--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How I hate this world. I would like to…" description: "\"“How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with my own two hands if I could. I would like to dismantle the universe star by star, like a tre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg" --- # How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with… ![“How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with my own two hands if I could. I would like to dismantle the universe star by star, like a treeful of rotten fruit. Nor do I believe in progress. A vermin-eaten saint scratching his filth for heaven is better off than you damned in clean…” quote by Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg) > ““How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with my own two hands if I could. I would like to dismantle the universe star by star, like a treeful of rotten fruit. Nor do I believe in progress. A vermin-eaten saint scratching his filth for heaven is better off than you damned in clean linen. Progress doubles our tenure in a vale of tears. Man is a mistake, to be corrected only by his abolition, which he gives promise of seeing to himself. Oh, let him pass, and leave the earth to the flowers that carpet the earth wherever he explodes his triumphs. Man is inconsolable, thanks to that eternal "Why?" when there is no Why, that question mark twisted like a fishhook in the human heart. "Let there be light," we cry, and only the dawn breaks.”” [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A bleak, nihilistic view that humanity is fundamentally flawed and that progress only deepens suffering, urging a return to nature and acceptance of impermanence. **In simple terms:** Man is flawed; progress can worsen suffering. Key Takeaway Accept limits, seek harmony with nature. Themes nihilism existentialism critique of progress nature despair Mood somber reflective dark Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - environmental activism - spiritual contemplation - literary analysis Key Concepts philosophical pessimism cosmic insignificance human error Questions to Reflect On - Can we find meaning despite inherent flaws? - How might embracing nature mitigate despair? A Different Perspective The view may ignore humanity’s capacity for resilience and positive change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Human heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-heart/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [“As long as it takes, I will lovingly labor to put together the timeless souvenirs of our life together. I cling to the phot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/as-long-as-it-takes-i-will-lovingly-labor-to-put-together-the/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“She loved beyond measure, When I was young I thought her cold. But in time I came to understand that she was too tender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/she-loved-beyond-measure-when-i-was-young-i-thought-her-cold-but-in/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [“Why are the photographs of him as a little boy so incredibly hard to look at? Something is over. Now instead of those shiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wolterstorff/why-are-the-photographs-of-him-as-a-little-boy-so-incredibly-hard-to/) [Nicholas Wolterstorff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wolterstorff/) > [“...I’m tired of everyone looking at me with pity in their eyes. I’m tired of feeling like my heart is being ripped out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-shepherd/i-m-tired-of-everyone-looking-at-me-with-pity-in-their-eyes-i-m-tired/) [A.B. Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-shepherd/) > [“...The beat of her heart, the slow burning away...of the bitter fires of the devil's arcade.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/the-beat-of-her-heart-the-slow-burning-away-of-the-bitter-fires-of/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [“Death doesn't happen instantly. For a little while, you hover around your body, confused. What you want more than anything is to go home,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-flohr/death-doesn-t-happen-instantly-for-a-little-while-you-hover-around/) Caroline Flohr > [“The moment a child leaves us, a parent’s heart feels different. Medically, this condition is called “broken heart syndrome,” but grieving parents knew this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/the-moment-a-child-leaves-us-a-parent-s-heart-feels-different/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [So I'm back again to the eternal question, the one that has plagued me all my life: How Do Other People Do It? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/so-i-m-back-again-to-the-eternal-question-the-one-that-has-plagued-me/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [Man's eternal question is:'Who is God?'God's immediate answer is:'My child, who else is God, if not you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/man-s-eternal-question-is-who-is-god-god-s-immediate-answer-is-my/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“In this Chautauqua I would like not to cut any new channels of consciousness but simply dig deeper into old ones that have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/in-this-chautauqua-i-would-like-not-to-cut-any-new-channels-of/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“His problem was the eternal question: What should he be? Inventor, scientist, artist—the energy he felt surging through him, an energy far more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/his-problem-was-the-eternal-question-what-should-he-be-inventor/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Did you ever wonder if the person in the picture is the same one you see when you look in the mirror?" - "That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/did-you-ever-wonder-if-the-person-in-the-picture-is-the-same-one-you/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“She