Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
People project their own traits onto the divine, seeing God as either kind or harsh based on their own character.
In plain terms
We imagine God reflects our own personality.
What can you take from it?
Recognize your biases when judging higher powers or authorities.

Where it applies

  • spiritual reflection
  • theological debate
  • interpersonal judgment

Putting it to work

  • examine your view of authority
  • question religious assumptions

Questions to consider

  • How do your traits shape your view of God?
  • Is your view of authority biased?

Another view

Not all beliefs about God are merely projections; some claim objective revelation.

More from Joseph Joubert

  1. Virtue by calculation is the virtue of vice.

    Permalink to quote #86
  2. We are afraid of having and showing a small mind and we are not afraid of having and showing a small heart.

    Permalink to quote #88
  3. True religion is the poetry of the heart; it has enchantments useful to our manners; it gives us both happiness and virtue.

    Permalink to quote #85

Related quotes

  1. Gods always behave like the people who make them.

    Zora Neale HurstonZora Neale Hurston quote #9
  2. The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the social or moral conception of God. This is the God of Providence, who protects, disposes, re…

    Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein quote #92
  3. To be human means to feel inferior.

    Alfred AdlerAlfred Adler quote #2