--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not consider myself a religious…" description: "\"“I do not consider myself a religious person, because I don't adhere to a particular religion or faith or prescribed beliefs, as did my father, who was..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/amy-tan-730_collective-unconscio_i-do-not-consider-myself-a-religious-per_1470933.jpg" --- # I do not consider myself a religious person, because I… ![“I do not consider myself a religious person, because I don't adhere to a particular religion or faith or prescribed beliefs, as did my father, who was a Baptist minister. And I am not an atheist, one who thinks that belief in anything beyond the here and now and the rational is delusion. I love…” quote by Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/amy-tan-730_collective-unconscio_i-do-not-consider-myself-a-religious-per_1470933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/amy-tan-730_collective-unconscio_i-do-not-consider-myself-a-religious-per_1470933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/amy-tan-730_collective-unconscio_i-do-not-consider-myself-a-religious-per_1470933.jpg) > ““I do not consider myself a religious person, because I don't adhere to a particular religion or faith or prescribed beliefs, as did my father, who was a Baptist minister. And I am not an atheist, one who thinks that belief in anything beyond the here and now and the rational is delusion. I love science, but I allow for mystery, things that can never be proven by a rational mind. I am a person who thinks about the nature of the spirit when I write. I think about what can't be known and only imagined. I often sense a spirit or force or meaning beyond myself. I leave it open as to what the spirit is, but I continue to make guesses -- that it could be the universal binding of the emotion of love, or a joyful quality of humanity, or a collective unconscious that turns out to be a unified conscience. The spirit could be all those worshiped by all the religions, even those that deny the validity of others. It could be that we all exist in all ten dimensions of a string-theory universe and are seeding memories in all of them and occupy them simultaneously as memory. Or we exist only as thought and out perception that it is a physical world is a delusion. The nature of spirit could also be my mother and my grandmother and that they really do serve as my muses as I fondly imagine them doing at times. Or maybe the nature of the spirit is a freer imagination. I've often thought that imagination was the conduit to compassion, and compassion is a true spiritual nature. Whatever the spirit might be, I am not basing what I do in this life on any expected reward or punishment in the hereafter or thereafter. It is enough that I feel blessed -- and by whom or what I don't know -- but I receive it with gratitude that I am a writer and my work is to imagine all the possibilities.”” [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker embraces a personal, non‑dogmatic spirituality, acknowledging mystery, imagination, and compassion without aligning to a specific religion or atheism. **In simple terms:** She sees spirit as mystery, imagination, love, and compassion, not tied to doctrine. Key Takeaway Explore your own sense of spirit beyond labels. Themes spirituality imagination compassion identity science religion Mood thoughtful curious reflective Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - creative writing - personal reflection - philosophical inquiry - interfaith dialogue - scientific curiosity Key Concepts non‑dogmatic belief mystery collective unconscious imagination as conduit compassion as spiritual Questions to Reflect On - What does “spirit” mean to you beyond religion? - How can imagination foster compassion? A Different Perspective A purely rational worldview may dismiss valuable emotional and cultural insights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheist Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist-thinks-2248958/) [Collective unconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collective-unconscious/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-person/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Spirit Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-write-1154989/) [Spiritual nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-nature/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Thinks Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-belief-2287162/) [Thought Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-imagination-665305/) ## Related quotes > [I AM A PERSON WHO THINKS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT WHEN I WRITE. I THINK ABOUT WHAT CAN'T BE KNOWN AND ONLY…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-am-a-person-who-thinks-about-the-nature-of-the-spirit-when-i-write/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/a-nation-which-thinks-that-it-is-belief-in-god-and-not-good-law-which/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [An Atheists loves himself and his fellow man instead of a god. An Atheist thinks that heaven is something for which we should work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/an-atheists-loves-himself-and-his-fellow-man-instead-of-a-god-an/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [No it's not!" said Constable Visit. "Atheism is a denial of a god." "Therefore It Is A Religious Position," said Dorfl. "Indeed, A True…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/no-it-s-not-said-constable-visit-atheism-is-a-denial-of-a-god/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Write down in a secure place the important things you learn from the Spirit. You will find that as you write down precious impressions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/write-down-in-a-secure-place-the-important-things-you-learn-from-the/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [“Our body does get old, but our spirit, never. If we write well enough, we might even live forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aa-patawaran/our-body-does-get-old-but-our-spirit-never-if-we-write-well-enough-we/) [AA Patawaran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aa-patawaran/) > [“There is no storm in the depth of illuminated thought. Everything is 'above', for what is 'below' is nothing but imagination for those without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-s-34th-ode/there-is-no-storm-in-the-depth-of-illuminated-thought-everything-is/) [Solomon's 34th Ode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-s-34th-ode/) > [“As for me, I feel myself living and thinking in a room where everything is the creation and the language of lives profoundly different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/as-for-me-i-feel-myself-living-and-thinking-in-a-room-where/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-imagination-but-by-opinion/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Measure, time and number are nothing but modes of thought or rather of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/measure-time-and-number-are-nothing-but-modes-of-thought-or-rather-of/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both in the market place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-a-juvenile-notion-that-a-society-needs-a-lofty-purpose-and-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Multitasking, throughput, efficiency - these are excellent machine concepts, useful in the design of computer systems. But are they principles that nurture human thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/multitasking-throughput-efficiency-these-are-excellent-machine/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [No matter how mistaken Communist ideas may be, the experience and knowledge gained by trying them out have given a tremendous impetus to thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-mistaken-communist-ideas-may-be-the-experience-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But life is glorious when it is happy; days are carefree when they are happy; the interplay of thought and imagination is far superior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/but-life-is-glorious-when-it-is-happy-days-are-carefree-when-they-are/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I'm just trying to rid the world of all these fevered egos that are tainting our collective unconscious...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-m-just-trying-to-rid-the-world-of-all-these-fevered-egos-that-are/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) ## More by Amy Tan > [So sad! This is the saddest part when you lose someone you love- that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/so-sad-this-is-the-saddest-part-when-you-lose-someone-you-love-that/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Too many good things all seem the same after a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/too-many-good-things-all-seem-the-same-after-a-while/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“bad, how likely is it to come”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/bad-how-likely-is-it-to-come/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/a-mother-is-always-the-beginning-she-is-how-things-begin/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. That becomes part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/shanghainese-people-are-good-negotiators-they-re-very-persistent-and/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [But now that I am old, moving every year closer to the end of my life, I also feel closer to the beginning. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/but-now-that-i-am-old-moving-every-year-closer-to-the-end-of-my-life/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/you-should-think-about-your-character-know-where-you-are-changing-how/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/now-you-see-said-the-turtle-drifting-back-into-the-pond-why-it-is/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-hid-my-deepest-feelings-so-well-i-forgot-where-i-placed-them/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“Lebih baik jadi orang yang TIDAK TERLUPAKAN daripada orang yang MEMBOSANKAN -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/lebih-baik-jadi-orang-yang-tidak-terlupakan-daripada-orang-yang/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/after-all-bao-bomu-says-what-is-the-past-but-what-we-choose-to/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [We all become different readers in how we respond to books, why we need them, what we take from them. We become different in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/we-all-become-different-readers-in-how-we-respond-to-books-why-we/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“I was no longer scared. I could see what was inside me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-was-no-longer-scared-i-could-see-what-was-inside-me/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [When I go back and read my journals or fiction, I am always surprised. I may not remember having those thoughts, but they still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/when-i-go-back-and-read-my-journals-or-fiction-i-am-always-surprised/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-am-ashamed-she-is-ashamed-because-she-is-my-daughter-and-i-am-proud/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) [Explore all 383 Amy Tan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## More Collective unconscious quotes > [I'm just trying to rid the world of all these fevered egos that are tainting our collective unconscious...