--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On two subjects the overwhelming majority…" description: "\"On two subjects the overwhelming majority of people regarded their own opinions as Absolute Truth, and sincerely believed that anyone who disagreed wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/robert-a-heinlein-209_absolute-truth_on-two-subjects-the-overwhelming-majorit_2730897.jpg" --- # On two subjects the overwhelming majority of people… ![“On two subjects the overwhelming majority of people regarded their own opinions as Absolute Truth, and sincerely believed that anyone who disagreed with them was immoral, outrageous, sinful, sacrilegious, offensive, intolerable, stupid, illogical, treasonable, actionable, against the public…” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/robert-a-heinlein-209_absolute-truth_on-two-subjects-the-overwhelming-majorit_2730897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/robert-a-heinlein-209_absolute-truth_on-two-subjects-the-overwhelming-majorit_2730897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/robert-a-heinlein-209_absolute-truth_on-two-subjects-the-overwhelming-majorit_2730897.jpg) > “On two subjects the overwhelming majority of people regarded their own opinions as Absolute Truth, and sincerely believed that anyone who disagreed with them was immoral, outrageous, sinful, sacrilegious, offensive, intolerable, stupid, illogical, treasonable, actionable, against the public interest, ridiculous, and obscene. The two subjects were (of course) sex and religion.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He satirizes how people treat sex and religion as absolute truths, labeling dissenters immoral. **In simple terms:** Sex and religion are treated as absolute truths. Key Takeaway Question dogmatic beliefs and foster tolerance. Themes dogma sexuality religion intolerance Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical social When to use this quote - personal relationships - public policy - education curricula - media discourse Key Concepts critical thinking open dialogue ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle conflicting beliefs? - What makes a belief “absolute”? A Different Perspective Some absolute values provide social cohesion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolute truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-truth/) [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Public interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-interest/) [Sacrilegious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrilegious/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) ## Related quotes > [The body is an actor's tool, like the face, malleable. I never thought that being naked was immoral or outrageous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-beart/the-body-is-an-actor-s-tool-like-the-face-malleable-i-never-thought/) [Emmanuelle Beart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-beart/) > [“He was a man who regarded his opinions, however briefly adopted, as revealed truth: he never backed down, or listened, or compromised. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-macintyre/he-was-a-man-who-regarded-his-opinions-however-briefly-adopted-as/) [Ben Macintyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-macintyre/) > [Lightning will wreck its displeasures not only upon pillars, trees, and sheep, but upon altars and temples, and let the sacrilegious go free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/lightning-will-wreck-its-displeasures-not-only-upon-pillars-trees-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [I have always felt that my work is religious, not sacrilegious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andres-serrano/i-have-always-felt-that-my-work-is-religious-not-sacrilegious/) [Andres Serrano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andres-serrano/) > [And anything worth dying for](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/and-anything-worth-dying-for/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [I have said, and I repeat, at the risk of appearing sacrilegious, that the gas chambers are a detail of the history of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marie-le-pen/i-have-said-and-i-repeat-at-the-risk-of-appearing-sacrilegious-that-2/) [Jean-Marie Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marie-le-pen/) > [Let us hear the dangers of thralldom to our consciences from ignorance, extreme poverty, and dependence; in short, from civil and political slavery. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/let-us-hear-the-dangers-of-thralldom-to-our-consciences-from/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [I have said, and I repeat, at the risk of appearing sacrilegious, that the gas chambers are a detail of the history of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marie-le-pen/i-have-said-and-i-repeat-at-the-risk-of-appearing-sacrilegious-that/) [Jean-Marie Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marie-le-pen/) > [The Librarian considered matters for a while. So…a dwarf and a troll. He preferred both species to humans. For one thing, neither of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-librarian-considered-matters-for-a-while-so-a-dwarf-and-a-troll/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“First, any term applied to God is only ana analogy; when this is forgotten, any God-defining term is sacrilegious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-dean/first-any-term-applied-to-god-is-only-ana-analogy-when-this-is/) William Dean > [Life a life of Spiritual Adventure. Much like a wild goose the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/life-a-life-of-spiritual-adventure-much-like-a-wild-goose-the-spirit/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) > [James