--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: About once or twice every month I engage…" description: "\"“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07c/christopher-hitchens-117_afterlife_about-once-or-twice-every-month-i-engage_2915270.jpg" --- # About once or twice every month I engage in public debates… ![“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07c/christopher-hitchens-117_afterlife_about-once-or-twice-every-month-i-engage_2915270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07c/christopher-hitchens-117_afterlife_about-once-or-twice-every-month-i-engage_2915270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07c/christopher-hitchens-117_afterlife_about-once-or-twice-every-month-i-engage_2915270.jpg) > ““About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough—and even miraculous enough if you insist—I attract pitying looks and anxious questions. How, in that case, I am asked, do I find meaning and purpose in life? How does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about? Depending on my mood, I sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. (It is on a par with the equally subtle inquiry: Since you don't believe in our god, what stops you from stealing and lying and raping and killing to your heart's content?) Just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others—while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity—so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. Whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. Enough.”” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that meaning arises from human relationships, creativity, and moral responsibility, not from supernatural belief. **In simple terms:** Meaning comes from love, art, and helping others. Key Takeaway Cultivate connections and purpose. Themes meaningity humanism morality existentialism Mood thoughtful defiant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Friendship - parenthood - creative work - activism - philosophical inquiry Key Concepts Secular ethics personal fulfillment social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life purpose? - How do you find value without religion? A Different Perspective Critics may claim moral relativism without a divine anchor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Day life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-life/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Everyday life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday-life/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Existentialist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialist/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Friendship Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship-love/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living Existentialist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-existentialist-4219844/) [Materialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialism/) [Meaning of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-of-life/) [Meaninglessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaninglessness/) [Meaninglessness Futility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaninglessness-futility-4219842/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Natural world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-world/) [Naturalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalism/) [Purpose In Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-in-life/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Secular-ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular-ethics/) [Self respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-respect/) [Stealing And Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stealing-and-lying-220740/) [Supernatural Nonentities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supernatural-nonentities-4219843/) [Supernaturalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supernaturalism/) ## Related quotes > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Atheists are the most honest of the human race. These people are unable to live a double life; they are unable to lie to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/atheists-are-the-most-honest-of-the-human-race-these-people-are/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Don’t curse the gods; you will feel shame when you have to call on them for help”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/don-t-curse-the-gods-you-will-feel-shame-when-you-have-to-call-on/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“God has not yet revealed himself to no one in no unclear terms. Religions are attempts to find him; on that level they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/god-has-not-yet-revealed-himself-to-no-one-in-no-unclear-terms/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“All religions are man-made; God has not yet revealed himself beyond doubt to anybody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/all-religions-are-man-made-god-has-not-yet-revealed-himself-beyond/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“There is nothing behind the curtains of religions, people put there whatever their imaginations can fathom”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/there-is-nothing-behind-the-curtains-of-religions-people-put-there/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Why doesn't the pope convert to Calvinism? Why doesn't the Dalai Lama, convert to Christianity, why doesn't Billy Graham convert to Islam, Why doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/why-doesn-t-the-pope-convert-to-calvinism-why-doesn-t-the-dalai-lama/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Each mind conceives god in its own way. There may be as many variation of the god figure as there are people in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/each-mind-conceives-god-in-its-own-way-there-may-be-as-many-variation/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Don't create unbelief or doubt in people's minds. When you do so you ruin their lives and you have nothing to give them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/don-t-create-unbelief-or-doubt-in-people-s-minds-when-you-do-so-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-believe-that-god-is-not-a-private-property-of-anybody-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Christian values were important at home. Cleanliness. Don't steal. Don't lie. Those were the rules, and they were strictly enforced. Especially the stealing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-cliff/christian-values-were-important-at-home-cleanliness-don-t-steal-don-t/) [Jimmy Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-cliff/) > [“As