Black Beauty Religion Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham […]. (13.11)

This passage comes from a chapter called "The Devil's Trade Mark," where John Manly and James are discussing a boy who's cruel to his horses. They talk for a long time about cruelty, calling it the "devil's trade mark" (hence the chapter title), and end with a long rant about love, God, and religion. Here, John agrees with James, telling him that anyone who says they're religious but acts cruelly is not really religious at all because love is at the foundation of all religion. Heavy stuff for a conversation in a stable.

Quote #5

They are like children; train 'em up in the way they should go, as the good book says, and when they are old they will not depart from it, if they have a chance, that is. (15.5)

The old ostler Beauty encounters at an inn talks for a long time about the proper care of young horses. Here his reference to the "good book" makes it clear that he's a pious man, and his attitude about horses makes it even clearer that he's a good man, too.

Quote #6

"I have heard the commandments read a great many times, and I never noticed that any of them said, 'Thou shalt be rich.' And there are a good many curious things said in the New Testament about rich men that I think would make me feel rather queer if I was one of them." (35.43)

Ah, Jerry Barker. Now we're in the part of the book where religion is a particularly strong theme, because Jerry is not only a very kind man, he's a very religious one. We can tell this from the very first chapter about Beauty's life with Jerry, since Jerry starts quoting the Bible right away. This is just the first of many quotes and references to religion during Beauty's stay with Jerry.