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-m-just-trying-to-rid-the-world-of-all-these-fevered-egos-that-are/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [The writing is the springboard for your intuitive stuff and then you see, maybe a colour of what you want to achieve. Then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-richardson/the-writing-is-the-springboard-for-your-intuitive-stuff-and-then-you/) [Miranda Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-richardson/) > [“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but my experience belongs to me, not the collective bloody unconscious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-m-sorry-to-disappoint-you-but-my-experience-belongs-to-me-not-the/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Summertime, I think, is a collective unconscious. We all remember the notes that made up the song of the ice-cream man; we all know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/summertime-i-think-is-a-collective-unconscious-we-all-remember-the/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“As human beings, we are connected in many ways to each other, to the nature that surrounds us and to the outermost parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevan-v-nikolic/as-human-beings-we-are-connected-in-many-ways-to-each-other-to-the/) [Stevan V. Nikolic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevan-v-nikolic/) > [Some people talk about children wanting to be born as though somewhere out there in the collective unconscious there's a spirit, or a thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-marie-macdonald/some-people-talk-about-children-wanting-to-be-born-as-though/) [Ann-Marie MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-marie-macdonald/) > [The Internet has usurped the collective unconscious and access to cosmic consciousness has become difficult and almost primitive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/the-internet-has-usurped-the-collective-unconscious-and-access-to/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [Jung even asserted that he would have no objection to regarding the psyche as a quality of matter and matter as a concrete aspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-louise-von-franz/jung-even-asserted-that-he-would-have-no-objection-to-regarding-the/) [Marie-Louise von Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-louise-von-franz/) > [You have many years ahead of you to create the dreams that we can't even imagine dreaming. You have done more for the collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/you-have-many-years-ahead-of-you-to-create-the-dreams-that-we-can-t/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [I think everyone's pretty much the same underneath. The collective unconscious is a real thing. There's only a few emotions, and we all have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliana-hatfield/i-think-everyone-s-pretty-much-the-same-underneath-the-collective/) [Juliana Hatfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliana-hatfield/) > [The God-image in man was not destroyed by the Fall but was only damaged and corrupted (“deformed”), and can be restored through God's grace.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-god-image-in-man-was-not-destroyed-by-the-fall-but-was-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [America was founded by puritans and like it or not the anti-pleasure dogma of those buckled-shoed killjoys still pervades our collective unconscious like an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/america-was-founded-by-puritans-and-like-it-or-not-the-anti-pleasure/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [For me, synchronicity is a way of confirming the rightness of action. It is only in its absence that I realize I'm out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-bantock/for-me-synchronicity-is-a-way-of-confirming-the-rightness-of-action/) [Nick Bantock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-bantock/) > [“But only part of him was listening. Another part, even if it hadn't read Chomsky or Jung or Sheldrake—who had time for dead guys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/but-only-part-of-him-was-listening-another-part-even-if-it-hadn-t/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [“I feel as though dispossessed from the semblances of some crystalline reality to which I’d grown accustomed, and to some degree, had engaged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/i-feel-as-though-dispossessed-from-the-semblances-of-some-crystalline/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) [Browse all 74 Collective unconscious quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collective-unconscious/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I do not consider myself a religious person, because I don't adhere to a particular religion or faith or prescribed beliefs, as did my father, who was a Baptist minister. And I am not an atheist, one who thinks that belief in anything beyond the here and now and the rational is delusion. I love science, but I allow for mystery, things that can never be proven by a rational mind. I am a person who thinks about the nature of the spirit when I write. I think about what can't be known and only imagined. I often sense a spirit or force or meaning beyond myself. I leave it open as to what the spirit is, but I continue to make guesses -- that it could be the universal binding of the emotion of love, or a joyful quality of humanity, or a collective unconscious that turns out to be a unified conscience. The spirit could be all those worshiped by all the religions, even those that deny the validity of others. It could be that we all exist in all ten dimensions of a string-theory universe and are seeding memories in all of them and occupy them simultaneously as memory. Or we exist only as thought and out perception that it is a physical world is a delusion. The nature of spirit could also be my mother and my grandmother and that they really do serve as my muses as I fondly imagine them doing at times. Or maybe the nature of the spirit is a freer imagination. I've often thought that imagination was the conduit to compassion, and compassion is a true spiritual nature. Whatever the spirit might be, I am not basing what I do in this life on any expected reward or punishment in the hereafter or thereafter. 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