you say of yourself, I too am an Epicurean . I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/as-you-say-of-yourself-i-too-am-an-epicurean-i-consider-the-genuine/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“The goodness of people depends on the intentions of their brains and not on their religion or ancestry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merlin-franco/the-goodness-of-people-depends-on-the-intentions-of-their-brains-and/) [Merlin Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merlin-franco/) > [Admittedly, I do have several bones... whole war fields full of bones, in fact... to pick with organised religion of whatever stripe. This should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/admittedly-i-do-have-several-bones-whole-war-fields-full-of-bones-in/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“I have gained this by philosophy; I do without being ordered what some are constrained to do by their fear of the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/i-have-gained-this-by-philosophy-i-do-without-being-ordered-what-some/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Christopher Hitchens > [“The spirit of our accurate and exact philosophy is outraged by conclusions that contradict each other so glaringly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-spirit-of-our-accurate-and-exact-philosophy-is-outraged-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-the-very-recent-past-we-have-seen-the-church-of-rome-befouled-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's surprising to me how many of my friends send Christmas cards, or holiday cards, including my atheist and secular friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-surprising-to-me-how-many-of-my-friends-send-christmas-cards-or/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Suppose there were groups of secularists at hospitals who went round the terminally ill and urged them to adopt atheism: 'Don't be a mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/suppose-there-were-groups-of-secularists-at-hospitals-who-went-round/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“It isn’t so long since a test of Anglican orthodoxy was applied to anyone seeking to study or teach at Oxford and Cambridge universities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-isn-t-so-long-since-a-test-of-anglican-orthodoxy-was-applied-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's much worse to see a woman drunk than a man: I don't know quite why this is true but it just is. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-much-worse-to-see-a-woman-drunk-than-a-man-i-don-t-know-quite/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-worked-out-early-on-to-give-up-things-i-couldn-t-do-well-at-all/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Writing is what's important to me, and anything that helps me do that - or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/writing-is-what-s-important-to-me-and-anything-that-helps-me-do-that/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Explore all 1,241 Christopher Hitchens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More Afterlife quotes > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“There was no attack on religion because people were generally indifferent to religion. They were neither hot nor cold. They were the tepid, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/there-was-no-attack-on-religion-because-people-were-generally/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [I guess on one hand I believe it doesn't matter if there is life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morton/i-guess-on-one-hand-i-believe-it-doesn-t-matter-if-there-is-life/) [Joe Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morton/) > [“And what if there are only spiders there, or something of that sort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-what-if-there-are-only-spiders-there-or-something-of-that-sort/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“The obsession with the afterlife is born of a panic at not having memories of a before-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-obsession-with-the-afterlife-is-born-of-a-panic-at-not-having/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn’t bare the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-i-thought-wanted-security-they-couldn-t-bare-the-idea-of-death/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/some-people-are-so-stiff-and-inhumane-as-the-dogma-s-they-believe-in/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Sometimes I think the resurrection of the body, unless much improved in construction, a mistake!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/sometimes-i-think-the-resurrection-of-the-body-unless-much-improved/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [“One's past can't be erased, it can only be learned from, the child taught her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-balcomb/one-s-past-can-t-be-erased-it-can-only-be-learned-from-the-child/) [H. L. Balcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-balcomb/) > [It was like I’d stepped out into an afterlife. Only there were no angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/it-was-like-i-d-stepped-out-into-an-afterlife-only-there-were-no/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [“death is predestined for all mortals. Souls live forever, but the body does not. Unless you are immortal, both the soul and body are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yelle-hughes/death-is-predestined-for-all-mortals-souls-live-forever-but-the-body/) [Yelle Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yelle-hughes/) [Browse all 844 Afterlife quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough—and even miraculous enough if you insist—I attract pitying looks and anxious questions. How, in that case, I am asked, do I find meaning and purpose in life? How does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about? Depending on my mood, I sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. (It is on a par with the equally subtle inquiry: Since you don't believe in our god, what stops you from stealing and lying and raping and killing to your heart's content?) Just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others—while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity—so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. Whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. 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