--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we…" description: "\"“We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know.”\" — A.S. Byatt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/a-s-byatt-5275_faustian_we-are-a-faustian-generation-my-dear-we_1861878.png" --- # We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we seek to know… ![“We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know.” quote by A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/a-s-byatt-5275_faustian_we-are-a-faustian-generation-my-dear-we_1861878.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/a-s-byatt-5275_faustian_we-are-a-faustian-generation-my-dear-we_1861878.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/a-s-byatt-5275_faustian_we-are-a-faustian-generation-my-dear-we_1861878.png) > ““We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know.”” [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our generation seeks knowledge beyond what may be inherently unknowable, questioning the limits of human understanding. **In simple terms:** We chase knowledge beyond our design. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty while exploring. Themes knowledge human limits existential inquiry Mood curious reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - research projects - philosophical debates - creative writing Key Concepts Epistemology philosophy of science Questions to Reflect On - What boundaries of knowledge are we approaching? - Is it wise to pursue unknowable truths? A Different Perspective Some truths may be permanently inaccessible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faustian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faustian/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm not interested in the next generation, dear. I'm interested in us .' - Julia”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-m-not-interested-in-the-next-generation-dear-i-m-interested-in-us/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Had any one dared to say this truth to me then, I should have bade him go and preach nonsense to children,—but now,—when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/had-any-one-dared-to-say-this-truth-to-me-then-i-should-have-bade-him/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [The whole gist of 'All That Jazz' is Faustian. It's about a man who sells his soul to show business - which Bob didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-reinking/the-whole-gist-of-all-that-jazz-is-faustian-it-s-about-a-man-who/) [Ann Reinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-reinking/) > [“... the lofty mind of man can be imprisoned by the artifices of its own making.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/the-lofty-mind-of-man-can-be-imprisoned-by-the-artifices-of-its-own/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/faustus-who-embraced-evil-and-shunned-righteousness-became-the/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“We fight for a vision of the world that is both traditional and Faustian, that allies enrootment and disinstallation, the citizen’s freedom and imperial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-faye/we-fight-for-a-vision-of-the-world-that-is-both-traditional-and/) [Guillaume Faye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-faye/) > [“If men were true to their immortal instincts and to the God that made them,—if they were generous, honest, fearless, faithful, reverent, unselfish, ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/if-men-were-true-to-their-immortal-instincts-and-to-the-god-that-made/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [“If I get all that money back in the accounts and then swear it off entirely, she'll forgive me. It felt good to repeat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendric-neal/if-i-get-all-that-money-back-in-the-accounts-and-then-swear-it-off/) [Kendric Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendric-neal/) > [“Thus, Marlowe posed the silent question: could aspiring Icarus be happy with a toilsome life on land managing a plough with plodding oxen having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/thus-marlowe-posed-the-silent-question-could-aspiring-icarus-be-happy/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [The Faustian trade of the 20th century was, we got 30 years of additional life, but in return we got heart disease, cancer, stroke,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jay-olshansky/the-faustian-trade-of-the-20th-century-was-we-got-30-years-of/) [S. Jay Olshansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jay-olshansky/) > [“Crossing the line, that's what the Highway Patrol woman said. Neely was on a gurney, his injuries deemed non-life-threatening, she was taking her initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendric-neal/crossing-the-line-that-s-what-the-highway-patrol-woman-said-neely-was/) [Kendric Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendric-neal/) > [“Many years later after the sell-outs, betrayals, and hatred which would tear us apart, when our brotherhood had been destroyed, I’d always look back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-alazhar/many-years-later-after-the-sell-outs-betrayals-and-hatred-which-would/) H. Alazhar > [“(Marlowe's) Faustus stubbornly reverts to his atheistic beliefs and continues his elementary pagan re-education ~ the inferno to him is a 'place' invented by men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/marlowe-s-faustus-stubbornly-reverts-to-his-atheistic-beliefs-and/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [We tend to think of the Faustian man, the one who fabricates, manipulates, seduces and ends up destroying. But the new image will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/we-tend-to-think-of-the-faustian-man-the-one-who-fabricates/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) ## More by A.S. Byatt > [“...bleached by darkness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/bleached-by-darkness/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Above his head at street level, he saw an angled aileron of a scarlet Porsche, its jaunty fin more or less at the upper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/above-his-head-at-street-level-he-saw-an-angled-aileron-of-a-scarlet/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Why do you go cold?" He kept his voice gentle. "I - I've analysed it. Because I have the sort of good looks I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/why-do-you-go-cold-he-kept-his-voice-gentle-i-i-ve-analysed-it/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She was a thinking child, and worked this out. It hurt her, unlike most knowledge, which was strength and pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-was-a-thinking-child-and-worked-this-out-it-hurt-her-unlike-most/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Those words . . . national and portrait. They were both to do with identity: the identity of a culture (place, language and history),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/those-words-national-and-portrait-they-were-both-to-do-with-identity/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“All these are true and none. The place is there Is what we name it, and is not. It is .