--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Among the repulsions of atheism for me…" description: "\"Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/john-updike-396_ambiguity_among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-h_1243421.png" --- # Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its… ![“Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead?” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/john-updike-396_ambiguity_among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-h_1243421.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/john-updike-396_ambiguity_among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-h_1243421.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/john-updike-396_ambiguity_among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-h_1243421.png) > “Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead?” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques atheism for lacking intellectual intrigue and emotional depth, questioning its capacity to address human experience. **In simple terms:** Atheism can seem flat and unemotional. Key Takeaway Consider depth in belief systems. Themes faith skepticism philosophy human experience intellectual curiosity Mood thoughtful critical contemplative Type philosophical essay critical When to use this quote - debates on belief - personal worldview - academic discussions - public discourse Key Concepts existentialism theology philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What makes a worldview intellectually engaging? - Can secular perspectives offer emotional richness? A Different Perspective Atheism can also inspire profound philosophical thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Ingenuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ingenuity/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Repulsion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repulsion/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic uninterestingness as an intellectual position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-has-been-its-drastic/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Saying the universe is eternal simply is saying that it has no beginning or end, not that it had a beginning an infinite time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-j-stenger/saying-the-universe-is-eternal-simply-is-saying-that-it-has-no/) [Victor J. 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All of philosophy has no other goal: it is a matter… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/f-or-academic-men-to-be-happy-the-universe-would-have-to-take-shape/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [The more one studies the harmony of music, and then studies human nature, how people agree and how they disagree, how there is attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/the-more-one-studies-the-harmony-of-music-and-then-studies-human/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“What would it be like to live as a butterfly, being admired by the world for your color and beauty and grace? What would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/what-would-it-be-like-to-live-as-a-butterfly-being-admired-by-the/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Suicide: It's so hard and at the same time so easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/suicide-it-s-so-hard-and-at-the-same-time-so-easy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your mind is turbulent because you're filled with desires, frustrations. You want too many things. You are afraid of too many things. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-mind-is-turbulent-because-you-re-filled-with-desires/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The satirist is prevented by repulsion from gaining a better knowledge of the world he is attracted to, yet he is forced by attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-satirist-is-prevented-by-repulsion-from-gaining-a-better/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Culture is the suggestion, from certain best thoughts, that a man has a range of affinities through which he can modulate the violence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/culture-is-the-suggestion-from-certain-best-thoughts-that-a-man-has-a/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The feeling of intense repulsion, which had begun to oppress and torture his heart while he was on his way to the old woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-feeling-of-intense-repulsion-which-had-begun-to-oppress-and/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [A man and a woman are new to one another throughout a life-time, in the rhythm of marriage that matches the rhythm of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-and-a-woman-are-new-to-one-another-throughout-a-life-time-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even when your body does nothing, sin can be active in your mind. When your soul inwardly repulses the evil one's attack by means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/even-when-your-body-does-nothing-sin-can-be-active-in-your-mind-when/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [All of my work is meant to evoke a whole bunch of different layers of discord between the attraction and repulsion that we feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-jordan/all-of-my-work-is-meant-to-evoke-a-whole-bunch-of-different-layers-of/) [Chris Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-jordan/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Explore all 592 John Updike quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More Ambiguity quotes > [The position is clear - there is no ambiguity in Sinn Fein's position. 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I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I blame my grandfather 100 percent for his oldest son's death. I don't think there's any ambiguity there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/i-blame-my-grandfather-100-percent-for-his-oldest-son-s-death-i-don-t/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-the-relationship-between-social-dominance-orientation-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Yet again, an ancient answer echoes across the centuries: Listen! Listen to stories! For what stories do, above all else, is hold up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-kurtz/yet-again-an-ancient-answer-echoes-across-the-centuries-listen-listen/) [Ernest Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-kurtz/) > [My path to wisdom began when I stopped pretending to know things I didn't know. When I explicitly admitted to the limits of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/my-path-to-wisdom-began-when-i-stopped-pretending-to-know-things-i/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism - the failure to fail, and fail big, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-there-is-a-single-tragic-flaw-that-mars-our-biggest-enterprises-it/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I've always been drawn to ambiguity in pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-ambiguity-in-pop-music/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. 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