--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The temerity to believe in nothing." description: "\"The temerity to believe in nothing.\" — Ivan Turgenev" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a2/ivan-turgenev-2671_atheism_the-temerity-to-believe-in-nothing-25646_2564651.jpg" --- # The temerity to believe in nothing. ![“The temerity to believe in nothing.” quote by Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a2/ivan-turgenev-2671_atheism_the-temerity-to-believe-in-nothing-25646_2564651.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a2/ivan-turgenev-2671_atheism_the-temerity-to-believe-in-nothing-25646_2564651.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a2/ivan-turgenev-2671_atheism_the-temerity-to-believe-in-nothing-25646_2564651.jpg) > “The temerity to believe in nothing.” [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning belief leads to existential doubt and intellectual freedom. **In simple terms:** Doubt opens intellectual space. Key Takeaway Embrace critical thinking. Themes existentialism doubt philosophy Mood pensive introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - academic debate - personal crisis - creative writing Key Concepts literature nihilism Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your belief system? - How do you navigate uncertainty? A Different Perspective Doubt can cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Temerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temerity-1637662/) [Temerity Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temerity-believe-1637661/) ## Related quotes > [“Temerity in the presence of evil is not prudence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-m-doran/temerity-in-the-presence-of-evil-is-not-prudence/) [T.M. Doran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-m-doran/) > [Virtue with some is nothing but successful temerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/virtue-with-some-is-nothing-but-successful-temerity/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Temerity is not always successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/temerity-is-not-always-successful/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I read the other day an account of a meeting between John Knox and John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a pestilence and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/i-read-the-other-day-an-account-of-a-meeting-between-john-knox-and/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The one function that most gods seem to have in common is to give human existence some ultimate purpose - and, while it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-smoker/the-one-function-that-most-gods-seem-to-have-in-common-is-to-give/) [Barbara Smoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-smoker/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/rulers-who-wished-to-subvert-the-public-liberty-may-have-found-an/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) ## More by Ivan Turgenev > [What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-a-magnificent-body-how-i-should-like-to-see-it-on-the-dissecting/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [That is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/that-is-what-poetry-can-do-it-speaks-to-us-of-what-does-not-exist/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/so-long-as-one-s-just-dreaming-about-what-to-do-one-can-soar-like-an/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/most-people-can-t-understand-how-others-can-blow-their-noses/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/the-past-was-a-dream-wasn-t-it-and-who-ever-remembers-dreams/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I think that I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-think-that-i-have-already-been-moving-too-long-in-a-sphere/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unprepossessing-figure-of-this/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“In his funeral oration the spokesman of the most artistic and critical of European nations, Ernest Renan, hailed him as one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-his-funeral-oration-the-spokesman-of-the-most-artistic-and/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Love isn't actually a feeling at all--it's an illness, a certain condition of body and soul… Usually it takes possession of someone without his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/love-isn-t-actually-a-feeling-at-all-it-s-an-illness-a-certain/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [There's something tragic in the fate of almost every person--it's just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-s-something-tragic-in-the-fate-of-almost-every-person-it-s-just/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I had absolutely lost all sense of personal dignity, and could not tear myself away from the spectacle of my own misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-had-absolutely-lost-all-sense-of-personal-dignity-and-could-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/my-son-he-wrote-to-me-fear-the-love-of-woman-fear-that-bliss-that/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Great God, grant that twice two be not four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/great-god-grant-that-twice-two-be-not-four/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-s-terrible-is-that-there-s-nothing-terrible-that-the-very/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) [Explore all 146 Ivan Turgenev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? 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