--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The things I believed in dont exist any…" description: "\"The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend that they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys at Da..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/cormac-mccarthy-181_chimneys_the-things-i-believed-in-dont-exist-any_839920.jpg" --- # The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish… ![“The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend that they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys at Dachau but I was too infatuated to see it. I see it now.” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/cormac-mccarthy-181_chimneys_the-things-i-believed-in-dont-exist-any_839920.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/cormac-mccarthy-181_chimneys_the-things-i-believed-in-dont-exist-any_839920.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/cormac-mccarthy-181_chimneys_the-things-i-believed-in-dont-exist-any_839920.jpg) > “The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend that they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys at Dachau but I was too infatuated to see it. I see it now.” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on the collapse of belief systems and civilization, recognizing the futility of clinging to false pretenses. **In simple terms:** Beliefs and civilization can crumble, leaving emptiness. Key Takeaway Question the foundations of your beliefs. Themes disillusionment history nihilism Mood melancholic critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal essay - historical reflection - fictional narrative Key Concepts civilization decay personal crisis historical trauma Questions to Reflect On - How do you rebuild after loss? - What truths remain after collapse? A Different Perspective The statement may overgeneralize complex historical events. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Dachau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dachau/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [Western civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western-civilization/) ## Related quotes > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“Women ought to be religious; faith was the natural fragrance of their minds. The more incredible the things they believed, the more lovely was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/women-ought-to-be-religious-faith-was-the-natural-fragrance-of-their/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booth-tarkington/there-are-two-things-that-will-be-believed-of-any-man-whatsoever-and/) [Booth Tarkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booth-tarkington/) > [The higher truths are, the more cautious one must be with them; otherwise, they are converted into common things, and common things are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-gogol/the-higher-truths-are-the-more-cautious-one-must-be-with-them/) [Nikolai Gogol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-gogol/) > [I know three things will never be believed - the true, the probable, and the logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-know-three-things-will-never-be-believed-the-true-the-probable-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Greater things are believed of those who are absent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/greater-things-are-believed-of-those-who-are-absent/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [It's hard for me to hear about the things that I believed during my madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/it-s-hard-for-me-to-hear-about-the-things-that-i-believed-during-my/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [Some things have to be believed in order for them to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-things-have-to-be-believed-in-order-for-them-to-be-seen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I believed in Oxford, and cobblestoned squares, and old bricks thick with ivy, a nd rainy days curled up reading books. I believed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-st-james/i-believed-in-oxford-and-cobblestoned-squares-and-old-bricks-thick/) Simone St. James > [Some things have to be believed to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-hodgson/some-things-have-to-be-believed-to-be-seen/) [Ralph Hodgson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-hodgson/) > [The charm of Ronald Reagan is not just that he kept telling us screwy things, it was that he believed them all. No wonder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-charm-of-ronald-reagan-is-not-just-that-he-kept-telling-us-screwy/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [“My first and last philosophy ... I learnt in the nursery... The things I believed then, the things I believe most now, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/my-first-and-last-philosophy-i-learnt-in-the-nursery-the-things-i/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“Some things have to be believed in to be seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-hodgson/some-things-have-to-be-believed-in-to-be-seen/) [Ralph Hodgson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-hodgson/) > [Yet simple souls, their faith it knows no stint: Things least to be believed are most preferred. All counterfeits, as from truth's sacred mint,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/yet-simple-souls-their-faith-it-knows-no-stint-things-least-to-be/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) > [“Jesus Hollywood believed in a lot of things. He believed that the stars in the sky were only ghostly images of dead things. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-noelle-long/jesus-hollywood-believed-in-a-lot-of-things-he-believed-that-the/) [Shannon Noelle Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-noelle-long/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Chimneys quotes > [I'd like to start with the chimney jokes - I've got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/i-d-like-to-start-with-the-chimney-jokes-i-ve-got-a-stack-of-them-the/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [Most religion-mongers have bated their paradises with a bit of toasted cheese. They have tempted the body with large promises of possessions in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/most-religion-mongers-have-bated-their-paradises-with-a-bit-of/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Its tall chimneys throw up black smoke, impregnating everything with soot, and the miners' faces as they traveled the streets were also imbued with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-tall-chimneys-throw-up-black-smoke-impregnating-everything-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Walking the streets on winter nights kept him warm, despite the cold nocturnal passions of uprising winds. His footsteps led between trade-marked houses, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/walking-the-streets-on-winter-nights-kept-him-warm-despite-the-cold/) [Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/) > [Been having a fight with your blankets, Septimus?" A familiar voice echoed down the chimney. "Looks like you lost," the voice continued with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/been-having-a-fight-with-your-blankets-septimus-a-familiar-voice/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [By the year 1670, wooden chimneys and log houses of the Plymouth and Bay colonies were replaced by more sightly houses of two stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/by-the-year-1670-wooden-chimneys-and-log-houses-of-the-plymouth-and/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [P.S. If it's not a secret, will you tell me how you got my dollhouse inside our living room last Christmas? I know its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-fluke/p-s-if-it-s-not-a-secret-will-you-tell-me-how-you-got-my-dollhouse/) [Joanne Fluke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-fluke/) > [One sparrow is worth a thousand gulls, When it sings. The gull sits on chimney-tops. He mocks the guinea, challenges The crow, inciting various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/one-sparrow-is-worth-a-thousand-gulls-when-it-sings-the-gull-sits-on/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A cold blast hit him and he laughed at the sting as he stepped outside, surveyed the night sky, and drank deeply. Such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/a-cold-blast-hit-him-and-he-laughed-at-the-sting-as-he-stepped/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [There's no way the new chimney will fall down, Lu. Not with you in charge. It wouldn't dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/there-s-no-way-the-new-chimney-will-fall-down-lu-not-with-you-in/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [We all ought to understand we're on our own. Believing in Santa Claus doesn't do kids any harm for a few years but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/we-all-ought-to-understand-we-re-on-our-own-believing-in-santa-claus/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [Christmas Pie Lo! now is come our joyfull'st feast! Let every man be jolly; Each room with ivy leaves is dressed, And every post…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wither/christmas-pie-lo-now-is-come-our-joyfull-st-feast-let-every-man-be/) [George Wither](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wither/) > [The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o'clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-winter-evening-settles-down-with-smell-of-steaks-in-passageways/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If SANTA CLAUS came down the chimney in a f\*\*king jogging suit, you wouldn't even know it was him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-coyne/if-santa-claus-came-down-the-chimney-in-a-f-king-jogging-suit-you/) [Wayne Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-coyne/) Browse all 140 Chimneys quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend that they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys at Dachau but I was too infatuated to see it. 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