--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our priests are not what a silly populace…" description: "\"Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png" --- # Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all… ![“Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png) > “Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques how religious authority exploits public gullibility, suggesting faith is built on credulity rather than truth. **In simple terms:** Religion can be a tool for manipulating belief. Key Takeaway Question authority and seek evidence. Themes skepticism religion power knowledge illusion Mood critical ironic Type philosophical satirical When to use this quote - political discourse - education - media consumption - personal belief systems Key Concepts social control faith critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How does belief shape your perception of truth? - What evidence would change your view on religious authority? A Different Perspective May overlook genuine spiritual comfort some find in faith. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Silly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silly/) ## Related quotes > [Do you think... that men have always massacred each other, as they do today? Have they always been liars, cheats, traitors, brigands, weak, flighty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/do-you-think-that-men-have-always-massacred-each-other-as-they-do/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“In short, if youth is not quite right in its opinions, there is a strong probability that age is not much more so. Undying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/in-short-if-youth-is-not-quite-right-in-its-opinions-there-is-a/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [I prefer credulity to skepticism and cynicism for there is more promise in almost anything than in nothing at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-prefer-credulity-to-skepticism-and-cynicism-for-there-is-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The State is not force alone. It depends upon the credulity of man quite as much as upon his docility. Its aim is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-state-is-not-force-alone-it-depends-upon-the-credulity-of-man/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/credulity-is-the-man-s-weakness-but-the-child-s-strength/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [If I could do just one thing, it would be to dissociate faith from virtue, now and for good, and to expose it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/if-i-could-do-just-one-thing-it-would-be-to-dissociate-faith-from/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Fear, if it be not immoderate, puts a guard about us that does watch and defend us; but credulity keeps us naked, and lays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/fear-if-it-be-not-immoderate-puts-a-guard-about-us-that-does-watch/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [What the light of your mind, which is the direct inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces incredible, that, in God's name, leave uncredited. At your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-the-light-of-your-mind-which-is-the-direct-inspiration-of-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The New Age movement looks like a mixed bag. I see much in it that seems good: It's optimistic; it's enthusiastic; it has the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-new-age-movement-looks-like-a-mixed-bag-i-see-much-in-it-that/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of-others-rather-than-from-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Hatred as well as love, renders its votaries credulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hatred-as-well-as-love-renders-its-votaries-credulous/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Credulity is belief in slight evidence, with no evidence, or against evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/credulity-is-belief-in-slight-evidence-with-no-evidence-or-against/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Credulity quotes > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Credulity is belief in slight evidence, with no evidence, or against evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/credulity-is-belief-in-slight-evidence-with-no-evidence-or-against/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Hatred as well as love, renders its votaries credulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hatred-as-well-as-love-renders-its-votaries-credulous/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of-others-rather-than-from-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The New Age movement looks like a mixed bag. I see much in it that seems good: It's optimistic; it's enthusiastic; it has the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-new-age-movement-looks-like-a-mixed-bag-i-see-much-in-it-that/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [What the light of your mind, which is the direct inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces incredible, that, in God's name, leave uncredited. At your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-the-light-of-your-mind-which-is-the-direct-inspiration-of-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fear, if it be not immoderate, puts a guard about us that does watch and defend us; but credulity keeps us naked, and lays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/fear-if-it-be-not-immoderate-puts-a-guard-about-us-that-does-watch/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [If I could do just one thing, it would be to dissociate faith from virtue, now and for good, and to expose it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/if-i-could-do-just-one-thing-it-would-be-to-dissociate-faith-from/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/credulity-is-the-man-s-weakness-but-the-child-s-strength/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [The State is not force alone. It depends upon the credulity of man quite as much as upon his docility. Its aim is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-state-is-not-force-alone-it-depends-upon-the-credulity-of-man/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I prefer credulity to skepticism and cynicism for there is more promise in almost anything than in nothing at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-prefer-credulity-to-skepticism-and-cynicism-for-there-is-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In short, if youth is not quite right in its opinions, there is a strong probability that age is not much more so. Undying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/in-short-if-youth-is-not-quite-right-in-its-opinions-there-is-a/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [That day, I began to be incredulous. Or, rather, I regretted having been credulous. I regretted having allowed myself to be borne away by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-day-i-began-to-be-incredulous-or-rather-i-regretted-having-been/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 185 Credulity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populace-supposes-all-their-learning/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Credulity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populace-supposes-all-their-learning/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/voltaire-173_credulity_our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populac_720558.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our priests are not what a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populace-supposes-all-their-learning/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/our-priests-are-not-what-a-silly-populace-supposes-all-their-learning/#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 } } ] } ```