--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We godless lack that certainty, and we…" description: "\"We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/pz-myers-24674_absolutes_we-godless-lack-that-certainty-and-we-kn_2050434.jpg" --- # We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a… ![“We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject to negotiation, and is found in working together with others to find mutually satisfactory solutions. Good is not absolute, it is an emergent…” quote by PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/pz-myers-24674_absolutes_we-godless-lack-that-certainty-and-we-kn_2050434.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/pz-myers-24674_absolutes_we-godless-lack-that-certainty-and-we-kn_2050434.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/pz-myers-24674_absolutes_we-godless-lack-that-certainty-and-we-kn_2050434.jpg) > “We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject to negotiation, and is found in working together with others to find mutually satisfactory solutions. Good is not absolute, it is an emergent property that arises from successful networks of individuals. It is also something that is measured by evidence: we look at the good that people do, not the promises that they make and never keep, or the lies that dovetail nicely into dogma. Competence is a virtue. Intent is meaningless without action.” [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) ## 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 argues that moral certainty is impossible; goodness emerges from cooperative, evidence‑based actions rather than abstract principles. **In simple terms:** Morality depends on cooperation and results, not fixed rules. Key Takeaway Focus on collaborative, measurable actions. Themes ethics cooperation relativism pragmatism Mood thoughtful critical analytical Type philosophical commentary reflective When to use this quote - team projects - public policy - community service - conflict resolution Key Concepts emergent morality evidence based evaluation social contract Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance flexibility with protecting fundamental rights? - What evidence truly shows good outcomes? A Different Perspective It may overlook universal human rights that should not be negotiated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Arise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arise/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Competence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competence/) [Competence Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competence-virtue-1421077/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Compromise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise/) [Dogma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogma/) [Dogma Competence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogma-competence-3861011/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-force-335770/) [Negotiation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negotiation/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Solutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solutions/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtue Intent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue-intent-3861010/) [Working together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-together/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Let me ask that question in a more pointed way: Why do we trust men who have sought and attained high office by innumerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-swaim/let-me-ask-that-question-in-a-more-pointed-way-why-do-we-trust-men/) [Barton Swaim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-swaim/) > [Industry suffers from the managerial dogma that for the sake of stability and continuity, the company should be independent of the competence of individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edsger-dijkstra/industry-suffers-from-the-managerial-dogma-that-for-the-sake-of/) [Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edsger-dijkstra/) > [The value of art lies in its power to increase our moral force or establish its heightening influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/the-value-of-art-lies-in-its-power-to-increase-our-moral-force-or/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Love is not a weak, spineless emotion; it is a powerful moral force on the side of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-king/love-is-not-a-weak-spineless-emotion-it-is-a-powerful-moral-force-on/) [Bernice King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-king/) > [We would not have our country's vigour exhausted or her moral force abated, by everlasting meddling and muddling in every quarrel, great and small,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cabot-lodge/we-would-not-have-our-country-s-vigour-exhausted-or-her-moral-force/) [Henry Cabot Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cabot-lodge/) > [He who rules by moral force is like the pole star, which remains in place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/he-who-rules-by-moral-force-is-like-the-pole-star-which-remains-in/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“Deeply reluctant to judge a Founder as wanting in moral force, modern commentators retreat to a range of adjectives such as ‘flawed,’ ‘human,’ ‘contradictory,’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wiencek/deeply-reluctant-to-judge-a-founder-as-wanting-in-moral-force-modern/) [Henry Wiencek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wiencek/) > [A democrat should not rely upon the force of the arms his state could flaunt in the face of the world, but on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-democrat-should-not-rely-upon-the-force-of-the-arms-his-state-could/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Google, says its CEO, is more than a mere business; it is a “moral force.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/google-says-its-ceo-is-more-than-a-mere-business-it-is-a-moral-force/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [The Church is not a political power, nor a political party, but rather a moral reality, a moral force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-church-is-not-a-political-power-nor-a-political-party-but-rather/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Despotic governments can stand 'moral force' till the cows come home; what they fear is physical force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/despotic-governments-can-stand-moral-force-till-the-cows-come-home/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [There's a moral force in a sentence when it comes out right. It speaks the writer's will to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-s-a-moral-force-in-a-sentence-when-it-comes-out-right-it-speaks/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [We may forget it, among the glitz of the Christmas lights, but capitalism can be a profoundly moral force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-shapps/we-may-forget-it-among-the-glitz-of-the-christmas-lights-but/) [Grant Shapps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-shapps/) > [America is the moral force that defeated communism and all those who would put the human soul itself into bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/america-is-the-moral-force-that-defeated-communism-and-all-those-who/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous. The so-called uselessness of art is a clue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-art-does-is-to-coax-us-away-from-the-mechanical-and-towards-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## More by PZ Myers > [Religion is an act of sedition against reason. Whatever religion is most seductive and likely to draw in victims to surrender their skepticism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/religion-is-an-act-of-sedition-against-reason-whatever-religion-is/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [Science provides tangible evidence of its accuracy and importance. Religion makes excuses for its absence of the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/science-provides-tangible-evidence-of-its-accuracy-and-importance/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [Human beings are still fish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/human-beings-are-still-fish/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [Very clever people are often very clever at creating rationalisations for insane beliefs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/very-clever-people-are-often-very-clever-at-creating-rationalisations/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [“That's the difference between a godly person and an atheist. Our stories are shorter and don't assume the protagonist is an idiot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/that-s-the-difference-between-a-godly-person-and-an-atheist-our/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [Many of the religious apologists out there are not stupid people, they are often brilliant. People working in the field of theology and philosophy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/many-of-the-religious-apologists-out-there-are-not-stupid-people-they/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [Silence is an argument in favor of the status quo. A refusal to address an inequity is a strategy for maintaining that inequity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/silence-is-an-argument-in-favor-of-the-status-quo-a-refusal-to/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [religion is to misogyny as disease is to misery - not the sole cause, but a significant contributor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/religion-is-to-misogyny-as-disease-is-to-misery-not-the-sole-cause/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [And of course death can't be conquered...but oh, the battle can be glorious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/and-of-course-death-can-t-be-conquered-but-oh-the-battle-can-be/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [We shouldn't be gratuitously obnoxious, we should be purposefully obnoxious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/we-shouldn-t-be-gratuitously-obnoxious-we-should-be-purposefully/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [It's amazing how much detail Catholics will go into documenting why people shouldn't do the things that they all do anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/it-s-amazing-how-much-detail-catholics-will-go-into-documenting-why/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [We live our lives for our life's sake, rather than for illusions about rewards and satisfaction after we're dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/we-live-our-lives-for-our-life-s-sake-rather-than-for-illusions-about/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [FAITH. No one word personifies the absolute worst and most wicked properties of religion better than that. Faith is mind-rot. It’s the poison that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/faith-no-one-word-personifies-the-absolute-worst-and-most-wicked/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [If you've got a religious belief that withers in the face of observations of the natural world, you ought to rethink your beliefs -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/if-you-ve-got-a-religious-belief-that-withers-in-the-face-of/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) > [The mediocrity principle simply states that you aren't special. The universe does not revolve around you; this planet isn't privileged in any unique way;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/the-mediocrity-principle-simply-states-that-you-aren-t-special-the/) [PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) [Explore all 24 PZ Myers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) [Christy Nockels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-nockels/) > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject to negotiation, and is found in working together with others to find mutually satisfactory solutions. 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