Q0475

Henri Bergson

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

The universe… is a machine for the making of gods.
Thinker Henri Bergson
School Philosophy of Life
Source The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
Theme Creation
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, within the tradition of Philosophy of Life. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of creation, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Henri Bergson's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Henri Bergson. (n.d.). The universe… is a machine for the making of gods. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0475

MLA: Henri Bergson. “The universe… is a machine for the making….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0475.

Chicago: Henri Bergson. “The universe… is a machine for the making….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0475.

Same thinker

More from Henri Bergson

  1. For a conscious being, to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
  2. Intelligence is characterized by a natural incomprehension of life.
  3. We do not think real time. But we live it.

All quotations by Henri Bergson

Same theme

More on creation

  1. One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.
  2. The meaning of human life lies in creation.
  3. For a conscious being, to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
  4. Three metamorphoses of the spirit I name for you: how the spirit becomes a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.
  5. The world has kissed my soul with its pain, asking for its return in songs.

Browse the creation theme