Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Voltaire suggests that belief in God is so useful for social order and morality that society would create it even if it were not true.
- In plain terms
- Belief in God helps keep people in line, so it would be invented if it did not exist.
- What can you take from it?
- Social norms often rely on beliefs that maintain order regardless of their truth.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is morality possible without religion?
- Do societies need shared myths?
Another view
The quote implies religion is a useful fiction rather than a revealed truth.
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C'est une plaisante chose que la pensee depende absolument de l'estomac, et malgre cela les meilleurs estomacs ne soient pas les meilleurs penseurs.
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