"Materialism is the only form of distraction from true bliss"
About this Quote
A clergyman calling materialism a “distraction” isn’t just wagging a finger at shopping bags; he’s reframing desire itself as misdirection. Horton’s line works because it compresses a whole pastoral worldview into a single psychological move: the problem isn’t that things are evil, it’s that they’re noisy. “True bliss” is presented as already available, almost embarrassingly close at hand, and materialism becomes the elegant excuse that keeps you from noticing. The sting is in “only.” Horton isn’t offering a menu of vices; he’s arguing that the central human dodge is substituting measurable gains for unmeasurable peace.
The subtext is less about poverty than about control. Material goods can be counted, compared, insured, displayed. Bliss can’t. In a modernizing early-to-mid 20th century America, with mass advertising and consumer credit turning longing into a repeat purchase, Horton’s theology reads like cultural critique: the marketplace thrives by keeping the self slightly dissatisfied, then selling relief in objects that quickly become background. “Distraction” also implies consent; you choose it. That’s a sharper indictment than temptation, because it makes materialism a willful strategy for avoiding the harder work of spiritual attention.
Horton’s clerical context matters: he’s speaking to people who may not be decadent, just busy, aspirational, tired. The line aims at the respectable middle, where accumulation can masquerade as responsibility. It’s less a sermon against stuff than a warning about what stuff is for: not living, but postponing it.
The subtext is less about poverty than about control. Material goods can be counted, compared, insured, displayed. Bliss can’t. In a modernizing early-to-mid 20th century America, with mass advertising and consumer credit turning longing into a repeat purchase, Horton’s theology reads like cultural critique: the marketplace thrives by keeping the self slightly dissatisfied, then selling relief in objects that quickly become background. “Distraction” also implies consent; you choose it. That’s a sharper indictment than temptation, because it makes materialism a willful strategy for avoiding the harder work of spiritual attention.
Horton’s clerical context matters: he’s speaking to people who may not be decadent, just busy, aspirational, tired. The line aims at the respectable middle, where accumulation can masquerade as responsibility. It’s less a sermon against stuff than a warning about what stuff is for: not living, but postponing it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Happiness |
|---|
More Quotes by Douglas
Add to List