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/all-these-are-true-and-none-the-place-is-there-is-what-we-name-it-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“He had been taught that language was essentially inadequate, that it could never speak what was there, that it only spoke itself. He thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/he-had-been-taught-that-language-was-essentially-inadequate-that-it/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“ We must come to grief and regret anyway - and I for one would rather regret the reality than its phantasm, knowledge than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/we-must-come-to-grief-and-regret-anyway-and-i-for-one-would-rather/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Roland had learned to see himself, theoretically, as a crossing-place for a number of systems, all loosely connected. He had been trained to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/roland-had-learned-to-see-himself-theoretically-as-a-crossing-place/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She thought human thoughts and stone thoughts. The latter were slow, patchily coloured, textured and extreme, both hot and cold. They did not translate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-thought-human-thoughts-and-stone-thoughts-the-latter-were-slow/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“…it will be possible, in the time of the wolf, to kill the gods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/it-will-be-possible-in-the-time-of-the-wolf-to-kill-the-gods/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She looked, quickly, quickly, it was better than before, thanked him and averted her eyes. She came to trust him with her disintegration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-looked-quickly-quickly-it-was-better-than-before-thanked-him-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/this-is-where-i-have-always-been-coming-to-since-my-time-began-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“...I have always believed I cd diagnose this state of being in love, which they regard as most particular, as inspired by item, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/i-have-always-believed-i-cd-diagnose-this-state-of-being-in-love/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“The children mingled with the adults, and spoke and were spoken to. Children in these families, at the end of the nineteenth century, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/the-children-mingled-with-the-adults-and-spoke-and-were-spoken-to/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) [Explore all 99 A.S. Byatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) ## More Faustian quotes > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“(Marlowe's) Faustus stubbornly reverts to his atheistic beliefs and continues his elementary pagan re-education ~ the inferno to him is a 'place' invented by men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/marlowe-s-faustus-stubbornly-reverts-to-his-atheistic-beliefs-and/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“Many years later after the sell-outs, betrayals, and hatred which would tear us apart, when our brotherhood had been destroyed, I’d always look back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-alazhar/many-years-later-after-the-sell-outs-betrayals-and-hatred-which-would/) H. Alazhar > [“Crossing the line, that's what the Highway Patrol woman said. Neely was on a gurney, his injuries deemed non-life-threatening, she was taking her initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendric-neal/crossing-the-line-that-s-what-the-highway-patrol-woman-said-neely-was/) [Kendric Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendric-neal/) > [The Faustian trade of the 20th century was, we got 30 years of additional life, but in return we got heart disease, cancer, stroke,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jay-olshansky/the-faustian-trade-of-the-20th-century-was-we-got-30-years-of/) [S. Jay Olshansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jay-olshansky/) > [“Thus, Marlowe posed the silent question: could aspiring Icarus be happy with a toilsome life on land managing a plough with plodding oxen having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/thus-marlowe-posed-the-silent-question-could-aspiring-icarus-be-happy/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“If I get all that money back in the accounts and then swear it off entirely, she'll forgive me. It felt good to repeat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendric-neal/if-i-get-all-that-money-back-in-the-accounts-and-then-swear-it-off/) [Kendric Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendric-neal/) > [“If men were true to their immortal instincts and to the God that made them,—if they were generous, honest, fearless, faithful, reverent, unselfish, ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/if-men-were-true-to-their-immortal-instincts-and-to-the-god-that-made/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [“We fight for a vision of the world that is both traditional and Faustian, that allies enrootment and disinstallation, the citizen’s freedom and imperial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-faye/we-fight-for-a-vision-of-the-world-that-is-both-traditional-and/) [Guillaume Faye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-faye/) > [“Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/faustus-who-embraced-evil-and-shunned-righteousness-became-the/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“... the lofty mind of man can be imprisoned by the artifices of its own making.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/the-lofty-mind-of-man-can-be-imprisoned-by-the-artifices-of-its-own/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [The whole gist of 'All That Jazz' is Faustian. It's about a man who sells his soul to show business - which Bob didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-reinking/the-whole-gist-of-all-that-jazz-is-faustian-it-s-about-a-man-who/) [Ann Reinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-reinking/) > [“Had any one dared to say this truth to me then, I should have bade him go and preach nonsense to children,—but now,—when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/had-any-one-dared-to-say-this-truth-to-me-then-i-should-have-bade-him/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [We tend to think of the Faustian man, the one who fabricates, manipulates, seduces and ends up destroying. But the new image will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/we-tend-to-think-of-the-faustian-man-the-one-who-fabricates/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [“I wish people would spread a Faustian rumor about me.' I leaned over and knocked Sunshine's hand out of Luke's hair. 'A Faustian myth,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-genevieve-tucholke/i-wish-people-would-spread-a-faustian-rumor-about-me-i-leaned-over/) [April Genevieve Tucholke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-genevieve-tucholke/) [Browse all 23 Faustian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faustian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are a Faustian generation, my dear--we seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A.S. 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