---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It doesn't interest me if there is one…"
description: "\"It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others.\" ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg"
---

#  It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I…

![“It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others.” quote by David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg)

> “It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others.”

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

## 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 cares more about personal connection and shared suffering than theological debate, seeking belonging and empathy in hardship.

**In simple terms:** Seeking belonging over belief.

Key Takeaway

Prioritize empathy and shared experience.

Themes

belonging empathy existential religion human connection

Mood

reflective empathetic

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- counseling
- support groups
- friendship
- community building

Key Concepts

existentialism psychology spirituality

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you offer support to those feeling abandoned?
- What does belonging mean to you?

A Different Perspective

Focus on belief may overlook deeper human needs.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/)

## Related quotes

> [People are gods, God is in each of us, we are all gods as we want to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-mircevski-spasov/people-are-gods-god-is-in-each-of-us-we-are-all-gods-as-we-want-to-be/)

[Miroslav Mircevski Spasov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-mircevski-spasov/)

> [I just feel abandoned. And I feel, I don't feel represented by the Republican Party. I have always had to defend the social side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-johnson/i-just-feel-abandoned-and-i-feel-i-don-t-feel-represented-by-the/)

[Gary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-johnson/)

> [The need to be loved and protected is at a peak when we feel abandoned and are particularly vulnerable to difficult circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uta-hagen/the-need-to-be-loved-and-protected-is-at-a-peak-when-we-feel/)

[Uta Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uta-hagen/)

> [To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/to-feel-abandoned-is-to-deny-the-intimacy-of-your-surroundings/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/sadly-enough-my-young-friends-it-is-a-characteristic-of-our-age-that/)

[Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/)

> [“Those who erase God…must be gods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/those-who-erase-god-must-be-gods/)

[Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/)

> [Oh Lord,You alone are my mother,father,brother,friend,the knowledge and welth. You are everything to me and the God of all gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upanishadic-mantra/oh-lord-you-alone-are-my-mother-father-brother-friend-the-knowledge/)

Upanishadic Mantra

> [My god is all gods in one. When I see a beautiful sunset, I worship the god of Nature; when I see a hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/my-god-is-all-gods-in-one-when-i-see-a-beautiful-sunset-i-worship-the/)

[Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/)

> [The Greeks understood perfectly that if there were divine beings they are capricious, unkind, malicious mostly, temperamental, envious and mostly deeply unpleasant because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-greeks-understood-perfectly-that-if-there-were-divine-beings-they/)

[Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/)

> [God is one; there are not many Gods, one for each tribe among men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/god-is-one-there-are-not-many-gods-one-for-each-tribe-among-men/)

[Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/)

> [“When we feel used and abused, the Bible says we are loved. When we feel abandoned, the Bible says we are never alone. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-schultz/when-we-feel-used-and-abused-the-bible-says-we-are-loved-when-we-feel/)

[Teresa Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-schultz/)

> [Today I feel abandoned,ugly,hurt,like I dont matter,useless,invisible,like I dont belong, not worthy of love, hopeless, unappreciated , number. NEVERMIND I FEEL LIKE THIS EVERYDAY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-i-feel-abandoned-ugly-hurt-like-i-dont-matter-useless-invisible/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“You are not abandoned until you feel that you are! - On Being Abandoned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamine-pearlheart/you-are-not-abandoned-until-you-feel-that-you-are-on-being-abandoned/)

[Lamine Pearlheart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamine-pearlheart/)

> [When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in spite of your feelings, you worship him in the deepest way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/when-you-feel-abandoned-by-god-yet-continue-to-trust-him-in-spite-of/)

[Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/)

> [Why care about anything if everything is only temporary? Nothing is ever going to go right, you're a little too used to being alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larissa-derrah/why-care-about-anything-if-everything-is-only-temporary-nothing-is/)

