--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who…" description: "\"“On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who stressed the importance of good deeds attacked communities of French Protestants who highlighted God’s love fo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/yuval-noah-harari-100_love_on-23-august-1572-french-catholics-who-s_1119138.jpg" --- # On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who stressed the… ![“On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who stressed the importance of good deeds attacked communities of French Protestants who highlighted God’s love for humankind. In this attack, the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, between 5,000 and 10,000 Protestants were slaughtered in less than twenty-four…” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/yuval-noah-harari-100_love_on-23-august-1572-french-catholics-who-s_1119138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/yuval-noah-harari-100_love_on-23-august-1572-french-catholics-who-s_1119138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/yuval-noah-harari-100_love_on-23-august-1572-french-catholics-who-s_1119138.jpg) > ““On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who stressed the importance of good deeds attacked communities of French Protestants who highlighted God’s love for humankind. In this attack, the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, between 5,000 and 10,000 Protestants were slaughtered in less than twenty-four hours. When the pope in Rome heard the news from France, he was so overcome by joy that he organised festive prayers to celebrate the occasion and commissioned Giorgio Vasari to decorate one of the Vatican’s rooms with a fresco of the massacre (the room is currently off-limits to visitors).2 More Christians were killed by fellow Christians in those twenty-four hours than by the polytheistic Roman Empire throughout its entire existence.”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage highlights the paradox of religious violence, where believers celebrate killing fellow Christians, exposing hypocrisy and the capacity for cruelty within faith traditions. **In simple terms:** Religious conflict can be hypocritical and brutal. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge hypocrisy in belief systems. Themes religion violence hypocrisy history power Mood somber critical reflective Type historical analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - interfaith dialogue - policy making - education - media reporting Key Concepts theology human nature mass violence Questions to Reflect On - How do we reconcile faith with historical atrocities? - What mechanisms allow religious groups to justify violence? A Different Perspective Even sacred traditions can be twisted to justify murder; moral authority is not guaranteed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God'S Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-love/) [Good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-deeds/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Still, if we combine all the victims of all these persecutions, it turns out that in these three centuries, the polytheistic Romans killed no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/still-if-we-combine-all-the-victims-of-all-these-persecutions-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“well-meaning Christians almost killed the faith eight hundred years ago”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-sweeney/well-meaning-christians-almost-killed-the-faith-eight-hundred-years/) Jon M. Sweeney > [True value lies in the good deeds that you put forward for the Hereafter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-bashir/true-value-lies-in-the-good-deeds-that-you-put-forward-for-the/) Ahmad Bashir > [Steal a chicken if you get a chance, Huck, because if you don't want it, someone else does and a good deed ain't never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/steal-a-chicken-if-you-get-a-chance-huck-because-if-you-don-t-want-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Every time you do a good deed you shine the light a little farther into the dark. And the thing is, when you're gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/every-time-you-do-a-good-deed-you-shine-the-light-a-little-farther/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-are-not-to-preach-the-doing-of-good-things-good-deeds-are-not-to/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [One mistake can wash out your thousands of good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-demdam/one-mistake-can-wash-out-your-thousands-of-good-deeds/) Catherine Demdam > [“What is the present if not the graveyard of the past where, for each of our deeds we dig a grave. Everything we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/what-is-the-present-if-not-the-graveyard-of-the-past-where-for-each/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [The church is never a place to show off. Do your good deeds quietly. Serve; don't seek to be seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/the-church-is-never-a-place-to-show-off-do-your-good-deeds-quietly/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-soul-is-a-spark-of-the-divine-it-is-pure-and-perfect-evil-deeds/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? What if I believed that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-rajnus/what-if-i-believed-that-god-himself-was-the-one-who-decreed-i-would/) Julie Rajnus ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? 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We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. 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There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Good deeds quotes > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? 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Everything we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/what-is-the-present-if-not-the-graveyard-of-the-past-where-for-each/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [One mistake can wash out your thousands of good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-demdam/one-mistake-can-wash-out-your-thousands-of-good-deeds/) Catherine Demdam > [We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-are-not-to-preach-the-doing-of-good-things-good-deeds-are-not-to/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [Every time you do a good deed you shine the light a little farther into the dark. 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If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Steal a chicken if you get a chance, Huck, because if you don't want it, someone else does and a good deed ain't never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/steal-a-chicken-if-you-get-a-chance-huck-because-if-you-don-t-want-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [True value lies in the good deeds that you put forward for the Hereafter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-bashir/true-value-lies-in-the-good-deeds-that-you-put-forward-for-the/) Ahmad Bashir > [Verily the kindness that gazes upon itself in a mirror turns to stone, and a good deed that calls itself by tender names becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/verily-the-kindness-that-gazes-upon-itself-in-a-mirror-turns-to-stone/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Let a good person do good deeds with the same zeal that an evil person does bad ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sholom-rokeach/let-a-good-person-do-good-deeds-with-the-same-zeal-that-an-evil/) Sholom Rokeach [Browse all 533 Good deeds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-deeds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On 23 August 1572, French Catholics who stressed the importance of good deeds attacked communities of French Protestants who highlighted God’s love for humankind. 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