--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never wavered in my certainty that God…" description: "\"I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I was simply liberated by the thought that there might be a way to engage with religion without..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg" --- # I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I… ![“I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I was simply liberated by the thought that there might be a way to engage with religion without having to subscribe to its supernatural content - a way, to put it in more abstract terms, to think about Fathers without upsetting my respectful…” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg) > “I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I was simply liberated by the thought that there might be a way to engage with religion without having to subscribe to its supernatural content - a way, to put it in more abstract terms, to think about Fathers without upsetting my respectful memory of my own father. I recognized that my continuing resistance to theories of an afterlife or of heavenly residents was no justification for giving up on the music, buildings, prayers, rituals, feasts, shrines, pilgrimages, communal meals and illustrated manuscripts of the faiths.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One can appreciate religious culture and its art without believing in its supernatural claims, separating reverence for tradition from personal faith. **In simple terms:** Enjoy religion’s culture without believing in its gods. Key Takeaway Separate cultural appreciation from belief. Themes culture secularism art Mood contemplative curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum visits - academic study - interfaith dialogue - personal reflection Key Concepts humanism aesthetic appreciation religious pluralism Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of religion can you value without belief? - How do you handle rituals that conflict with your worldview? A Different Perspective Cultural engagement may still imply implicit endorsement of beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Certainty God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty-god-409286/) [Continuing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing/) [Did Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did-exist/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Heavenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavenly/) [Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/) [Liberated Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberated-thought-3128055/) [Meals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meals/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Pilgrimage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pilgrimage/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Residents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/residents/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Respectful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respectful/) [Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual/) [Shrines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrines/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Theories Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theories-afterlife-3128056/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Upset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upset/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Without u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-u/) ## Related quotes > [“It's like Romeo & Juliet,' I say. 'You can't separate them. Otherwise, there would be no Shakespeare.' Silence. I decide to be more straightforward.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-pearl/it-s-like-romeo-juliet-i-say-you-can-t-separate-them-otherwise-there/) [Mariane Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-pearl/) > [The journey to sacred places is the most common way that people travel in India. They are always going on pilgrimages to sacred places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-l-eck/the-journey-to-sacred-places-is-the-most-common-way-that-people/) [Diana L. Eck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-l-eck/) > [If you went to the headwaters of most rivers of the United States, you'd have a wonderful naturalistic hike or trek, but you wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-l-eck/if-you-went-to-the-headwaters-of-most-rivers-of-the-united-states-you/) [Diana L. Eck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-l-eck/) > [For in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-in-their-hearts-doth-nature-stir-them-so-then-people-long-on/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/faith-is-not-the-clinging-to-a-shrine-but-an-endless-pilgrimage-of-2/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [The Negro and all things negroid had become a fad, and Harlem had become a shrine to which feverish pilgrimages were in order .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-thurman/the-negro-and-all-things-negroid-had-become-a-fad-and-harlem-had/) [Wallace Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-thurman/) > [Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart. Audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/faith-is-not-the-clinging-to-a-shrine-but-an-endless-pilgrimage-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [Patriotic feelings will surely swell, prompting proud proclamations of the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice shared by the Framers and reflected in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/patriotic-feelings-will-surely-swell-prompting-proud-proclamations-of/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Be kind to all beings, this is more meritorious than bathing at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage and donating money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/be-kind-to-all-beings-this-is-more-meritorious-than-bathing-at-the/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [Know with certainty that there is a God, and that there exists a world beyond this one - the world of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ostad-elahi/know-with-certainty-that-there-is-a-god-and-that-there-exists-a-world/) [Ostad Elahi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ostad-elahi/) > [“We cannot know with certainty if God or Chris exists. They COULD. Then again, there COULD be a giant reptilian bird in charge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/south-park/we-cannot-know-with-certainty-if-god-or-chris-exists-they-could-then/) [South Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/south-park/) > [Faith to me is having absolute certainty that God is in control of my life and that He has my best interests at heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ellis/faith-to-me-is-having-absolute-certainty-that-god-is-in-control-of-my/) [Dan Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ellis/) > [“We cannot know with certainty if God or Christ exist. The COULD. Then again, there COULD be a giant reptilian bird in charge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/south-park/we-cannot-know-with-certainty-if-god-or-christ-exist-the-could-then/) [South Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/south-park/) > [“The certainty of God is beyond a creed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-certainty-of-god-is-beyond-a-creed/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I was simply liberated by the thought that there might be a way to engage with religion without having to subscribe to its supernatural content - a way, to put it in more abstract terms, to think about Fathers without upsetting my respectful memory of my own father. I recognized that my continuing resistance to theories of an afterlife or of heavenly residents was no justification for giving up on the music, buildings, prayers, rituals, feasts, shrines, pilgrimages, communal meals and illustrated manuscripts of the faiths.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god-did-not-exist-i-was-simply/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstract" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god-did-not-exist-i-was-simply/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e37/alain-de-botton-221_abstract_i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god_2755039.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never wavered in my certainty that God did not exist. I was simply liberated by the thought that there…” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I never wavered in my certainty...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god-did-not-exist-i-was-simply/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-never-wavered-in-my-certainty-that-god-did-not-exist-i-was-simply/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```