Larissa Derrah

## More by David Whyte

> [“The poet lives and writes at the frontier between deep internal experience and the revelations of the outer world. There is no going back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-poet-lives-and-writes-at-the-frontier-between-deep-internal/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [I returned to poetry as a more precise way to describe the world, more precise than science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/i-returned-to-poetry-as-a-more-precise-way-to-describe-the-world-more/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [What if the world is holding its breath - waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/what-if-the-world-is-holding-its-breath-waiting-for-you-to-take-the/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [What you plan is too small for you to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/what-you-plan-is-too-small-for-you-to-live/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“It is not the thing you fear that you must deal with, it is the mother of the thing you fear. The very thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-is-not-the-thing-you-fear-that-you-must-deal-with-it-is-the-mother/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [Heartbreak is our indication of sincerity: in a love relationship, in a work, in trying to learn a musical instrument, in the attempt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/heartbreak-is-our-indication-of-sincerity-in-a-love-relationship-in-a/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [The frail, vulnerable sounds of which we are capable seem to be essential to a later ability to roar like a lion without scaring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-frail-vulnerable-sounds-of-which-we-are-capable-seem-to-be/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [A good poem has its own life. It's like bringing a child into the world. You, the poet, birthed the child, but the child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/a-good-poem-has-its-own-life-it-s-like-bringing-a-child-into-the/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“Work, like marriage, is a place you can lose yourself more easily perhaps than finding yourself. It is a place full of powerful undercurrents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/work-like-marriage-is-a-place-you-can-lose-yourself-more-easily/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [The moment you’ve uttered the exact dimensionality of your exile, you’re already turning towards home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-moment-you-ve-uttered-the-exact-dimensionality-of-your-exile-you/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“...wanting soul life without the dark, warming intelligence of personal doubt is like expecting an egg without the brooding heat of the mother hen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/wanting-soul-life-without-the-dark-warming-intelligence-of-personal/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [It's my contention that there is no sincere path a human being can take without breaking his or her heart...so it can be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-s-my-contention-that-there-is-no-sincere-path-a-human-being-can/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“FINISTERRE The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken, into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/finisterre-the-road-in-the-end-taking-the-path-the-sun-had-taken-into/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“We can never know in the beginning, in giving ourselves to a person, to a work, to a marriage or to a cause, exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/we-can-never-know-in-the-beginning-in-giving-ourselves-to-a-person-to/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [“When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/when-your-eyes-are-tired-the-world-is-tired-also-when-your-vision-has/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

[Explore all 129 David Whyte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

## More Abandoned quotes

> [“I'm surprised when I walk right into yet another abandoned hunters' camp. Tattered plastic sheeting still hangs askew here and there. Blackened aerosol cans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bass/i-m-surprised-when-i-walk-right-into-yet-another-abandoned-hunters/)

[Rick Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bass/)

> [It’s hard to feel attracted to someone who has abandoned her sense of autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/it-s-hard-to-feel-attracted-to-someone-who-has-abandoned-her-sense-of/)

[Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/)

> [When good media takes a bounded form, and comes once in a period of time, it begs to be consumed as a whole -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-battelle/when-good-media-takes-a-bounded-form-and-comes-once-in-a-period-of/)

[John Battelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-battelle/)

> [In Russia there is an emigration of intelligence: émigrés cross the frontier in order to read and to write good books. But in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-russia-there-is-an-emigration-of-intelligence-migr-s-cross-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Early on in my life, I had a broken soul. I was abused by my father, abandoned by my mother and ended up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/early-on-in-my-life-i-had-a-broken-soul-i-was-abused-by-my-father/)

[Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/)

> [We should be recklessly abandoned to Jesus, and just turn it over to Him. Through the support I think the sacrifices will be made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacie-orrico/we-should-be-recklessly-abandoned-to-jesus-and-just-turn-it-over-to/)

[Stacie Orrico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacie-orrico/)

> [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [The whole force of the respectable circles to which I belonged, that respectable circle which knew as I did notthe value of security won,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-tarbell/the-whole-force-of-the-respectable-circles-to-which-i-belonged-that/)

[Ida Tarbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-tarbell/)

> [Barack Obama became president, and he abandoned Iraq. He left, and when he left Al Qaida was done for. ISIS was created because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/barack-obama-became-president-and-he-abandoned-iraq-he-left-and-when/)

[Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/)

> [“The desperate loneliness is nothing compared to the torture of falling in love and then being abandoned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-nuest/the-desperate-loneliness-is-nothing-compared-to-the-torture-of/)

A.J. Nuest

> [Through it all, this wild life on and off the road , through Jordanian deserts , Spanish islands, German prisons, Caribbean tax scams, halls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-burdon/through-it-all-this-wild-life-on-and-off-the-road-through-jordanian/)

[Eric Burdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-burdon/)

> [I've never been keen on open adoption. It doesn't seem to solve the main problem with adoption, which is that somebody feels she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-ve-never-been-keen-on-open-adoption-it-doesn-t-seem-to-solve-the/)

[Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/)

> [Blacks abandoned morals, fathers, and real belief in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-peterson/blacks-abandoned-morals-fathers-and-real-belief-in-god/)

[Jesse Lee Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-peterson/)

> [I just feel abandoned. And I feel, I don't feel represented by the Republican Party. I have always had to defend the social side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-johnson/i-just-feel-abandoned-and-i-feel-i-don-t-feel-represented-by-the/)

[Gary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-johnson/)

> [While society cannot provide employment for its members, the production/work/income nexus has to be abandoned as a justification for our present parsimony to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/while-society-cannot-provide-employment-for-its-members-the/)

[Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/)

Browse all 932 Abandoned quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "David Whyte"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-god-or-many-gods-i-want-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Abandoned"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-god-or-many-gods-i-want-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/david-whyte-3502_abandoned_it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-g_1147937.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If…” — David Whyte",
                "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": "David Whyte",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It doesn't interest me if there...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-god-or-many-gods-i-want-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/it-doesn-t-interest-me-if-there-is-one-god-or-many-gods-i-want-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
