--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My generation was born into a world where…" description: "\"“My generation was born into a world where those with a heart as well as a brain couldn’t find any support. The destructive work of previous generation..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/fernando-pessoa-177_christian-faith_my-generation-was-born-into-a-world-wher_720485.jpg" --- # My generation was born into a world where those with a… ![“My generation was born into a world where those with a heart as well as a brain couldn’t find any support. The destructive work of previous generations left us a world that offered no security in the religious sphere, no guidance in the moral sphere, and no peace in the political sphere. We were…” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/fernando-pessoa-177_christian-faith_my-generation-was-born-into-a-world-wher_720485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/fernando-pessoa-177_christian-faith_my-generation-was-born-into-a-world-wher_720485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/fernando-pessoa-177_christian-faith_my-generation-was-born-into-a-world-wher_720485.jpg) > ““My generation was born into a world where those with a heart as well as a brain couldn’t find any support. The destructive work of previous generations left us a world that offered no security in the religious sphere, no guidance in the moral sphere, and no peace in the political sphere. We were born into the midst of metaphysical anguish, moral anxiety and political disquietude. Inebriated with objective formulas, with the mere methods of reason and science, the generations that preceded us did away with the foundations of the Christian faith, since their biblical criticism – progressing from textual to mythological criticism – reduced the gospels and the earlier scriptures of the Jews to a doubtful heap of myths, legends and mere literature, while their scientific criticism gradually revealed the mistakes and ingenuous notions of the gospels’ primitive ‘science’. At the same time, the spirit of free inquiry brought all metaphysical problems out into the open, and with them all the religious problems that had to do with metaphysics. Drunk with a hazy notion they called ‘positivism’, these generations criticized all morality and scrutinized all rules of life, and all that remained from the clash of doctrines was the certainty of none of them and the grief over there being no certainty. A society so undisciplined in its cultural foundations could obviously not help but be a victim, politically, of its own chaos, and so we woke up to a world eager for social innovations, a world that gleefully pursued a freedom it didn’t grasp and a progress it had never defined.”” [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern rationalism eroded traditional religious certainty, leaving cultural anxiety and a yearning for new meaning. **In simple terms:** Rationalism left a spiritual void. Key Takeaway Seek authentic meaning beyond mere reason. Themes existential cultural philosophical faith uncertainty Mood melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic study - personal reflection - community dialogue - spiritual seeking Key Concepts modernity positivism metaphysics secularism Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance reason with faith? - What traditions can restore cultural grounding? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on reason can neglect emotional and spiritual needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christian faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-faith/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Rules of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-of-life/) [Social innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-innovation/) ## Related quotes > [Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself in all cases as the ages and generations which preceded it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/every-age-and-generation-must-be-as-free-to-act-for-itself-in-all/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [ “\[His research into biblical criticism had lead him to the conclusion that most of what was contained in traditional religion simply wasn't true\] Was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/his-research-into-biblical-criticism-had-lead-him-to-the-conclusion/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [Conservative New Testament studies could also provide an intellectually satisfying alternative to German biblical criticism and to the liberal theology that accompanied it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gresham-machen/conservative-new-testament-studies-could-also-provide-an/) [John Gresham Machen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gresham-machen/) > [I remember when I heard the words "Biblical criticism" in my town, it was with disdain: "Biblical criticism? How dare you?".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-remember-when-i-heard-the-words-biblical-criticism-in-my-town-it/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [ I became one of \[Moses Mendelssohn\] defenders. But then I heard the words "Biblical criticism" again. And, of course, afterward, I studied it more… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-became-one-of-moses-mendelssohn-defenders-but-then-i-heard-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [There is not one particular moment that can account for the shift from the social issue concerns of 19th-century evangelicals into the state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/there-is-not-one-particular-moment-that-can-account-for-the-shift/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [Our generation was born during the turmoil following the First World War. That war marked the dividing line - at least for the Western…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/our-generation-was-born-during-the-turmoil-following-the-first-world/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [My generation was a special generation. I was born in 1960 and in my childhood we were all big manga consumers that was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takashi-miike/my-generation-was-a-special-generation-i-was-born-in-1960-and-in-my/) [Takashi Miike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takashi-miike/) > [The man who thinks only of his own generation is born for few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-man-who-thinks-only-of-his-own-generation-is-born-for-few/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The present generation has been born into a throwaway society of consumers in which both goods and young people are increasingly objectified and disposable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-present-generation-has-been-born-into-a-throwaway-society-of/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I stand before you tonight as a young American, a proud American, of a generation born as the Cold War receded, shaped by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-castro/i-stand-before-you-tonight-as-a-young-american-a-proud-american-of-a/) [Julian Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-castro/) > [The generation now below me were born into a world where if you're a kid with raw talent now, you can roll in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/the-generation-now-below-me-were-born-into-a-world-where-if-you-re-a/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [A black man of my generation born in the late 1960s is more than twice as likely to go to prison in his lifetime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-forman-jr/a-black-man-of-my-generation-born-in-the-late-1960s-is-more-than/) [James Forman, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-forman-jr/) > [Every generation is born into, for the most part, a heterosexual family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/every-generation-is-born-into-for-the-most-part-a-heterosexual-family/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [My generation was born to work with social media - it's a natural part of our communication with