--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Turning, then, from this loathsome…" description: "\"Turning, then, from this loathsome combination of church and state, and weeping over the follies of our fellow men, who yield themselves the willing du..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/thomas-jefferson-43_abandon_turning-then-from-this-loathsome-combina_2901558.jpg" --- # Turning, then, from this loathsome combination of church… ![“Turning, then, from this loathsome combination of church and state, and weeping over the follies of our fellow men, who yield themselves the willing dupes and drudges of these mountebanks, I consider reformation and redress as desperate, and abandon them to the Quixotism of more enthusiastic minds.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/thomas-jefferson-43_abandon_turning-then-from-this-loathsome-combina_2901558.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/thomas-jefferson-43_abandon_turning-then-from-this-loathsome-combina_2901558.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/thomas-jefferson-43_abandon_turning-then-from-this-loathsome-combina_2901558.jpg) > “Turning, then, from this loathsome combination of church and state, and weeping over the follies of our fellow men, who yield themselves the willing dupes and drudges of these mountebanks, I consider reformation and redress as desperate, and abandon them to the Quixotism of more enthusiastic minds.” [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. He criticizes the entanglement of church and state, seeing reform attempts as futile against entrenched deception. **In simple terms:** Merging religion and politics breeds corruption, making reform difficult. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist power‑driven deception. Themes politics religion corruption reform Mood cautious critical Type political historical When to use this quote - public policy - civic engagement - historical analysis Key Concepts secularism critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards prevent reform from becoming another dogma? - How can citizens stay vigilant? A Different Perspective Reforms can be co‑opted by new zealots. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Church and state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church-and-state/) [Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate/) [Enthusiastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enthusiastic/) [Fellow man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellow-man/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Reformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reformation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/rogueries-absurdities-and-untruths-were-perpetrated-upon-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The spirit of 1776 is not dead. It has only been slumbering. The body of the American people is substantially republican. But their virtuous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-spirit-of-1776-is-not-dead-it-has-only-been-slumbering-the-body/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Extraordinarily excessive sensuality it may be .. but it all comes down to the same thing in the end, and one means is surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/extraordinarily-excessive-sensuality-it-may-be-but-it-all-comes-down/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [The credulity of dupes is as inexhaustible as the invention of knaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-credulity-of-dupes-is-as-inexhaustible-as-the-invention-of-knaves/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In vain we shall penetrate more and more deeply the secrets of the structure of the human body, we shall not dupe nature; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/in-vain-we-shall-penetrate-more-and-more-deeply-the-secrets-of-the/) [Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/) > [Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/excessive-partiality-for-one-foreign-nation-and-excessive-dislike-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [When the Gauls laid waste Rome, they found the senators clothed in their robes, and seated in stern tranquillity in their curule chairs; in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/when-the-gauls-laid-waste-rome-they-found-the-senators-clothed-in/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [The weak-minded man is the slave of his vices and the dupe of his virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/the-weak-minded-man-is-the-slave-of-his-vices-and-the-dupe-of-his/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [Let nothing dupe you! 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Investors should never trust them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/ratings-agencies-are-highly-conflicted-unimaginative-dupes-they-are/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [The human heart has so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood works, is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-human-heart-has-so-many-crannies-where-vanity-hides-so-many-holes/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-between-ourselves-and-another-person-exists-only-in-our/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Pessimists fear becoming the dupes of Hope. 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