--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was baptized one foggy afternoon about…" description: "\"“I was baptized one foggy afternoon about four o'clock. I couldn't think of any names I particularly wanted, so I kept my old name. I was alone with th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/264/graham-greene-441_catholicism_i-was-baptized-one-foggy-afternoon-about_535105.jpg" --- # I was baptized one foggy afternoon about four o'clock. I… ![“I was baptized one foggy afternoon about four o'clock. I couldn't think of any names I particularly wanted, so I kept my old name. I was alone with the fat priest; it was all very quickly and formally done, while someone at a children's service muttered in another chapel. Then we shook hands and I…” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/264/graham-greene-441_catholicism_i-was-baptized-one-foggy-afternoon-about_535105.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/264/graham-greene-441_catholicism_i-was-baptized-one-foggy-afternoon-about_535105.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/264/graham-greene-441_catholicism_i-was-baptized-one-foggy-afternoon-about_535105.jpg) > ““I was baptized one foggy afternoon about four o'clock. I couldn't think of any names I particularly wanted, so I kept my old name. I was alone with the fat priest; it was all very quickly and formally done, while someone at a children's service muttered in another chapel. Then we shook hands and I went off to a salmon tea, and the dog which had been sick again on the mat. Before that I had made a general confession to another priest: it was like a life photographed as it came to mind, without any order, full of gaps, giving at best a general impression. I couldn't help feeling all the way to the newspaper office, past the Post Office, the Moroccan café, the ancient whore, that I had got somewhere new by way of memories I hadn't known I possessed. I had taken up the thread of life from very far back, from as far back as innocence.”” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal recollection of baptism and memory, showing how identity is tied to fragmented past experiences. **In simple terms:** Memory shapes identity through fragmented moments. Key Takeaway Embrace the messy past. Themes identity memory spirituality fragmentation Mood introspective nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual crisis - creative writing - psychotherapy Key Concepts existentialism stream of consciousness religion Questions to Reflect On - What parts of your past define you? - How do rituals affect self‑perception? A Different Perspective Memory can be unreliable and distressing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catholicism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholicism/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) ## Related quotes > [Children of God should not make a general confession by acknowledging their innumerable sins in a vague manner, because such confession does not provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/children-of-god-should-not-make-a-general-confession-by-acknowledging/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [“It seems to me that although they have a respectable sales pitch, this business of a priest having the power to let bygones be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wiggins/it-seems-to-me-that-although-they-have-a-respectable-sales-pitch-this/) [Karl Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wiggins/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/it-is-by-far-the-most-elegant-worship-hardly-excepting-the-greek/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“An enormous emotion beat on him; it was like something trying to get in, the pressure of gigantic wings against the glass. Dona nobis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/an-enormous-emotion-beat-on-him-it-was-like-something-trying-to-get/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [All I know is that after 10 years of being sober, with huge support to express my pain and anger and shadow, the grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/all-i-know-is-that-after-10-years-of-being-sober-with-huge-support-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Never to read another book that was born and baptized (with ink) at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/never-to-read-another-book-that-was-born-and-baptized-with-ink-at-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“mk.16.15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. mk.16.16 He that believeth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mk-16-15-and-he-said-unto-them-go-ye-into-all-the-world-and-preach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I taught what was clear in Acts 11:26: SAVED = CHRISTIAN = DISCIPLE, simply meaning that you cannot be saved and you cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kip-mckean/i-taught-what-was-clear-in-acts-11-26-saved-christian-disciple-simply/) Kip McKean > [Church membership was so important that Paul and Silas baptized the Philippian jailer into the membership of Christ's church at midnight with Paul's back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-adams/church-membership-was-so-important-that-paul-and-silas-baptized-the/) [Jay Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-adams/) > [“By all of your beauty I am so inspired. Your love has baptized me by fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie/by-all-of-your-beauty-i-am-so-inspired-your-love-has-baptized-me-by/) [India Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie/) > [When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/when-jesus-stepped-into-the-waters-of-the-jordan-and-was-baptized-by/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [I was baptized a Baptist, but I'm just Christian, as far as I'm concerned. I could go in any church, doesn't matter if it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-latifah/i-was-baptized-a-baptist-but-i-m-just-christian-as-far-as-i-m/) [Queen Latifah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-latifah/) > [I don't want to say I drank the Kool-Aid because I'm definitely not religious and I don't buy into any religion at all. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ladyhawke/i-don-t-want-to-say-i-drank-the-kool-aid-because-i-m-definitely-not/) [Ladyhawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ladyhawke/) > [If I was to ask you tonight if you were saved? Do you say 'Yes, I am saved'. When? 'Oh so and so preached,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-ravenhill/if-i-was-to-ask-you-tonight-if-you-were-saved-do-you-say-yes-i-am/) [Leonard Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-ravenhill/) > [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Baptized quotes > [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If I was to ask you tonight if you were saved? Do you say 'Yes, I am saved'. When? 'Oh so and so preached,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-ravenhill/if-i-was-to-ask-you-tonight-if-you-were-saved-do-you-say-yes-i-am/) [Leonard Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-ravenhill/) > [I don't want to say I drank the Kool-Aid because I'm definitely not religious and I don't buy into any religion at all. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ladyhawke/i-don-t-want-to-say-i-drank-the-kool-aid-because-i-m-definitely-not/) [Ladyhawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ladyhawke/) > [I was baptized a Baptist, but I'm just Christian, as far as I'm concerned. I could go in any church, doesn't matter if it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-latifah/i-was-baptized-a-baptist-but-i-m-just-christian-as-far-as-i-m/) [Queen Latifah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-latifah/) > [When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/when-jesus-stepped-into-the-waters-of-the-jordan-and-was-baptized-by/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“By all of your beauty I am so inspired. Your love has baptized me by fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie/by-all-of-your-beauty-i-am-so-inspired-your-love-has-baptized-me-by/) [India Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie/) > [Church membership was so important that Paul and Silas baptized the Philippian jailer into the membership of Christ's church at midnight with Paul's back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-adams/church-membership-was-so-important-that-paul-and-silas-baptized-the/) [Jay Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-adams/) > [I taught what was clear in Acts 11:26: SAVED = CHRISTIAN = DISCIPLE, simply meaning that you cannot be saved and you cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kip-mckean/i-taught-what-was-clear-in-acts-11-26-saved-christian-disciple-simply/) Kip McKean > [“mk.16.15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. mk.16.16 He that believeth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mk-16-15-and-he-said-unto-them-go-ye-into-all-the-world-and-preach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never to read another book that was born and baptized (with ink) at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/never-to-read-another-book-that-was-born-and-baptized-with-ink-at-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [All I know is that after 10 years of being sober, with huge support to express my pain and anger and shadow, the grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/all-i-know-is-that-after-10-years-of-being-sober-with-huge-support-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I have not come to seek place, nor to interfere with the business and calling of those men who have borne the burden since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-cowdery/i-have-not-come-to-seek-place-nor-to-interfere-with-the-business-and/) [Oliver Cowdery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-cowdery/) > [I was baptized alongside my mother when I was 8 years old. Since then, I have tried to walk a Christian life. And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-griffith/i-was-baptized-alongside-my-mother-when-i-was-8-years-old-since-then/) [Andy Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-griffith/) > [“I adhere to the fact that I am baptized, not to my life and my vocation, but to the Man called Jesus Christ. Through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/i-adhere-to-the-fact-that-i-am-baptized-not-to-my-life-and-my/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“In 1857 a revival swept over this country in the east and on to the western cities, clear over to the Pacific coast. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-l-moody/in-1857-a-revival-swept-over-this-country-in-the-east-and-on-to-the/) [D.L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-l-moody/) Browse all 199 Baptized quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was baptized one foggy afternoon about four o'clock. I couldn't think of any names I particularly wanted, so I kept my old name. I was alone with the fat priest; it was all very quickly and formally done, while someone at a children's service muttered in another chapel. Then we shook hands and I went off to a salmon tea, and the dog which had been sick again on the mat. Before that I had made a general confession to another priest: it was like a life photographed as it came to mind, without any order, full of gaps, giving at best a general impression. I couldn't help feeling all the way to the newspaper office, past the Post Office, the Moroccan café, the ancient whore, that I had got somewhere new by way of memories I hadn't known I possessed. 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