says, "You desire and do not have; so you kill" (Jas. 4:2). We kill marriages and we kill unborn babies because they cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/james-says-you-desire-and-do-not-have-so-you-kill-jas-4-2-we-kill/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Man was appointed by God to have dominion over the beasts, and everything a man does to an animal is either a lawful exercise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/man-was-appointed-by-god-to-have-dominion-over-the-beasts-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Nothing is so good that impious and sacrilegious and wicked people cannot contort its proper benefit into evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/nothing-is-so-good-that-impious-and-sacrilegious-and-wicked-people/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [The Beatles are not merely awful. I would consider it sacrilegious to say anything less than that they are godawful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley-jr/the-beatles-are-not-merely-awful-i-would-consider-it-sacrilegious-to/) [William F. Buckley, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-f-buckley-jr/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Absolute truth quotes > [“I know quite well why I became a historian… It was because dissension was frowned upon when I was a child: 'Don't argue, Claudia,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-know-quite-well-why-i-became-a-historian-it-was-because-dissension/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“When you’ve tired of me,” she said softly, precisely, “Apollo will still be my brother. Will still be there for me.” “I’ll never tire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/when-you-ve-tired-of-me-she-said-softly-precisely-apollo-will-still/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-m-morris/the-bodily-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-from-the-dead-is-the-crowning/) [Henry M. Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-m-morris/) > [“I think adults forget just how much faith teenagers can have in them, just how willing to believe that adults, by virtue of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/i-think-adults-forget-just-how-much-faith-teenagers-can-have-in-them/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [The Absolute Truth of Knowledge is precisely non-Knowledge. If this Mirror called Knowledge remains in the phase where nothing is reflected in it, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/the-absolute-truth-of-knowledge-is-precisely-non-knowledge-if-this/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [Let every one of us cultivate, in every word that issues from our mouth, absolute truth. I say cultivate, because to very few people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/let-every-one-of-us-cultivate-in-every-word-that-issues-from-our/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Who can know what love means at the feet of the absolute truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/who-can-know-what-love-means-at-the-feet-of-the-absolute-truth/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [When I say that a thing is true, I mean that I cannot help believing it... But...I do not venture to assume that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/when-i-say-that-a-thing-is-true-i-mean-that-i-cannot-help-believing/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [ATTRIBUTES OF GOD Because God is spirit...I will seek intimate fellowship with Him. Because God is all-powerful...He can help me with anything. Because God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-william-r-bright/attributes-of-god-because-god-is-spirit-i-will-seek-intimate/) Dr William R Bright > [“Somehow I feel that a person who thinks he has discovered the absolute truth will not be someone I know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-joseph/somehow-i-feel-that-a-person-who-thinks-he-has-discovered-the/) [Manu Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-joseph/) > [“Leave science out of it and live in accordance with a non-scientific absolute truth. This has been the strategy of liberal humanism, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/leave-science-out-of-it-and-live-in-accordance-with-a-non-scientific/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/if-i-d-written-all-the-truth-i-knew-for-the-past-ten-years-about-600/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Only when we realize that there is no eternal, unchanging truth or absolute truth can we arouse in ourselves a sense of intellectual responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hu-shih/only-when-we-realize-that-there-is-no-eternal-unchanging-truth-or/) [Hu Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hu-shih/) > [Nobody in this world possesses absolute truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nobody-in-this-world-possesses-absolute-truth/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It isn’t the absolute truth about life and death, but the thing that helps us to live and confront the challenges of day-to-day life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-isn-t-the-absolute-truth-about-life-and-death-but-the-thing-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) [Browse all 317 Absolute truth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-truth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "On two subjects the overwhelming majority of people regarded their own opinions as Absolute Truth, and sincerely believed that anyone who disagreed with them was immoral, outrageous, sinful, sacrilegious, offensive, intolerable, stupid, illogical, treasonable, actionable, against the public interest, ridiculous, and obscene. 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