“Religions grow out of the deepest needs of individuals sharing a common awakening, and are not created by "engineers of the soul."”
Foreword: 1978, p. xxix
The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976)
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Daniel Bell 24
American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor emeritu… 1919–2011Related quotes

“Religion is a need of the human soul.”
Vol. IX - The Unity of Religious Ideals, Part I : Seeking for the Ideal http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/IX/IX_5.htm.
The Spiritual Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Context: Religion is a need of the human soul. In all periods and at every stage of the evolution of humanity there has been a religion which people followed, for at every period the need for religion has been felt. The reason is that the soul of man has several deep desires, and these desires are answered by religion.
The first desire is the search for the ideal. There comes a time when man seeks for a more complete justice than he finds among men, and when he seeks for someone on whom he can rely more surely than he can on his friends in the world. There comes a time when man feels a desire to open his heart to a Being who is above human beings and who can understand his heart.

“Religion amplifies the good and evil tendencies of individual souls.”
Progress In Religion (2000)
Context: I am neither a saint nor a theologian. To me, good works are more important than theology. We all know that religion has been historically, and still is today, a cause of great evil as well as great good in human affairs. We have seen terrible wars and terrible persecutions conducted in the name of religion. We have also seen large numbers of people inspired by religion to lives of heroic virtue, bringing education and medical care to the poor, helping to abolish slavery and spread peace among nations. Religion amplifies the good and evil tendencies of individual souls.

although many engines move without being touched by any one
VIII. On Mind and Soul, and that the latter is immortal.
On the Gods and the Cosmos

John Paul II, General Audience of 27 December 1978 https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1978/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_19781227.html
Other Quotes by Pope John Paul II

“The Vedanta is not a religion, but religion itself in its most universal and deepest significance.”
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Oliver Sheldon. Philosophy of Management. London: Isaac Pitman and Sons; 1930, p. 33. As cited in Albert Lepawsky (1949), Administration, p. 8