--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I refuse to turn to theology to justify…" description: "\"I refuse to turn to theology to justify the life or redeem it. There is a question always of the connection to the eternal. I say to myself above all, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/stanley-kunitz-10896_alive_i-refuse-to-turn-to-theology-to-justify_2604646.jpg" --- # I refuse to turn to theology to justify the life or redeem… ![“I refuse to turn to theology to justify the life or redeem it. There is a question always of the connection to the eternal. I say to myself above all, keep alive your conviction that there are sacred elements in the life in the practice of the life that must be respected. But the conviction in the…” quote by Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/stanley-kunitz-10896_alive_i-refuse-to-turn-to-theology-to-justify_2604646.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/stanley-kunitz-10896_alive_i-refuse-to-turn-to-theology-to-justify_2604646.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/stanley-kunitz-10896_alive_i-refuse-to-turn-to-theology-to-justify_2604646.jpg) > “I refuse to turn to theology to justify the life or redeem it. There is a question always of the connection to the eternal. I say to myself above all, keep alive your conviction that there are sacred elements in the life in the practice of the life that must be respected. But the conviction in the existence of the sacred does not necessarily imply that you need to believe in a creator, because we are the ones that made the sacred.” [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One can honor the sacred in life without belief in a creator, seeing sacredness as human‑created meaning. **In simple terms:** Sacredness can be human‑created, not requiring a deity. Key Takeaway Respect sacred aspects, define meaning personally. Themes spirituality meaning humanism Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - art - ritual - ethical decisions - personal growth Key Concepts sacred conviction existential Questions to Reflect On - How do you define sacred without religion? - What practices honor the sacred for you? A Different Perspective Skepticism may clash with tradition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theology/) ## Related quotes > [“Your theology won't always work toward your obedience, because your use of theology is dictated by the condition of your heart. 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Everything that is indispensable for its preservation is the common property…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximilien-robespierre/food-that-is-necessary-for-man-s-existence-is-as-sacred-as-life/) [Maximilien Robespierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximilien-robespierre/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To encounter the sacred is to be alive at the deepest center of human existence. Sacred places are the truest definitions of the earth;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/to-encounter-the-sacred-is-to-be-alive-at-the-deepest-center-of-human/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [God has reserved to Himself the right to determine the end of life, because He alone knows the goal to which it is His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/god-has-reserved-to-himself-the-right-to-determine-the-end-of-life/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If God gives you gifts you must use them to justify your life. It is what the Greeks called divine discontent that drives you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-fairfax/if-god-gives-you-gifts-you-must-use-them-to-justify-your-life-it-is/) Mary Fairfax > [“Thus do the gods justify the life of man: they themselves live it--the only satisfactory theodicy!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/thus-do-the-gods-justify-the-life-of-man-they-themselves-live-it-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The point of working isn't to make money; you work to justify life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baraka/the-point-of-working-isn-t-to-make-money-you-work-to-justify-life/) David Baraka ## More by Stanley Kunitz > [The supreme morality of art is to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/the-supreme-morality-of-art-is-to-endure/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [“Mind's acres are forever green: Oh, I Shall keep perpetual summer here; I shall Refuse to let one startled swallow die, Or, from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/mind-s-acres-are-forever-green-oh-i-shall-keep-perpetual-summer-here/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Be what you are. Give What is yours to give. Have Style. Dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/be-what-you-are-give-what-is-yours-to-give-have-style-dare/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Not that you need to be a saint to have visions worth talking about. 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I don't know why, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/one-critic-wrote-that-my-poems-sounded-as-though-they-had-been/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [In every house of marriage there's room for an interpreter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/in-every-house-of-marriage-there-s-room-for-an-interpreter/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [The heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking it is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/the-heart-breaks-and-breaks-and-lives-by-breaking-it-is-necessary-to/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [A longing for the dance stirs in the buried life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/a-longing-for-the-dance-stirs-in-the-buried-life/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Poetry is language surprised in the act of changing into meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/poetry-is-language-surprised-in-the-act-of-changing-into-meaning/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [Poetry is the enemy of the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/poetry-is-the-enemy-of-the-poem/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [I dance/for the joy of surviving, at the edge of the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/i-dance-for-the-joy-of-surviving-at-the-edge-of-the-road/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) > [We have to learn how to live with our frailties. The best people I know are inadequate and unashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kunitz/we-have-to-learn-how-to-live-with-our-frailties-the-best-people-i/) [Stanley Kunitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) [Explore all 62 Stanley Kunitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kunitz/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. 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We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. 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