To discover the true principles of Morality, men have no need of theology, of revelation, or of gods: They have need only of common sense.
Interpretation
Morality can be understood through rational thought rather than religious guidance.
Baron D'Holbach's quote suggests that the essence of morality does not depend on religious teachings or divine command but rather on the inherent understanding and common sense of human beings. He emphasizes that humans possess the ability to discern right from wrong through reason and rationality, making theology unnecessary in the pursuit of moral principles.
In practice
In a debate about ethics, one might use this quote to argue against the necessity of religious morals.
Suns are extinguished or become corrupted, planets perish and scatter across the wastes of the sky; other suns are kindled, new planets formed to make their revolutions or describe new orbits, and man, an infinitely minute part of a globe which itself is only an imperceptible point in the immense whole, believes that the universe is made for himself.
People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter... than a god who puts out traps for people, invites them to sin, and allows them to sin and commit crimes he could prevent. Only to finally get the barbarian pleasure to punish them in an excessive way, of no use for himself, without them changing their ways and without their example preventing others from committing crimes.
Tolerance and freedom of thought are the veritable antidotes to religious fanaticism.
If we go back to the beginnings of things, we shall always find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that imagination, rapture and deception embellished them; that weakness worships them; that custom spares them; and that tyranny favors them in order to profit from the blindness of men.
There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved.
To get rid of an enemy one must love him.
Why do babies starve /When there's enough food to feed the world /Why when there's so many of us /Are there people still alone
There's an old saying that God made us in His image, and we've been trying to return the favor ever since. People often view God in a human image. This God changes His mind, gets upset, answers some prayers but not others, loves some people but not others. But even with that limited image, if we pray sincerely, we'll eventually realize that God is changeless. He's the same all the time because He's not in time-time is in Him.
When a man tells you that he knows the exact truth about anything you are safe in inferring that he is an inexact man.
When a person becomes a legend, the very thing that makes them human and knowable is killed off, so it's like being killed over and over and over again, for all eternity.
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