108/) [Role Clergy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/role-clergy-5325916/) ## Related quotes > [Good scholars struggle to understand the world in an integral way (pedants bite off tiny bits and worry them to death). 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Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [Every father is given the opportunity to corrupt his daughter's nature, and the educator, husband, or psychiatrist then has to face the music. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/every-father-is-given-the-opportunity-to-corrupt-his-daughter-s/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I think the Buddhist ethic is clearer and more systematic in some ways. The Buddhist notion is that our chief problems are greed, hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninian-smart/i-think-the-buddhist-ethic-is-clearer-and-more-systematic-in-some/) [Ninian Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninian-smart/) > [“When I am a good host, I can order the world precisely as I believe it ought to be. It is a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-browner/when-i-am-a-good-host-i-can-order-the-world-precisely-as-i-believe-it/) [Jesse Browner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-browner/) > [“Fusing the doctrines of Plotinus and Proclus with the creeds and beliefs of Christianity, Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite combined the Neo-Platonic conviction of the fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-panofsky/fusing-the-doctrines-of-plotinus-and-proclus-with-the-creeds-and/) [erwin panofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-panofsky/) > [In the past we believed both sexes were born with original sin. 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Don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-original-sin-is-to-limit-the-is-don-t/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“The next time believers tell you that 'separation of church and state' does not appear in our founding document, tell them to stop using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barker/the-next-time-believers-tell-you-that-separation-of-church-and-state/) [Dan Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barker/) ## More by Pascal Bruckner > [“Totusi, destul de iute simplicitatea actului sexual m-a plictisit; in cele mai rele excese percepeam monotonie si patos mult. Oricat de puternica era desfatarea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/totusi-destul-de-iute-simplicitatea-actului-sexual-m-a-plictisit-in/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [Frustration is a bad experience. What you have to stress is the satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/frustration-is-a-bad-experience-what-you-have-to-stress-is-the/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [Today, luxury resides in everything that is becoming rare: communion with nature, silence, meditation, slowness rediscovered, the pleasure of living out of step with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/today-luxury-resides-in-everything-that-is-becoming-rare-communion/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [The writer has a life and a personality but the problem of today is that most of those writers have exactly the same life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/the-writer-has-a-life-and-a-personality-but-the-problem-of-today-is/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“The obsession with security at any price petrifies us, and we increase our fear by trying to eliminate risk. 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The son will not be like his father, the daughter will not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/you-are-not-doomed-to-reproduce-what-your-ancestors-have-done-the-son/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“Love has triumphed over marriage but now it is destroying it from inside”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/love-has-triumphed-over-marriage-but-now-it-is-destroying-it-from/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [You're happy when you leave your concerns to the side and when you experience a pure moment of joy with friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/you-re-happy-when-you-leave-your-concerns-to-the-side-and-when-you/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [The cult of happiness turns into a huge concern which to my opinion is exactly contrary to what happiness should be: a paradise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/the-cult-of-happiness-turns-into-a-huge-concern-which-to-my-opinion/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [Guilt is a very good thing if it is shared by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/guilt-is-a-very-good-thing-if-it-is-shared-by-others/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“The 'destiny that eyes us from the future' makes us neglect our duties to those close to us. Third-Worldism stressed the crimes of colonialism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/the-destiny-that-eyes-us-from-the-future-makes-us-neglect-our-duties/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [You don't have to give people fish everyday but instead you must give them the pole to learn how to fish themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/you-don-t-have-to-give-people-fish-everyday-but-instead-you-must-give/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“In the eighteenth century, historians tell us, 'valentinage,' from which Valentine's Day was derived, allowed wives in northern France to make love, on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/in-the-eighteenth-century-historians-tell-us-valentinage-from-which/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) [Explore all 28 Pascal Bruckner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) ## More Bible quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. 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