--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They insisted on thinking of God as…" description: "\"“They insisted on thinking of God as something outside themselves. Something that yearns to take every indolent moron to His breast and comfort him. Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/robert-a-heinlein-209_effort_they-insisted-on-thinking-of-god-as-some_2350917.jpg" --- # They insisted on thinking of God as something outside… ![“They insisted on thinking of God as something outside themselves. Something that yearns to take every indolent moron to His breast and comfort him. The notion that the effort has to be their own, and that the trouble they are in is all their own doing, is one that they can't or won't entertain.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/robert-a-heinlein-209_effort_they-insisted-on-thinking-of-god-as-some_2350917.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/robert-a-heinlein-209_effort_they-insisted-on-thinking-of-god-as-some_2350917.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/robert-a-heinlein-209_effort_they-insisted-on-thinking-of-god-as-some_2350917.jpg) > ““They insisted on thinking of God as something outside themselves. Something that yearns to take every indolent moron to His breast and comfort him. The notion that the effort has to be their own, and that the trouble they are in is all their own doing, is one that they can't or won't entertain.”” [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. Critique of external deity concepts, arguing that divine comfort removes personal responsibility and agency. **In simple terms:** External gods can diminish personal responsibility. Key Takeaway Embrace personal agency over reliance on external saviors. Themes responsibility spirituality agency Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical skeptical When to use this quote - ethical decision making - personal growth - spiritual crises Key Concepts theology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does reliance on external forces affect your choices? - Can personal effort replace divine expectation? A Different Perspective Belief in external comfort can be psychologically limiting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [God Outside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-outside-1056145/) [Insisted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insisted/) [Insisted Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insisted-thinking-1492367/) [Thinking god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-god/) ## Related quotes > [No matter what I said they insisted on thinking of God as something outside themselves. Something that yearns to take every indolent moron to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-matter-what-i-said-they-insisted-on-thinking-of-god-as-something/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If any successes has come to me, it came because I insisted on thinking things through. That's all I was capable of doing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-any-successes-has-come-to-me-it-came-because-i-insisted-on/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [You insisted on thinking of them as angels, even if they were fallen angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-p-hartley/you-insisted-on-thinking-of-them-as-angels-even-if-they-were-fallen/) [L.P. Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-p-hartley/) > [If God 'foresaw' our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. But suppose god…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-god-foresaw-our-acts-it-would-be-very-hard-to-understand-how-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everybody's lookin for God everywhere on the outside. He ain't in no book, and He ain't in no preacher, and He ain't in nothin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-hall-denver-moore/everybody-s-lookin-for-god-everywhere-on-the-outside-he-ain-t-in-no/) [Ron Hall, Denver Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-hall-denver-moore/) > [God is not outside this earthly case of ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/god-is-not-outside-this-earthly-case-of-ours/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“God is the universe. We are all now living inside the body of God. There is nowhere to go to get there, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-sj/god-is-the-universe-we-are-all-now-living-inside-the-body-of-god/) [Monica Sjöö](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-sj/) > [“The inward man is faced with a new and often dramatic task: He must come to terms with the inner tremendum. Since the God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-j-m-nouwen/the-inward-man-is-faced-with-a-new-and-often-dramatic-task-he-must/) [Henri J.M. Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-j-m-nouwen/) > [You can call it godliness - it IS godliness. It is the highest, the greatest flowering of being. But it is not a God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/you-can-call-it-godliness-it-is-godliness-it-is-the-highest-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [By being outside of nature, God is also outside of space and time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/by-being-outside-of-nature-god-is-also-outside-of-space-and-time/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Heaven is the most beautiful thing God has ever made, outside of women, God bless them!-And in fact He even uses you women to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berg/heaven-is-the-most-beautiful-thing-god-has-ever-made-outside-of-women/) [David Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berg/) > [A religion that teaches you God is something outside the world--something separate from everything you see, smell, taste, touch, and hear--is nothing but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-religion-that-teaches-you-god-is-something-outside-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I do not find God outside myself or conceive him except as my own and in me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/i-do-not-find-god-outside-myself-or-conceive-him-except-as-my-own-and/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [God cannot be found outside you, because there is no God who can ever be outside you. God is the ultimate fragrance of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/god-cannot-be-found-outside-you-because-there-is-no-god-who-can-ever/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“God is not outside the world. God is within us. Live a Holy, Healthy, Happy life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sukhraj-s-dhillon/god-is-not-outside-the-world-god-is-within-us-live-a-holy-healthy/) [Sukhraj S. Dhillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sukhraj-s-dhillon/) ## 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. 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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 Effort quotes > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. 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I also do think about our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-ecclestone/bernie-ecclestone-is-the-commercial-rights-holder-so-the-more/) [Bernie Ecclestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-ecclestone/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Im tired, tired of putting more effort than you do. Im tired of always having to start the conversation and if I dont, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-tired-tired-of-putting-more-effort-than-you-do-im-tired-of-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I love a pocket. I'm about helping women look as good as possible on the least amount of effort. 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