--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Religions are all alike- founded upon…" description: "\"Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and mythologies.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg" --- # Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and… ![“Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and mythologies.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg) > “Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and mythologies.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All religions share common traits of mythic narratives and foundational stories. **In simple terms:** Religions share myths. Key Takeaway Recognize common storytelling in belief systems. Themes religion myth culture Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - interfaith dialogue - academic study - personal belief - education Key Concepts anthropology comparative religion Questions to Reflect On - How do myths shape moral values? - Can shared narratives foster unity? A Different Perspective Myths may oversimplify complex traditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) [Mythologies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythologies/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [The religions are all alike, no matter what they call themselves. They have no future- certianly none for the Germans. Facism, if it likes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-religions-are-all-alike-no-matter-what-they-call-themselves-they/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [all religions seem alike to me, one mass of absurdities and lies - I know that there is a God, but I know no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-martha-sherwood/all-religions-seem-alike-to-me-one-mass-of-absurdities-and-lies-i/) Mary Martha Sherwood > [“... even though we belong to three different religions. We are alike in so many more ways than we are different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/firoozeh-dumas/even-though-we-belong-to-three-different-religions-we-are-alike-in-so/) [Firoozeh Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/firoozeh-dumas/) > [Man is fed with fables through life, and leaves it in the belief he knows something of what has been passing, when in truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/man-is-fed-with-fables-through-life-and-leaves-it-in-the-belief-he/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-day-will-come-when-the-mystical-generation-of-jesus-by-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world and do not find in our particular superstition \[Christianity\] one redeeming feature. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-recently-been-examining-all-the-known-superstitions-of-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I have examined all of the known superstitions of the world and i do not find our superstitions of Christianity one redeeming feature. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-examined-all-of-the-known-superstitions-of-the-world-and-i-do/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [If you take different mythologies from different cultures, the names may change and the story lines may vary but there is always something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/if-you-take-different-mythologies-from-different-cultures-the-names/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [Mythologies, in other words, mythologies and religions are great poems and, when recognized as such, point infallibly through things and events to the ubiquity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/mythologies-in-other-words-mythologies-and-religions-are-great-poems/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“Justice is always ready to lend you a spare brain in order to condemn you without a second thought”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/justice-is-always-ready-to-lend-you-a-spare-brain-in-order-to-condemn/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“All of the great mythologies and much of the mythic story-telling of the world are from the male point of view. When I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/all-of-the-great-mythologies-and-much-of-the-mythic-story-telling-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fiction-is-a-branch-of-neurology-the-scenarios-of-nerve-and-blood/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Companies often become victims of their own mythologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/companies-often-become-victims-of-their-own-mythologies/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [All interpretation, all psychology, all attempts to make things comprehensible, require the medium of theories, mythologies, and lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/all-interpretation-all-psychology-all-attempts-to-make-things/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [I have always been interested in mythology and history. The more I read, the more I realized that there have always been people at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/i-have-always-been-interested-in-mythology-and-history-the-more-i/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Fables quotes > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/no-theory-is-too-false-no-fable-too-absurd-no-superstition-too/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [“ The Prodigal Son They gave the deep end of their heart--a hue of crimson red, They whispered their desire and offered up their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/the-prodigal-son-they-gave-the-deep-end-of-their-heart-a-hue-of/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Imagine an American Hans Christian Andersen, conceive of the Brothers Grimm living in Missouri, and you will approximate Howard Schwartz, a fable-maker and fable-gatherer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/imagine-an-american-hans-christian-andersen-conceive-of-the-brothers/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“Fables from before the Anaheiming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fables-from-before-the-anaheiming/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ We are full of dreams \[...\] We long for the unattainable. We believe in the nonsense of fables. There is no pure love; there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/we-are-full-of-dreams-we-long-for-the-unattainable-we-believe-in-the/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [Equals make the best friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/equals-make-the-best-friends/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [The smaller the mind, the greater the ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/the-smaller-the-mind-the-greater-the-ego/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [ \[Jorge Luis Borges\] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/jorge-luis-borges-had-short-stories-and-i-was-trying-to-learn-how-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/history-fades-into-fable-fact-becomes-clouded-with-doubt-and/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [My parents read to me a lot as a kid, and I started writing very early, probably spurred on by Aesop's fables. Then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/my-parents-read-to-me-a-lot-as-a-kid-and-i-started-writing-very-early/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my brother, because he has shut his own temple doors and recites fables merely of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/everywhere-i-am-hindered-of-meeting-god-in-my-brother-because-he-has/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [For kind of sophisticated art I'm interested in, the larger structural rebuke has to be so subtle that it has to be distributed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/for-kind-of-sophisticated-art-i-m-interested-in-the-larger-structural/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Browse all 258 Fables quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and mythologies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fables-and-mythologies/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fables" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fables-and-mythologies/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e35/thomas-jefferson-43_religion_religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fab_871711.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Religions are all alike- founded upon fables and mythologies.” — Thomas Jefferson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Jefferson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Religions are all alike- founded upon...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fables-and-mythologies/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/religions-are-all-alike-founded-upon-fables-and-mythologies/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```