--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be that religion is dead, and if…" description: "\"It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had better know it and set ourselves to try to discover other sources of moral strength before it is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/pearl-s-buck-1024_dead_it-may-be-that-religion-is-dead-and-if-i_1793079.png" --- # It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had… ![“It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had better know it and set ourselves to try to discover other sources of moral strength before it is too late.” quote by Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/pearl-s-buck-1024_dead_it-may-be-that-religion-is-dead-and-if-i_1793079.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/pearl-s-buck-1024_dead_it-may-be-that-religion-is-dead-and-if-i_1793079.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/pearl-s-buck-1024_dead_it-may-be-that-religion-is-dead-and-if-i_1793079.png) > “It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had better know it and set ourselves to try to discover other sources of moral strength before it is too late.” [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If religion fades, we must seek new moral foundations before it’s too late. **In simple terms:** Find new sources of morality if faith wanes. Key Takeaway Explore alternative moral frameworks. Themes morality secular ethics cultural shift spiritual crisis adaptation Mood thoughtful urgent contemplative Type ethical societal When to use this quote - education - community building - policy making - personal reflection - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts philosophy ethics humanism Questions to Reflect On - What values will guide you without religion? - How can societies foster shared ethics? A Different Perspective New moral systems may lack consensus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-strength/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-dead-1963561/) [Sources Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sources-moral-1963562/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [Even healthy families need outside sources of moral guidance to keep those tensions from imploding--and this means, among other things, a public philosophy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/even-healthy-families-need-outside-sources-of-moral-guidance-to-keep/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [A woman mixed of such fine elements That were all virtue and religion dead She'd make them newly, being what she was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/a-woman-mixed-of-such-fine-elements-that-were-all-virtue-and-religion/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [A priest once quoted to me the Roman saying that a religion is dead when the priests laugh at each other across the altar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-priest-once-quoted-to-me-the-roman-saying-that-a-religion-is-dead/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/it-is-among-the-evils-of-slavery-that-it-taints-the-very-sources-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [Jewish legend says that the world rests on 36 just men: only thirty six, but their moral strength is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/jewish-legend-says-that-the-world-rests-on-36-just-men-only-thirty/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Character is ethical and moral strength. People of good character have the moral awareness and strength to know the good, love the good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/character-is-ethical-and-moral-strength-people-of-good-character-have/) [Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/) > [There has also been a change - a slippage - in our intellectual and moral strength. Seven lean years of drouth and famine have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/there-has-also-been-a-change-a-slippage-in-our-intellectual-and-moral/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Character consists of the moral awareness and strength to know the good, love the good and do the good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lickona/character-consists-of-the-moral-awareness-and-strength-to-know-the/) [Thomas Lickona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lickona/) > [Good and evil, as we term them, are not antagonistic; they are ever found hand in hand. Humanity has never achieved a single conquest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moore-grimke/good-and-evil-as-we-term-them-are-not-antagonistic-they-are-ever/) [Sarah Moore Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moore-grimke/) > [Character is the moral strength to do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/character-is-the-moral-strength-to-do-the-right-thing-even-when-it/) [Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/) > [“would escape to his own private planet, Ro, where an imaginary astronomer friend, Zi, had finally succeeded in building a machine to convert radiant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/would-escape-to-his-own-private-planet-ro-where-an-imaginary/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [... Any county's moral strength, or its moral weakness, is quickly measurable by the street attire and attitude of its women - especially its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/any-county-s-moral-strength-or-its-moral-weakness-is-quickly/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [For many years, I tried to make New Year's resolutions. I made lists and shot for great heights: I would show altruism and exert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/for-many-years-i-tried-to-make-new-year-s-resolutions-i-made-lists/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“I’m wearing one of Clara’s hats, which are much smarter than mine, close and brimless like a cap. Isn’t it funny, how a smart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatriz-williams/i-m-wearing-one-of-clara-s-hats-which-are-much-smarter-than-mine/) [Beatriz Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatriz-williams/) > [Diego Costa always gives us physical and moral strength. He is a very important player for the character he transmits to the team, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-simeone/diego-costa-always-gives-us-physical-and-moral-strength-he-is-a-very/) [Diego Simeone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-simeone/) ## More by Pearl S. Buck > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Hunger makes a thief of any man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/hunger-makes-a-thief-of-any-man/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [War is the most devastating endemic and epidemic disease the human race has to endure, and yet too little has been done to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/war-is-the-most-devastating-endemic-and-epidemic-disease-the-human/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not just a scientist, either, oh, no, only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-one-really-understood-music-unless-he-was-a-scientist-her-father/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/wang-lung-sat-smoking-thinking-of-the-silver-as-it-had-lain-upon-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/the-secret-of-joy-in-work-is-contained-in-one-word-excellence-to-know/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/if-our-american-way-of-life-fails-the-child-it-fails-us-all/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Mind and body were well or ill together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/mind-and-body-were-well-or-ill-together/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“U meni postoji mjesto gdje živim posve sama; tu obnavljam svoja proljeća koja nikad ne presahnu”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/u-meni-postoji-mjesto-gdje-ivim-posve-sama-tu-obnavljam-svoja-prolje/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Brave young American men climbed the rugged slopes of Korean mountains and fought in homesickness and desperate weariness for the sake of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/brave-young-american-men-climbed-the-rugged-slopes-of-korean/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then; life is dull without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/truth-is-always-exciting-speak-it-then-life-is-dull-without-it/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“All scientific effort must now be concentrated in the area of defence (sic). We have learned our lesson. We, the most civilized of people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/all-scientific-effort-must-now-be-concentrated-in-the-area-of-defence/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [to know how to read is to light a lamp in the mind, to release the soul from prison, to open a gate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/to-know-how-to-read-is-to-light-a-lamp-in-the-mind-to-release-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) [Explore all 304 Pearl S. Buck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## More Dead quotes > [I'm going to stay on stage until I drop dead. Then I'm going to have myself stuffed, like Trigger, and I'm going to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-m-going-to-stay-on-stage-until-i-drop-dead-then-i-m-going-to-have/) [Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/) > [I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-can-t-be-a-legend-yet-i-m-not-dead/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“I’m just–” She wanted to say “not in the mood,” but that was not only a cliché but a vast understatement. She was dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-mcintosh/i-m-just-she-wanted-to-say-not-in-the-mood-but-that-was-not-only-a/) [Will McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-mcintosh/) > [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [He was obviously dead. But since he was a vampire that wasn't as hopless a thing as it might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/he-was-obviously-dead-but-since-he-was-a-vampire-that-wasn-t-as/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Ireland starts for me with the end of 'The Dead,' which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/ireland-starts-for-me-with-the-end-of-the-dead-which-my-father-read/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) > [“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ – Ben Franklin,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/three-may-keep-a-secret-if-two-of-them-are-dead-ben-franklin/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I intend to do the Penn & Teller show until they pry my cheesy magic wand from my cold dead fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-intend-to-do-the-penn-teller-show-until-they-pry-my-cheesy-magic/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > ['Misery' left a lasting mark on me. 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