--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are those who take upon themselves…" description: "\"“There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg" --- # There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as… ![“There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless,” quote by Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg) > ““There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless,”” [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Defending a divine or ultimate reality can be seen as protecting something fragile, even if it seems powerful. **In simple terms:** Protecting a higher power may seem like defending weakness. Key Takeaway Recognize the strength in what you protect. Themes faith protection philosophy Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal belief - community rituals - ethical debates Key Concepts theology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance reverence with empowerment? - What makes the divine seem vulnerable? A Different Perspective Some view ultimate reality as inherently strong, making defense unnecessary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Defend God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defend-god-440753/) [Existence Weak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-weak-440754/) [Helpless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpless/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Ultimate reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate-reality/) [Weak Helpless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak-helpless-398237/) ## Related quotes > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I know it's not good to be weak and helpless. But I don't think it's good to be too strong either. In our society,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuki-takaya/i-know-it-s-not-good-to-be-weak-and-helpless-but-i-don-t-think-it-s/) [Natsuki Takaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuki-takaya/) > [We are brought into this world cold, weak, and helpless. Then it gets worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/we-are-brought-into-this-world-cold-weak-and-helpless-then-it-gets/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God...The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening. These people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-the/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-3/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-2/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-4/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“And that wasn't the end of it. 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What is really have such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/today-it-because-they-are-weak-and-helpless-earnings-of-his-whole/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On Christ's kind arms I fall, He is my strength and righteousness, My Jesus, and my all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprajita/a-guilty-weak-and-helpless-worm-on-christ-s-kind-arms-i-fall-he-is-my/) [Aprajita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprajita/) > [We manufacture anger to give ourselves the illusion of power when we feel weak and helpless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/we-manufacture-anger-to-give-ourselves-the-illusion-of-power-when-we/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [“I know a little bit about learning to live again. I know about being so weak and helpless you want to die. I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-scott/i-know-a-little-bit-about-learning-to-live-again-i-know-about-being/) [Jessica Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-scott/) > [Cow protection means protection of the weak, the helpless, the dumb and the deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/cow-protection-means-protection-of-the-weak-the-helpless-the-dumb-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [It's okay to accept things from people. It doesn't make you weak or helpless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/it-s-okay-to-accept-things-from-people-it-doesn-t-make-you-weak-or/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) ## More by Yann Martel > [“It’s a big ocean crossed by busy ships. I went slowly, observing much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/it-s-a-big-ocean-crossed-by-busy-ships-i-went-slowly-observing-much/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The word isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-word-isn-t-just-the-way-it-is-it-is-how-we-understand-it-no-and/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Remember that your days on this earth are counted and you might as well make the best of those you have left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/remember-that-your-days-on-this-earth-are-counted-and-you-might-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I must say a word about fear. It's is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-must-say-a-word-about-fear-it-s-is-life-s-only-true-opponent-only/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [High calls low and low calls high. I tell you, if you were in such dire straits as I was, you too would elevate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/high-calls-low-and-low-calls-high-i-tell-you-if-you-were-in-such-dire/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Or rather, since Christians are so fond of capital letters, a Story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/or-rather-since-christians-are-so-fond-of-capital-letters-a-story/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Progress is unstoppable. It is a drumbeat to which we must all march. 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The main battlefield for good is not the open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/for-evil-in-the-open-is-but-evil-from-within-that-has-been-let-out/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Books are something social - a writer speaking to a reader - so I think making the reading of a book the center of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/books-are-something-social-a-writer-speaking-to-a-reader-so-i-think/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/nothing-beats-reason-for-keeping-tigers-away-but-be-excessively/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Uvek ima onih koji uzmu za pravo da brane Boga, kao da je Poslednja stvarnost, kao da je temeljni ram postojanja nešto slabašno i…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/uvek-ima-onih-koji-uzmu-za-pravo-da-brane-boga-kao-da-je-poslednja/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity- its envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-reason-death-sticks-so-closely-to-life-isn-t-biological-necessity/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) [Explore all 570 Yann Martel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## More Helpless quotes > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [What we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-need-as-christians-is-to-be-able-to-feed-ourselves-how-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And I feel so helpless here. Watch my eyes are filled with fear.~~~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-i-feel-so-helpless-here-watch-my-eyes-are-filled-with-fear/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/adults-look-upon-a-child-as-something-empty-that-is-to-be-filled/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [I know it's not good to be weak and helpless. But I don't think it's good to be too strong either. In our society,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuki-takaya/i-know-it-s-not-good-to-be-weak-and-helpless-but-i-don-t-think-it-s/) [Natsuki Takaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuki-takaya/) > [“Hopeless and helpless doth AEgeon wend, But to procrastinate his lifeless end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/hopeless-and-helpless-doth-aegeon-wend-but-to-procrastinate-his/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Of her own experience she had no memory of the thing happening; but in her instinct, which was the experience of all mothers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/of-her-own-experience-she-had-no-memory-of-the-thing-happening-but-in/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I've never been helpless, I just have powerful enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/i-ve-never-been-helpless-i-just-have-powerful-enemies/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [“But there you are. Helpless. Unable to defend yourself. Vulnerable. Victim.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-laurens/but-there-you-are-helpless-unable-to-defend-yourself-vulnerable-victim/) [Jennifer Laurens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-laurens/) > [To cut off the sinner from all reliance upon himself, his merits and his powers; and throw him, naked and helpless, into the hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ichabod-spencer/to-cut-off-the-sinner-from-all-reliance-upon-himself-his-merits-and/) [Ichabod Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ichabod-spencer/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Children also have artistic ability, and there is wisdom in there having it! 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Are you utterly helpless, worn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/do-you-feel-that-you-have-lost-your-way-in-life-then-god-himself-will/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) [Browse all 806 Helpless quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpless/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yann Martel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-if-ultimate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Helpless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-if-ultimate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/yann-martel-395_helpless_there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves_2771787.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are those who take upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame…” — Yann Martel", "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": "Yann Martel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are those who take upon...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-if-ultimate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-those-who-take-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as-if-ultimate/#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 } } ] } ```