the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-hadid/my-generation-was-born-to-work-with-social-media-it-s-a-natural-part/) [Anwar Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-hadid/) ## More by Fernando Pessoa > [Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-interests-me-but-nothing-holds-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“If only, I feel now, if only I could be someone able to see all this as if he had no other relation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-only-i-feel-now-if-only-i-could-be-someone-able-to-see-all-this-as/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [What's given, in fact, always depends on the person or thing it's given to. A minor incident in the street brings the cook to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-s-given-in-fact-always-depends-on-the-person-or-thing-it-s-given/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Smell is a strange sight. It evokes sentimental landscapes through a sudden sketching of the subconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/smell-is-a-strange-sight-it-evokes-sentimental-landscapes-through-a/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Tudo vale a pena quando a alma não é pequena”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tudo-vale-a-pena-quando-a-alma-n-o-pequena/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“no nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-nostalgia-hurts-as-much-as-nostalgia-for-things-that-never-existed/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The feelings that hurt most, the motions that sting most, are those that are absurd; the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-feelings-that-hurt-most-the-motions-that-sting-most-are-those/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“I try to say what I feel Without thinking about what I feel. I try to place words right next to my idea So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-try-to-say-what-i-feel-without-thinking-about-what-i-feel-i-try-to/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Have you ever considered, beloved other, how invisible we are to each other? We look at each other without seeing. We listen to each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/have-you-ever-considered-beloved-other-how-invisible-we-are-to-each/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“To associate is to die. Only my consciousness of myself is real for me; other people are hazy phenomena in this consciousness, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/to-associate-is-to-die-only-my-consciousness-of-myself-is-real-for-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“When it comes to dreams, I’m no different from the errand boy and the seamstress. The only thing that distinguishes me from them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/when-it-comes-to-dreams-i-m-no-different-from-the-errand-boy-and-the/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us, it seeps into us with every experience of the flesh and of life and, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-that-surrounds-us-becomes-part-of-us-it-seeps-into-us-with/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) [Explore all 781 Fernando Pessoa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## More Christian faith quotes > [All of my children are ideologically and politically in sync with me, they all have authentic Christian faith. It's something I'm very grateful for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/all-of-my-children-are-ideologically-and-politically-in-sync-with-me/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [What until recently seemed to be only the apocalyptic fantasies of the Christian faith has today entered the sphere of the soberest scientific calculations;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-brunner/what-until-recently-seemed-to-be-only-the-apocalyptic-fantasies-of/) [Emil Brunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-brunner/) > [It's essential that we learn how to defend the Bible and the Christian faith for our sake and our children's. If we don't, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/it-s-essential-that-we-learn-how-to-defend-the-bible-and-the/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [It's time for us to rise up, get out of the rut and routine, and begin to take our Christian faith seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/it-s-time-for-us-to-rise-up-get-out-of-the-rut-and-routine-and-begin/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/our-christian-faith-is-actually-very-subversive-of-the-conventional/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-m-morris/the-bodily-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-from-the-dead-is-the-crowning/) [Henry M. Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-m-morris/) > [And your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes, devoted to the holy Christian faith and the propagation thereof - and enemies of the sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/and-your-highnesses-as-catholic-christians-and-princes-devoted-to-the/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/all-the-stories-of-the-bible-that-i-know-came-to-me-first-from-my/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [My Christian faith is my backbone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-grylls/my-christian-faith-is-my-backbone/) [Bear Grylls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-grylls/) > [All Gaza's temples are torn down and burned and the city is cleansed of every belief but the Christian faith. The most stubborn opponents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsay-macmullen/all-gaza-s-temples-are-torn-down-and-burned-and-the-city-is-cleansed/) [Ramsay MacMullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsay-macmullen/) > [“I find it strangely comforting that walking the path of Christian faith means being confronted moment by moment with what is counterintuitive and ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-enns/i-find-it-strangely-comforting-that-walking-the-path-of-christian/) [Peter Enns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-enns/) > [“Once we understand that the activity in the spirit realm is more real than what we experience in this world, wonders like this will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-duval/once-we-understand-that-the-activity-in-the-spirit-realm-is-more-real/) Daniel Duval > [“LEAD PEOPLE TO COMMITMENT We have seen that nonbelievers in worship actually “close with Christ” in two basic ways: some may come to Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/lead-people-to-commitment-we-have-seen-that-nonbelievers-in-worship/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/our-society-is-illuminated-by-the-spiritual-insights-of-the-hebrew/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) [Browse all 422 Christian faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“My generation was born into a world where those with a heart as well as a brain couldn’t find any support. The destructive work of previous generations left us a world that offered no security in the religious sphere, no guidance in the moral sphere, and no peace in the political sphere. We were born into the midst of metaphysical anguish, moral anxiety and political disquietude. Inebriated with objective formulas, with the mere methods of reason and science, the generations that preceded us did away with the foundations of the Christian faith, since their biblical criticism – progressing from textual to mythological criticism – reduced the gospels and the earlier scriptures of the Jews to a doubtful heap of myths, legends and mere literature, while their scientific criticism gradually revealed the mistakes and ingenuous notions of the gospels’ primitive ‘science’. At the same time, the spirit of free inquiry brought all metaphysical problems out into the open, and with them all the religious problems that had to do with metaphysics. Drunk with a hazy notion they called ‘positivism’, these generations criticized all morality and scrutinized all rules of life, and all that remained from the clash of doctrines was the certainty of none of them and the grief over there being no certainty. 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