Full Idea
The essence of religion is a conviction that because some things are of infinite value most are profoundly unimportant.
Gist of Idea
Religion sees infinite value in some things, and irrelevance in the rest
Source
Clive Bell (Art [1913], II.I)
Book Reference
Bell,Clive: 'Art' [nk 2010], p.31
A Reaction
The aspect of religion which most worries atheists like Nietzsche. You can end up with a rather cool and detached view of genocide, if you really believe that worldly matters are unimportant. Do souls in heaven worry about the next life after that?