--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if…" description: "\"...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks that only the person who desires great wealth chooses mammon. Alas, the person who insists on h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d9/soren-kierkegaard-578_alas_it-is-presumptuous-ridicule-of-god-if-so_468029.jpg" --- # ...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks… ![“...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks that only the person who desires great wealth chooses mammon. Alas, the person who insists on having a penny without God, wants to have a penny all for himself. He thereby chooses mammon. A penny is enough, the choice is made, he has chosen…” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d9/soren-kierkegaard-578_alas_it-is-presumptuous-ridicule-of-god-if-so_468029.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d9/soren-kierkegaard-578_alas_it-is-presumptuous-ridicule-of-god-if-so_468029.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d9/soren-kierkegaard-578_alas_it-is-presumptuous-ridicule-of-god-if-so_468029.jpg) > “...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks that only the person who desires great wealth chooses mammon. Alas, the person who insists on having a penny without God, wants to have a penny all for himself. He thereby chooses mammon. A penny is enough, the choice is made, he has chosen mammon; that it is little makes not the slightest difference. The love of God is hatred of the world and love of the world hatred of God.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing material wealth over spiritual devotion is a subtle form of idolatry, regardless of the amount. **In simple terms:** Choosing God over money, even a penny, matters. Key Takeaway Prioritize spiritual values over material gain. Themes faith materialism idolatry Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal finance decisions - religious practice - ethical dilemmas - life priorities Key Concepts theology ethics human nature Questions to Reflect On - What small thing do you value more than your faith? - How does material desire affect your spiritual life? A Different Perspective Even small amounts can become idols if placed above divine devotion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Love of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-god/) [Orthodox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orthodox/) [Orthodox christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orthodox-christian/) [Ridicule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridicule/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) [Without god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-god/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-and-love/) ## Related quotes > [Every time I see a coin on the street, I stop, pick it up, put it into my pocket, and say out loud "Thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/every-time-i-see-a-coin-on-the-street-i-stop-pick-it-up-put-it-into/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [One of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule. God abhors this vice, and has sometimes punished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/one-of-the-most-evil-dispositions-possible-is-that-which-satirizes/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [So there is such a thing as perfect hatred, just as there is such a thing as righteous anger. But it is a hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/so-there-is-such-a-thing-as-perfect-hatred-just-as-there-is-such-a/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) > [You are blinded and you serve the God of the Jews, who is not the God of love but the God of hatred. Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/you-are-blinded-and-you-serve-the-god-of-the-jews-who-is-not-the-god/) [Julius Streicher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-streicher/) > [The devil doesn't fill us with hatred for God, but with forgetfulness of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-devil-doesn-t-fill-us-with-hatred-for-god-but-with-forgetfulness/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“Let us look upon sin with no other notion than as the object of God’s hatred, the cause of his grief in the creatures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-symington/let-us-look-upon-sin-with-no-other-notion-than-as-the-object-of-god-s/) [William Symington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-symington/) > [Thought is a garment and the soul's a bride That cannot in that trash and tinsel hide: Hatred of God may bring the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/thought-is-a-garment-and-the-soul-s-a-bride-that-cannot-in-that-trash/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“When the wicked plot against the righteous, fueled by jealousy and hatred, God turns their destruction back upon themselves, for He is the shield…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaila-touchton/when-the-wicked-plot-against-the-righteous-fueled-by-jealousy-and/) [Shaila Touchton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaila-touchton/) > [No true Christian can carry within his heart hatred for any of God's children . . . I am as aware as any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/no-true-christian-can-carry-within-his-heart-hatred-for-any-of-god-s/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Satire must not be a kind of superfluous ill will, but ill will from a higher point of view. Ridiculous man, divine God. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/satire-must-not-be-a-kind-of-superfluous-ill-will-but-ill-will-from-a/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [At the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-akin/at-the-heart-of-liberalism-really-is-a-hatred-for-god-and-a-belief/) [Todd Akin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-akin/) > [“And in some sense, God also hates sinners. You might ask, “What happened to ‘God hates the sin and loves the sinner’?” Well, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/and-in-some-sense-god-also-hates-sinners-you-might-ask-what-happened/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [Of the love or hatred God has for the English, I know nothing, but I do know that they will all be thrown out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-of-arc/of-the-love-or-hatred-god-has-for-the-english-i-know-nothing-but-i-do/) [Joan of Arc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-of-arc/) > [“God is perhaps full of hatred and hateful, incomprehensible and contradictory; but the more hideous is his face, the more he asserts his power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/god-is-perhaps-full-of-hatred-and-hateful-incomprehensible-and/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [As God illumines all people equally with the light of the sun, so do those who desire to imitate God let shine an equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/as-god-illumines-all-people-equally-with-the-light-of-the-sun-so-do/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) Browse all 453 Alas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...it is presumptuous ridicule of God if someone thinks that only the person who desires great wealth chooses mammon. Alas, the person who insists on having a penny without God, wants to have a penny all for himself. He thereby chooses mammon. A penny is enough, the choice is made, he has chosen mammon; that it is little makes not the slightest difference. 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