--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a great disgrace to religion, to…" description: "\"It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness, and a severe exacter of pensive looks and solemn faces.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png" --- # It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is… ![“It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness, and a severe exacter of pensive looks and solemn faces.” quote by Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png) > “It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness, and a severe exacter of pensive looks and solemn faces.” [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religion should not suppress joy; it need not be solemn or oppressive. **In simple terms:** Religion can be joyful. Key Takeaway Embrace joy in faith. Themes religion joy culture Mood hopeful reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - worship services - festivals - personal devotion Key Concepts spiritual happiness cultural expression Questions to Reflect On - How can faith encourage happiness? - What balance between reverence and joy? A Different Perspective Some traditions emphasize solemnity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cheerfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerfulness/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Mirth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirth/) [Pensive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pensive/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Solemn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solemn/) ## Related quotes > [“It is a shame for anyone to be well-known for righteousness. It is a great disgrace to feel distress at the injustice of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/it-is-a-shame-for-anyone-to-be-well-known-for-righteousness-it-is-a/) [Omar Khayyám](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [ \[On being criticized for her serious expression:\] I simply ache from smiling. Why are women expected to beam all the time? It's unfair. If… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-elizabeth-ii/on-being-criticized-for-her-serious-expression-i-simply-ache-from/) [Queen Elizabeth II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-elizabeth-ii/) > [The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius himself, indirectly confesses that he has related whatever might redound to the glory, and that he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-gravest-of-the-ecclesiastical-historians-eusebius-himself/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Meat eaten without either mirth or music is ill of digestion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/meat-eaten-without-either-mirth-or-music-is-ill-of-digestion/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Where lives the man that has not tried How mirth can into folly glide, And folly into sin!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-lives-the-man-that-has-not-tried-how-mirth-can-into-folly-glide/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Here is neither want of appetite nor mouths, Pray heaven we be not scant of meat or mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/here-is-neither-want-of-appetite-nor-mouths-pray-heaven-we-be-not/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [The unicorn was white, with hoofs of silver and graceful horn of pearl... The glorious thing about him was his eye. There was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-white-2/the-unicorn-was-white-with-hoofs-of-silver-and-graceful-horn-of-pearl/) [T. H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-white-2/) > [Rightly tired of the pain İ hear and feel, boss... where we's comin from or goin to or why... If İ could end it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/rightly-tired-of-the-pain-i-hear-and-feel-boss-where-we-s-comin-from/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/in-his-face-there-came-to-be-a-brooding-peace-that-is-seen-most-often/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [While pensive poets painful vigils keep, Sleepless themselves, to give their readers sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/while-pensive-poets-painful-vigils-keep-sleepless-themselves-to-give/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Careful observers may foretell the hour (By sure prognostics) when to dread a show'r. While rain depends, the pensive cat gives o'er Her frolics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/careful-observers-may-foretell-the-hour-by-sure-prognostics-when-to/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I can be jubilant one moment and pensive the next, and a cloud could go by and make that happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-can-be-jubilant-one-moment-and-pensive-the-next-and-a-cloud-could/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“I remember being unusually pensive that May evening, perhaps it was the heat of Spring's first warm day which, encountering my thick winter blood,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-cassady/i-remember-being-unusually-pensive-that-may-evening-perhaps-it-was/) [Neal Cassady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-cassady/) > [You should always aim to be your own mouse, Lieam. In fact...you already are. You are not so quick to jump into danger as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petersen/you-should-always-aim-to-be-your-own-mouse-lieam-in-fact-you-already/) [David Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petersen/) > [The winter wind is loud and wild, Come close to me, my darling child; Forsake thy books, and mate less play; And, while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-winter-wind-is-loud-and-wild-come-close-to-me-my-darling-child/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## More by Walter Scott > [“Of all the train, none escaped except Wamba, who showed upon the occasion much more courage than those who pretended to greater sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/of-all-the-train-none-escaped-except-wamba-who-showed-upon-the/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Where shall the lover rest, Whom the fates sever From his true maiden's breast, Parted for ever? Where, through groves deep and high, Sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-shall-the-lover-rest-whom-the-fates-sever-from-his-true-maiden/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [O! many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant! And many a word, at random spoken, May soothe or wound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/o-many-a-shaft-at-random-sent-finds-mark-the-archer-little-meant-and/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [And better had they ne'er been born, Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/and-better-had-they-ne-er-been-born-who-read-to-doubt-or-read-to-scorn/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Where is the coward that would not dare to fight for such a land as Scotland?