--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They believed that this world was fallen…" description: "\"“They believed that this world was fallen but that restitution would be provided elsewhere, in an afterlife. I believed that this world was fallen and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg" --- # They believed that this world was fallen but that… ![“They believed that this world was fallen but that restitution would be provided elsewhere, in an afterlife. I believed that this world was fallen and that there was no afterlife.” quote by James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg) > ““They believed that this world was fallen but that restitution would be provided elsewhere, in an afterlife. I believed that this world was fallen and that there was no afterlife.”” [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He contrasts belief in an afterlife with a secular view that the world is fallen and offers no afterlife, highlighting existential doubt. **In simple terms:** Belief in a fallen world without afterlife versus hope of restitution elsewhere. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about meaning and afterlife. Themes existentialism faith nihilism meaning Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - personal crisis - ethical decision‑making - cultural critique - spiritual inquiry Key Concepts theology philosophy literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning without afterlife belief? - What alternatives exist to cope with a fallen world? A Different Perspective The stance may overlook comfort many find in faith. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) ## Related quotes > [Memory is the only afterlife I have ever believed in. But the forgetting inside us cannot be stopped. We are programmed to betray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/memory-is-the-only-afterlife-i-have-ever-believed-in-but-the/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [It was like I’d stepped out into an afterlife. Only there were no angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/it-was-like-i-d-stepped-out-into-an-afterlife-only-there-were-no/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [“One's past can't be erased, it can only be learned from, the child taught her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-balcomb/one-s-past-can-t-be-erased-it-can-only-be-learned-from-the-child/) [H. L. Balcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-balcomb/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Sometimes I think the resurrection of the body, unless much improved in construction, a mistake!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/sometimes-i-think-the-resurrection-of-the-body-unless-much-improved/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [“Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/some-people-are-so-stiff-and-inhumane-as-the-dogma-s-they-believe-in/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn’t bare the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-i-thought-wanted-security-they-couldn-t-bare-the-idea-of-death/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“The obsession with the afterlife is born of a panic at not having memories of a before-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-obsession-with-the-afterlife-is-born-of-a-panic-at-not-having/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“And what if there are only spiders there, or something of that sort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-what-if-there-are-only-spiders-there-or-something-of-that-sort/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [I guess on one hand I believe it doesn't matter if there is life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morton/i-guess-on-one-hand-i-believe-it-doesn-t-matter-if-there-is-life/) [Joe Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morton/) > [“There was no attack on religion because people were generally indifferent to religion. They were neither hot nor cold. They were the tepid, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/there-was-no-attack-on-religion-because-people-were-generally/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## More by James Wood > [“There is this strangeness of a life story having no shape—or more accurately, nothing but its present—until it has its ending; and then suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/there-is-this-strangeness-of-a-life-story-having-no-shape-or-more/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Everything has always been permitted, even when God was around. God has nothing to do with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/everything-has-always-been-permitted-even-when-god-was-around-god-has/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Melville, in his relation to belief, was like the last guest who cannot leave the party; he was always returning to see if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/melville-in-his-relation-to-belief-was-like-the-last-guest-who-cannot/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“When I talk about free indirect style I am really talking about point of view, and when I talk about point of view I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/when-i-talk-about-free-indirect-style-i-am-really-talking-about-point/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Life, then will, always contain an inevitable surplus, a margin of the gratuitous, a realm in which there is always more than we need:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/life-then-will-always-contain-an-inevitable-surplus-a-margin-of-the/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Kazuo Ishiguro, the New Nobel Laureate, Has Supremely Done His Own Kind of Thing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/kazuo-ishiguro-the-new-nobel-laureate-has-supremely-done-his-own-kind/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“fiction is both artifice and verisimilitude, and that there is nothing difficult in holding together these two possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/fiction-is-both-artifice-and-verisimilitude-and-that-there-is-nothing/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“This is merely another definition of dramatic irony: to see through a character’s eyes while being encouraged to see more than the character can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/this-is-merely-another-definition-of-dramatic-irony-to-see-through-a/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“The acquisition of a book signalled not just the potential acquisition of knowledge but also something like the property rights to a piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/the-acquisition-of-a-book-signalled-not-just-the-potential/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Even the apparently unreliable narrator is more often than not reliably unreliable. Think of Kazuo Ishiguro’s butler in The Remains of the Day, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/even-the-apparently-unreliable-narrator-is-more-often-than-not/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Literature differs from life in that life is amorphously full of detail, and rarely directs us toward it, wheras literature teaches us to notice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/literature-differs-from-life-in-that-life-is-amorphously-full-of/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Fiction is most effective when its themes are unspoken. An ideal fiction has a kind of thematic ghostliness, whereby the novel marks its meanings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/fiction-is-most-effective-when-its-themes-are-unspoken-an-ideal/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“Perhaps this is what Henry James meant when he talked about the “irresponsibility” of characters. Characters are irresponsible, art is irresponsible when compared to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/perhaps-this-is-what-henry-james-meant-when-he-talked-about-the/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“If religion is true, one must believe. And if one chooses not to believe, one’s choice is marked under the category of a refusal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/if-religion-is-true-one-must-believe-and-if-one-chooses-not-to/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [“The sentence pulsates, moves in and out, toward the character and away from her—when we reach “huddled” we are reminded that an author allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/the-sentence-pulsates-moves-in-and-out-toward-the-character-and-away/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) [Explore all 16 James Wood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) ## More Afterlife quotes > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“There was no attack on religion because people were generally indifferent to religion. They were neither hot nor cold. They were the tepid, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/there-was-no-attack-on-religion-because-people-were-generally/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [I guess on one hand I believe it doesn't matter if there is life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morton/i-guess-on-one-hand-i-believe-it-doesn-t-matter-if-there-is-life/) [Joe Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morton/) > [“And what if there are only spiders there, or something of that sort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-what-if-there-are-only-spiders-there-or-something-of-that-sort/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“The obsession with the afterlife is born of a panic at not having memories of a before-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-obsession-with-the-afterlife-is-born-of-a-panic-at-not-having/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn’t bare the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-i-thought-wanted-security-they-couldn-t-bare-the-idea-of-death/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/some-people-are-so-stiff-and-inhumane-as-the-dogma-s-they-believe-in/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Sometimes I think the resurrection of the body, unless much improved in construction, a mistake!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/sometimes-i-think-the-resurrection-of-the-body-unless-much-improved/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [“One's past can't be erased, it can only be learned from, the child taught her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-balcomb/one-s-past-can-t-be-erased-it-can-only-be-learned-from-the-child/) [H. L. Balcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-balcomb/) > [It was like I’d stepped out into an afterlife. Only there were no angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/it-was-like-i-d-stepped-out-into-an-afterlife-only-there-were-no/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [“death is predestined for all mortals. Souls live forever, but the body does not. Unless you are immortal, both the soul and body are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yelle-hughes/death-is-predestined-for-all-mortals-souls-live-forever-but-the-body/) [Yelle Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yelle-hughes/) [Browse all 844 Afterlife quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They believed that this world was fallen but that restitution would be provided elsewhere, in an afterlife. I believed that this world was fallen and that there was no afterlife.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Wood" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen-but-that-restitution-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Afterlife" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen-but-that-restitution-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ec/james-wood-31847_quote_they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen_2065282.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They believed that this world was fallen but that restitution would be provided elsewhere, in an afterlife…” — James Wood", "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": "James Wood", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They believed that this world was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen-but-that-restitution-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/they-believed-that-this-world-was-fallen-but-that-restitution-would/#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 } } ] } ```