"But is it not the fact that religion emanates from the nature, from the moral state of the individual? Is it not therefore true that unless the nature be completely exercised, the moral state harmonized, the religion cannot be healthy?"
About this Quote
The subtext is a Protestant-sounding argument with quietly radical implications for a 19th-century Britain still policing orthodoxy. Martineau, a Unitarian-leaning writer and social critic, is making room for religious skepticism, dissent, and even unbelief without conceding moral chaos. If religion can be “unhealthy,” then it can also be treated - by education, self-cultivation, and social reform. That’s her broader project: shifting moral legitimacy away from dogma and toward lived ethics.
Notice the disciplined vocabulary: “completely exercised” and “harmonized” borrow the language of health, training, and balance, echoing Victorian confidence in improvement. She’s not romanticizing faith as raw feeling; she’s demanding integration. A person split between impulse and principle will produce a religion that’s equally split - pious on the surface, corrosive underneath. In Martineau’s hands, spirituality becomes less a refuge from scrutiny than the place scrutiny begins.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Martineau, Harriet. (n.d.). But is it not the fact that religion emanates from the nature, from the moral state of the individual? Is it not therefore true that unless the nature be completely exercised, the moral state harmonized, the religion cannot be healthy? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-is-it-not-the-fact-that-religion-emanates-61737/
Chicago Style
Martineau, Harriet. "But is it not the fact that religion emanates from the nature, from the moral state of the individual? Is it not therefore true that unless the nature be completely exercised, the moral state harmonized, the religion cannot be healthy?" FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-is-it-not-the-fact-that-religion-emanates-61737/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"But is it not the fact that religion emanates from the nature, from the moral state of the individual? Is it not therefore true that unless the nature be completely exercised, the moral state harmonized, the religion cannot be healthy?" FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-is-it-not-the-fact-that-religion-emanates-61737/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
