--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Today, the belief in progress, necessary…" description: "\"“Today, the belief in progress, necessary for life in a Godless universe, can no longer be sustained, except, perhaps, in the Silicon Valley mansions o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/pankaj-mishra-2875_faith_today-the-belief-in-progress-necessary-f_281792.jpg" --- # Today, the belief in progress, necessary for life in a… ![“Today, the belief in progress, necessary for life in a Godless universe, can no longer be sustained, except, perhaps, in the Silicon Valley mansions of baby-faced millennials.” quote by Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/pankaj-mishra-2875_faith_today-the-belief-in-progress-necessary-f_281792.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/pankaj-mishra-2875_faith_today-the-belief-in-progress-necessary-f_281792.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d0/pankaj-mishra-2875_faith_today-the-belief-in-progress-necessary-f_281792.jpg) > ““Today, the belief in progress, necessary for life in a Godless universe, can no longer be sustained, except, perhaps, in the Silicon Valley mansions of baby-faced millennials.”” [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The optimism that progress is essential for meaning collapses without belief in a higher purpose, leaving only material comfort as a false refuge. **In simple terms:** Progress feels meaningless without deeper purpose. Key Takeaway Seek meaning beyond material success. Themes existentialism technology disillusionment Mood reflective critical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - career planning - personal fulfillment - spiritual exploration - tech industry critique Key Concepts nihilism secularism consumerism Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life purpose beyond work? - How do you find meaning in a secular world? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize millennials and ignore diverse motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Godless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/godless/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Silicon valley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silicon-valley/) ## Related quotes > [A graceless life is a Godless life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-graceless-life-is-a-godless-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is not easy to explain why God permits evil; but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/it-is-not-easy-to-explain-why-god-permits-evil-but-it-is-impossible/) [Fulton J. 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In that case, Mankind must ascend the throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/stephen-hawking-implies-that-we-are-living-in-a-godless-universe-or-a/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What interests me is love, sex, death, cruelty, compassion and the desire for meaning in an apparently godless universe. In other words the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/what-interests-me-is-love-sex-death-cruelty-compassion-and-the-desire/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Isn't atheism just another religion?' No, it isn't. 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A Godless city, but full of superstitions on every subject--art, money, sex, food, health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/new-york-is-full-of-abandoned-churches-a-godless-city-but-full-of/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“The mature and well-balanced man, standing firmly with both feet on the earth, who has never been lamed and broken an half-blinded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/the-mature-and-well-balanced-man-standing-firmly-with-both-feet-on/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) ## More by Pankaj Mishra > [“Nationalism has again become a seductive but treacherous antidote to an experience of disorder and meaninglessness: the unexpectedly rowdy anticlimax, in a densely populated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/nationalism-has-again-become-a-seductive-but-treacherous-antidote-to/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [I feel very privileged to get to read and write and not to have to do things that I don't like, and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/i-feel-very-privileged-to-get-to-read-and-write-and-not-to-have-to-do/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [There was great political uncertainty in South Asia at the time of the Buddha. 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It's mostly in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/most-suffering-is-human-made-and-avoidable-it-s-mostly-in-your-head/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“equally eagerly from the nineteenth-century polymath Herbert Spencer, the first truly global thinker – who, after reading Darwin, coined the term ‘survival of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/equally-eagerly-from-the-nineteenth-century-polymath-herbert-spencer/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) [Explore all 147 Pankaj Mishra quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. 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For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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