--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The dead are all holy, even they that…" description: "\"The dead are all holy, even they that were base and wicked while alive. Their baseness and wickedness was not they, was but the heavy and unmanageable ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/thomas-carlyle-207_alive_the-dead-are-all-holy-even-they-that-wer_2766460.png" --- # The dead are all holy, even they that were base and wicked… ![“The dead are all holy, even they that were base and wicked while alive. Their baseness and wickedness was not they, was but the heavy and unmanageable environment that lay round them.” quote by Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/thomas-carlyle-207_alive_the-dead-are-all-holy-even-they-that-wer_2766460.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/thomas-carlyle-207_alive_the-dead-are-all-holy-even-they-that-wer_2766460.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32c/thomas-carlyle-207_alive_the-dead-are-all-holy-even-they-that-wer_2766460.png) > “The dead are all holy, even they that were base and wicked while alive. Their baseness and wickedness was not they, was but the heavy and unmanageable environment that lay round them.” [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. Human wickedness is often a product of oppressive environments rather than innate evil. **In simple terms:** Bad surroundings shape bad behavior. Key Takeaway Address systemic conditions that foster immorality. Themes morality environment human nature justice social critique Mood reflective somber thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - prison reform - poverty alleviation - education reform - community building Key Concepts philosophy social determinism ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What environmental factors most influence moral choices? - How can individuals resist corrupting contexts? A Different Perspective May underplay personal agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Alive Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive-baseness-3210189/) [Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) [Baseness Wickedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness-wickedness-3210188/) [Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Dead Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-holy-988128/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy/) [Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy/) [Lays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lays/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Wicked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked/) [Wickedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wickedness/) [Wickedness Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wickedness-heavy-3210187/) ## Related quotes > [The past is all holy to us; the dead are all holy; even they that were wicked when alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-past-is-all-holy-to-us-the-dead-are-all-holy-even-they-that-were/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The choking, sweltering, deadly, and killing rule of no rule; the consecration of cupidity and braying of folly, and dim stupidity and baseness, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-choking-sweltering-deadly-and-killing-rule-of-no-rule-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/enjoying-things-which-are-pleasant-that-is-not-the-evil-it-is-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [When the scale of sensuality bears down that of reason, the baseness of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-chamberlain/when-the-scale-of-sensuality-bears-down-that-of-reason-the-baseness/) [Roger Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-chamberlain/) > [ There is no more evil thing in this world than race prejudice, none at all. \[...\] It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-is-no-more-evil-thing-in-this-world-than-race-prejudice-none-at/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [The motions of men must be such as suggest their dignity or their baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-motions-of-men-must-be-such-as-suggest-their-dignity-or-their/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/how-many-a-father-have-i-seen-a-sober-man-among-his-boys-whose-youth/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [It (the heart) is supposed in popular language, to be the seat sometimes, of courage, sometimes of affection, sometimes of honesty, or baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/it-the-heart-is-supposed-in-popular-language-to-be-the-seat-sometimes/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Those who profess contempt for men, and put them on a level with beasts, yet wish to be admired and believed by men, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/those-who-profess-contempt-for-men-and-put-them-on-a-level-with/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-nation-can-survive-its-fools-and-even-the-ambitious-but-it-cannot/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-once-did-hold-it-as-our-statists-do-a-baseness-to-write-fair-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [No, no, there must be a limit to the baseness even of publishers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/no-no-there-must-be-a-limit-to-the-baseness-even-of-publishers/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nothing-is-more-repugnant-to-me-than-brotherly-feelings-grounded-in/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/there-are-only-two-great-currents-in-the-history-of-mankind-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold Are but a cheat contrived by men of old Who lusted after wealth and gained their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ma-arri/o-fools-awake-the-rites-ye-sacred-hold-are-but-a-cheat-contrived-by/) [Al-Maʿarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ma-arri/) ## 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 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. 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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"That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The dead are all holy, even they that were base and wicked while alive. 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