Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as is vice from virtue. Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. There is - I repeat it - a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between them. The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth - to let white-washed walls vouch for clean shrines. It may hate him who dares to scrutinise and expose - to rase the gilding, and show base metal under it - to penetrate the sepulchre, and reveal charnel relics: but hate as it will, it is indebted to him.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The quote distinguishes between superficial social norms and true moral or religious virtue, urging clear separation between appearance and truth.
- In plain terms
- Don't confuse social customs or self-righteousness with real morality or religion.
- What can you take from it?
- Distinguish between appearance and genuine virtue.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you draw the line between custom and morality?
- Is appearance ever truthful?
Another view
Some social norms can reinforce positive behaviors even if not strictly moral.
More from Charlotte Bronte
Novelists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life.
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