--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is not cant the materia prima of the…" description: "\"Is not cant the materia prima of the devil, from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, abominations, body themselves, from which no true thing can come? ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d12/thomas-carlyle-207_abomination_is-not-cant-the-materia-prima-of-the-dev_2816818.png" --- # Is not cant the materia prima of the devil, from which all… ![“Is not cant the materia prima of the devil, from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, abominations, body themselves, from which no true thing can come? For cant is itself the properly a double-distilled lie, the second power of a lie.” quote by Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d12/thomas-carlyle-207_abomination_is-not-cant-the-materia-prima-of-the-dev_2816818.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d12/thomas-carlyle-207_abomination_is-not-cant-the-materia-prima-of-the-dev_2816818.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d12/thomas-carlyle-207_abomination_is-not-cant-the-materia-prima-of-the-dev_2816818.png) > “Is not cant the materia prima of the devil, from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, abominations, body themselves, from which no true thing can come? For cant is itself the properly a double-distilled lie, the second power of a lie.” [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that deceit is the fundamental substance of evil, a layered falsehood that blocks truth. **In simple terms:** Deceit is the devil’s core material. Key Takeaway Challenge falsehoods directly. Themes truth deceit philosophy morality illusion Mood inquisitive serious thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - journalistic integrity - legal testimony - personal relationships - educational curricula Key Concepts metaphysics ethical theory critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can we discern layered lies? - What role does intent play in deception? A Different Perspective Not all falsehoods stem from a single source; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Falsehoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehoods/) [Imbecility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imbecility/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) ## Related quotes > [“Lie: After A Second, After A Minute, One Moment = All that is a lie, (THAT"S THE CONCLUSION) - IF SO, what else is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deyth-banger/lie-after-a-second-after-a-minute-one-moment-all-that-is-a-lie-that-s/) Deyth Banger > [“Always believe the second lie. Second lie's the one they're gonna stick to, so you might as well accept it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-litchtenberg/always-believe-the-second-lie-second-lie-s-the-one-they-re-gonna/) Tom Litchtenberg > [If you expect a bad lie for even one second, the gods will know it and give you a bad lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wie/if-you-expect-a-bad-lie-for-even-one-second-the-gods-will-know-it-and/) [Michelle Wie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wie/) > [“Humans lie without a second thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ciel-phantomhive/humans-lie-without-a-second-thought/) [Ciel Phantomhive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ciel-phantomhive/) > [It is not to taste sweet things; but to do noble and true things, and vindicate himself under God's heaven as a God-made man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/it-is-not-to-taste-sweet-things-but-to-do-noble-and-true-things-and/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The advantages of natural folly in a beautiful girl have been already set forth by the capital pen of a sister author; and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-advantages-of-natural-folly-in-a-beautiful-girl-have-been-already/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [If x is the population of the United States and y is the degree of imbecility of the average American, then democracy is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/if-x-is-the-population-of-the-united-states-and-y-is-the-degree-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Nature is mighty. Art is mighty. Artifice is weak. For nature is the work of a mightier power than man. Art is the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/nature-is-mighty-art-is-mighty-artifice-is-weak-for-nature-is-the/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [You must elect your work; you shall take what your brains can, and drop all the rest. Only so can that amount of vital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-must-elect-your-work-you-shall-take-what-your-brains-can-and-drop/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“I do not take advice or listen to the words of hypocrites or beings that are not self-realized. It's nothing personal. I am simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/i-do-not-take-advice-or-listen-to-the-words-of-hypocrites-or-beings/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) > [IMBECILITY, n. A kind of divine inspiration, or sacred fire affecting censorious critics of this dictionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/imbecility-n-a-kind-of-divine-inspiration-or-sacred-fire-affecting/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Whenever government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves, the only consequences it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/whenever-government-assumes-to-deliver-us-from-the-trouble-of/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/) Hudson Maxim > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Thomas Carlyle > [O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/o-thou-that-pinest-in-the-imprisonment-of-the-actual-and-criest/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sadder-proof-can-be-given-by-a-man-of-his-own-littleness-than/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The sincere alone can recognize sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-sincere-alone-can-recognize-sincerity/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The glory of a workman, still more of a master workman, that he does his work well, ought to be his most precious