I believe in the compelling power of love. I do not understand it. I believe it to be the most fragrant blossom of all this thorny existence.
Theodore DreiserRead
Assure a man that he has a soul and then frighten him with old wives' tales as to what is to become of him afterward, and you have hooked a fish, a mental slave.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that instilling fear about the afterlife can easily control people's thoughts and actions.
Theodore Dreiser's quote illustrates how the belief in a soul and the fear of consequences after death can trap individuals into a state of mental subjugation. By exploiting these fears, one can dominate the thoughts and behaviors of others, making them metaphorically akin to fish caught on a hook: they are ensnared by their beliefs and fears, leading to a loss of mental freedom and autonomy.
Themes
SoulFearBeliefControlFreedomThoughts
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about religion and morality, this quote can be used to illustrate how fear often motivates people.
More from Theodore Dreiser
All quotes →And then he sank back and tried, as usual, not to think. He must succeed. That's what the world was made for. That's what he was made for. That was what he would have to do.
Theodore DreiserRead
Words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes.
Theodore DreiserRead
If I were personally to define religion, I would say that it is a bandage that man has invented to protect a soul made bloody by circustance.
Theodore DreiserRead
Our civilization is still in a middle stage, scarcely beast, in that it is no longer wholly guided by instinct; scarcely human, in that it is not yet wholly guided by reason.
Theodore DreiserRead
People in general attach too much importance to words. They are under the illusion that talking effects great results. As a matter of fact, words are, as a rule, the shallowest portion of all the argument. They but dimly represent the great surging feelings and desires which lie behind. When the distraction of the tongue is removed, the heart listens.
Theodore DreiserRead
Similar quotes
You all know," said the Guide, "that security is mortals' greatest enemy.
C. S. LewisRead
It is an odd paradox that a society, which can now speak openly and unabashedly about topics that were once unspeakable, still remains largely silent when it comes to mental illness.
Glenn CloseRead
Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve.
Maureen DowdRead
Judo should be free as art and science from any external influences, political, national, racial, and financial or any other organized interest. And all things connected with it should be directed to its ultimate object, the benefit of Humanity.
Kano JigoroRead
Sometimes he could almost forget that it was there, the way you forget about the sky or the earth underfoot, but there were other times when it seemed as if there was nothing else in the world.
George R. R. MartinRead
Those thoughts are truth which guide us to beneficial interaction with sensible particulars as they occur, whether they copy these in advance or not.
William JamesRead