asked herself the eternal question – and she knew it to be the eternal question – whether no man and woman can ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/she-asked-herself-the-eternal-question-and-she-knew-it-to-be-the/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [“If you propound to these theorists the eternal question WHY? — why is the world in existence? why is there a universe? why do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-corelli/if-you-propound-to-these-theorists-the-eternal-question-why-why-is/) [Marie Corelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-corelli/) > [That is sort of the eternal question for people who go to Hollywood...what will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alden-ehrenreich/that-is-sort-of-the-eternal-question-for-people-who-go-to-hollywood/) [Alden Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alden-ehrenreich/) ## More by Peter De Vries > [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Celibacy is the worst form of self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/celibacy-is-the-worst-form-of-self-abuse/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/marriage-is-a-lottery-in-which-men-stake-their-liberty-and-women/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [What we are assigned to bear is in a sense a measure of our stature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/what-we-are-assigned-to-bear-is-in-a-sense-a-measure-of-our-stature/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [ “Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of \[parenthood\] is not that adults produce children but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/who-of-us-is-mature-enough-for-offspring-before-the-offspring/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [I wondered whether any woman could be happy with a man who says 'folderol'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-wondered-whether-any-woman-could-be-happy-with-a-man-who-says/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [When I see a paragraph shrinking under my eyes like a strip of bacon in a skillet, I know I'm on the right track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/when-i-see-a-paragraph-shrinking-under-my-eyes-like-a-strip-of-bacon/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other. It may be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/we-must-love-one-another-yes-yes-that-s-all-true-enough-but-nothing/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/gluttony-is-an-emotional-escape-a-sign-something-is-eating-us/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [The tuba is certainly the most intestinal of instruments, the very lower bowel of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-tuba-is-certainly-the-most-intestinal-of-instruments-the-very/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be invented so he could hate that too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/my-father-hated-radio-and-could-not-wait-for-television-to-be/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [You can make a sordid thing sound like a brilliant drawing-room comedy. Probably a fear we have of facing up to the real issues.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/you-can-make-a-sordid-thing-sound-like-a-brilliant-drawing-room/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff - it is a palliative rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/confession-is-good-for-the-soul-only-in-the-sense-that-a-tweed-coat/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Life is a crowded superhighway with bewildering cloverleaf exits on which a man is liable to find himself speeding back in the direction he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/life-is-a-crowded-superhighway-with-bewildering-cloverleaf-exits-on/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [If there's anything I hate it's the word humorist-I feel like countering with the word seriousist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/if-there-s-anything-i-hate-it-s-the-word-humorist-i-feel-like/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) [Explore all 88 Peter De Vries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with my own two hands if I could. I would like to dismantle the universe star by star, like a treeful of rotten fruit. Nor do I believe in progress. A vermin-eaten saint scratching his filth for heaven is better off than you damned in clean linen. Progress doubles our tenure in a vale of tears. Man is a mistake, to be corrected only by his abolition, which he gives promise of seeing to himself. Oh, let him pass, and leave the earth to the flowers that carpet the earth wherever he explodes his triumphs. Man is inconsolable, thanks to that eternal \"Why?\" when there is no Why, that question mark twisted like a fishhook in the human heart. \"Let there be light,\" we cry, and only the dawn breaks.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter De Vries" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-tear-it-apart-with-my-own-two/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-tear-it-apart-with-my-own-two/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abc/peter-de-vries-7735_grief_how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-te_660420.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How I hate this world. I would like to tear it apart with my own two hands if I could. I would like to…” — Peter De Vries", "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": "Peter De Vries", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“How I hate this world. I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-tear-it-apart-with-my-own-two/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/how-i-hate-this-world-i-would-like-to-tear-it-apart-with-my-own-two/#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 } } ] } ```