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-is-the-coward-that-would-not-dare-to-fight-for-such-a-land-as/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Loud o'er my head though awful thunders roll, And vivid lightnings flash from pole to pole, Yet 'tis Thy voice, my God, that bids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/loud-o-er-my-head-though-awful-thunders-roll-and-vivid-lightnings/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [The race of humankind would perish did they cease to aid each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/the-race-of-humankind-would-perish-did-they-cease-to-aid-each-other/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [“but he had only received that sort of answer usually given by those who are more obstinate in following their own course, than strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/but-he-had-only-received-that-sort-of-answer-usually-given-by-those/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [“Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, and men below, and the saints above, for love is heaven, and heaven is love. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/love-rules-the-court-the-camp-the-grove-and-men-below-and-the-saints/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Fortune may raise up or abuse the ordinary mortal, but the sage and the soldier should have minds beyond her control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/fortune-may-raise-up-or-abuse-the-ordinary-mortal-but-the-sage-and/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [But woe awaits a country when She sees the tears of bearded men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/but-woe-awaits-a-country-when-she-sees-the-tears-of-bearded-men/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed; In war, he mounts the warrior's steed; In halls, in gay attire is seen; In hamlets, dances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/in-peace-love-tunes-the-shepherd-s-reed-in-war-he-mounts-the-warrior/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Honour is a homicide and a bloodspiller, that gangs about making frays in the street; but Credit is a decent honest man, that sits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/honour-is-a-homicide-and-a-bloodspiller-that-gangs-about-making-frays/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [“The lovers of the chase say that the hare feels more agony during the pursuit of the greyhounds, than when she is struggling in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/the-lovers-of-the-chase-say-that-the-hare-feels-more-agony-during-the/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [I am she, O most bucolical juvenal, under whose charge are placed the milky mothers of the herd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/i-am-she-o-most-bucolical-juvenal-under-whose-charge-are-placed-the/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) [Explore all 372 Walter Scott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) ## More Cheerfulness quotes > [Poor David Hume is dying fast, but with more real cheerfulness and good humor and with more real resignation to the necessary course of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/poor-david-hume-is-dying-fast-but-with-more-real-cheerfulness-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/cheerfulness-in-most-cheerful-people-is-the-rich-and-satisfying/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Even the smallest landscape can offer pride of ownership not only to its inhabitants but to its neighbors. The world delights in a garden……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-moir-messervy/even-the-smallest-landscape-can-offer-pride-of-ownership-not-only-to/) Julie Moir Messervy > [Cheerfulness means a contented spirit, a pure heart, a kind and loving disposition; it means humility and ~ charity, a generous appreciation of others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/cheerfulness-means-a-contented-spirit-a-pure-heart-a-kind-and-loving/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [I have observed that in comedies the best actor plays the droll, while some scrub rogue is made the fine gentleman or hero. Thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/i-have-observed-that-in-comedies-the-best-actor-plays-the-droll-while/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [I believe that God will help us to forget things, the memory of which would do us harm, or rather that He will enable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/i-believe-that-god-will-help-us-to-forget-things-the-memory-of-which/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [“Unsavoury as it is below, there is cheerfulness, and comfort, and hard, honest work above. ("In The Court Of The Dragon")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-chambers/unsavoury-as-it-is-below-there-is-cheerfulness-and-comfort-and-hard/) [Robert W. Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-chambers/) > [“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/cheerfulness-keeps-up-a-kind-of-daylight-in-the-mind-and-fills-it/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself, / And whether I come to my own to-day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/one-world-is-aware-and-by-far-the-largest-to-me-and-that-is-myself/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Actions seems to follow feeling, but really actions and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/actions-seems-to-follow-feeling-but-really-actions-and-feeling-go/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-e-smith/cheerfulness-and-contentment-are-great-beautifiers/) [Jennifer E. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-e-smith/) > [Health is the condition of wisdom, and the sign is cheerfulness, - an open and noble temper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/health-is-the-condition-of-wisdom-and-the-sign-is-cheerfulness-an/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Browse all 346 Cheerfulness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerfulness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness, and a severe exacter of pensive looks and solemn faces.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Scott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-imagine-that-it-is-an-enemy-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cheerfulness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-imagine-that-it-is-an-enemy-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a8/walter-scott-775_cheerfulness_it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-im_2624054.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a great disgrace to religion, to imagine that it is an enemy to mirth and cheerfulness, and a severe…” — Walter Scott", "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": "Walter Scott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is a great disgrace to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-imagine-that-it-is-an-enemy-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/it-is-a-great-disgrace-to-religion-to-imagine-that-it-is-an-enemy-to/#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 } } ] } ```