possession;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-glory-of-a-workman-still-more-of-a-master-workman-that-he-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [All human things do require to have an ideal in them; to have some soul in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/all-human-things-do-require-to-have-an-ideal-in-them-to-have-some/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Insurrection, never so necessary, is a most sad necessity; and governors who wait for that to instruct them are surely getting into the fatalest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/insurrection-never-so-necessary-is-a-most-sad-necessity-and-governors/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Let Time and Chance combine, combine! Let Time and Chance combine! The fairest love from heaven above, That love of yours was mine, My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/let-time-and-chance-combine-combine-let-time-and-chance-combine-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Thought will not work except in silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/thought-will-not-work-except-in-silence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The public is anold woman.Let her maunderand mumble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-public-is-anold-woman-let-her-maunderand-mumble/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Does not every true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence to what is really above him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/does-not-every-true-man-feel-that-he-is-himself-made-higher-by-doing/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The press is the fourth estate of the realm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-press-is-the-fourth-estate-of-the-realm/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Explore all 917 Thomas Carlyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## More Abomination quotes > [“The fascination of the abomination—you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-fascination-of-the-abomination-you-know/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The history of woman is the history of the continued and universal oppression of one sex by the other. The emancipation of woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-history-of-woman-is-the-history-of-the-continued-and-universal/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [I foresee that man will resign himself each day to new abominations, and soon that only bandits and soldiers will be left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-foresee-that-man-will-resign-himself-each-day-to-new-abominations/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is detestable. And it has a fascination, too, which goes to work upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-has-to-live-in-the-midst-of-the-incomprehensible-which-is/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [An unholy church! It is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hells laughter, heavens abhorrence. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/an-unholy-church-it-is-useless-to-the-world-and-of-no-esteem-among/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Tomato and lettuce-especially lettuce-is an abomination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mimi-sheraton/tomato-and-lettuce-especially-lettuce-is-an-abomination/) [Mimi Sheraton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mimi-sheraton/) > [I do nothing I regret, man, because I try to do nothing abominable. As long as there is not an abomination, there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-tosh/i-do-nothing-i-regret-man-because-i-try-to-do-nothing-abominable-as/) [Peter Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-tosh/) > [DEAL is a most villainous place. It is full of filthy-looking people.Great desolationof abomination has beengoing on here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/deal-is-a-most-villainous-place-it-is-full-of-filthy-looking-people/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [Doing abominations is against the law, particularly if the abominations are done while wearing a lobster bib.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/doing-abominations-is-against-the-law-particularly-if-the/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [The Mass is the greatest blasphemy of God, and the highest idolatry upon earth, an abomination the like of which has never been in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/the-mass-is-the-greatest-blasphemy-of-god-and-the-highest-idolatry/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Social mores change with time, like fashion - who knows where it might all end up? I especially like the idea that waste, impoliteness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/social-mores-change-with-time-like-fashion-who-knows-where-it-might/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [The efforts on the parts of Eastern magazine writers to educate the people of the United States, particularly parents, to the doctrine that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-f-richards/the-efforts-on-the-parts-of-eastern-magazine-writers-to-educate-the/) [George F. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-f-richards/) > [“Latin is an abomination!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wallace/latin-is-an-abomination/) [Lew Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wallace/) > [A "just war" is hospitable to every self-deception on the part of those waging it, none more than the certainty of virtue, under whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/a-just-war-is-hospitable-to-every-self-deception-on-the-part-of-those/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [“Don't you call me ‘Dad.’ You are no son of mine. I wouldn't father an abomination. You”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-kozinn/don-t-you-call-me-dad-you-are-no-son-of-mine-i-wouldn-t-father-an/) [Nat Kozinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-kozinn/) Browse all 107 Abomination quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is not cant the materia prima of the devil, from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, abominations, body themselves, from which no true thing can come? 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