--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hierarchy, as in the Catholic Church, has…" description: "\"Hierarchy, as in the Catholic Church, has to do with power, and vertical attention has to do with longing.\" — Robert Bly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/robert-bly-3269_attention_hierarchy-as-in-the-catholic-church-has_3199250.png" --- # Hierarchy, as in the Catholic Church, has to do with… ![“Hierarchy, as in the Catholic Church, has to do with power, and vertical attention has to do with longing.” quote by Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/robert-bly-3269_attention_hierarchy-as-in-the-catholic-church-has_3199250.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/robert-bly-3269_attention_hierarchy-as-in-the-catholic-church-has_3199250.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/robert-bly-3269_attention_hierarchy-as-in-the-catholic-church-has_3199250.png) > “Hierarchy, as in the Catholic Church, has to do with power, and vertical attention has to do with longing.” [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power structures shape desire, and yearning focuses attention upward within hierarchies. **In simple terms:** Power creates longing for higher status. Key Takeaway Recognize how hierarchy influences your aspirations. Themes power longing hierarchy attention Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - career advancement - religious institutions - family dynamics - political movements Key Concepts sociology psychology spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How does hierarchy affect your personal goals? - What alternatives to vertical attention exist? A Different Perspective Power can also suppress individual autonomy and foster resentment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Catholic church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic-church/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Hierarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchy/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [There's a quality we could call vertical attention, which is an attention upward toward ancestors, spiritual states, angels, gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/there-s-a-quality-we-could-call-vertical-attention-which-is-an/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Vertical attention is not the same as, and doesn't evolve from nor imply, hierarchy. We could say that hierarchy is associated with power, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/vertical-attention-is-not-the-same-as-and-doesn-t-evolve-from-nor/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The Roman Catholic Church early on simply adapted the hierarchical structure of the Roman Empire and confused the whole thing. Vertical attention and hierarchy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-roman-catholic-church-early-on-simply-adapted-the-hierarchical/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [If you want to know what it will be like when we are more deeply into the horizontal, simply go to one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/if-you-want-to-know-what-it-will-be-like-when-we-are-more-deeply-into/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Vertical thought likes to imagine the vast distances between the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/vertical-thought-likes-to-imagine-the-vast-distances-between-the-stars/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [There are very few adults in our culture able to imagine any genuine life coming from the vertical plane - tradition, religion, or devotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/there-are-very-few-adults-in-our-culture-able-to-imagine-any-genuine/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Myth and poetry represent a reservoir of vertical thinking, which we could also call longing and gratitude to ancestors. We need that gratitude desperately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/myth-and-poetry-represent-a-reservoir-of-vertical-thinking-which-we/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [All Church power is, therefore, properly ministerial and administrative. 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The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I got about half the time I wanted to write poetry. I got about half the time I needed to be a father. 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How can two people have a new marriage if neither of them is an adult?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-models-of-adulthood-are-disappearing-fast-how-can-two-people-have/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One out of three black men are in the criminal justice system in some form. 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Making contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-modern-male-has-lying-at-the-bottom-of-his-psyche-a-large/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with depth or beauty, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/my-feeling-is-that-poetry-is-also-a-healing-process-and-then-when-a/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The ancestors are very much invested in the children, because the children are the ones who are going to continue the world that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-ancestors-are-very-much-invested-in-the-children-because-the/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) [Explore all 135 Robert Bly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. 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