--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I admit that the generation which…" description: "\"I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating, but the radical and universal consciousness of the d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/r-j-hollingdale-94736_atheism_i-admit-that-the-generation-which-produc_3150746.png" --- # I admit that the generation which produced Stalin… ![“I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating, but the radical and universal consciousness of the death of God is still ahead of us. Perhaps we shall have to colonise the stars before it is finally borne in upon us that God is not out there.” quote by R. J. Hollingdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/r-j-hollingdale-94736_atheism_i-admit-that-the-generation-which-produc_3150746.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/r-j-hollingdale-94736_atheism_i-admit-that-the-generation-which-produc_3150746.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/r-j-hollingdale-94736_atheism_i-admit-that-the-generation-which-produc_3150746.png) > “I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating, but the radical and universal consciousness of the death of God is still ahead of us. Perhaps we shall have to colonise the stars before it is finally borne in upon us that God is not out there.” [R. J. Hollingdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-hollingdale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity’s destructive past and the looming loss of divine belief push us toward cosmic expansion and new consciousness. **In simple terms:** Past atrocities and loss of faith drive future exploration. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge, question belief. Themes history moral responsibility existentialism space consciousness Mood analytical somber Type Atheism:1 Auschwitz:1 Consciousness:1 Death:1 Generation:1 Generations:1 Hiroshima:1 Radical:1 Religion:1 Science:1 Stars:1 Stills:1 Universal:1 God Ahead:1 Generation Produced:1 Hiroshima Beating:1 Colonise Stars:1 When to use this quote - academic discourse - science‑fiction speculation - cultural critique Key Concepts ethical reflection future studies theology Questions to Reflect On - How does history shape our future? - What role does belief play in progress? A Different Perspective Speculation may be pessimistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Auschwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/auschwitz/) [Colonise Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonise-stars-5654781/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation/) [Generation Produced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-produced-3084574/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [God Ahead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-ahead-1798225/) [Hiroshima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiroshima/) [Hiroshima Beating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiroshima-beating-5654780/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Universal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal/) ## Related quotes > [My generation produced some terrific writers from all over, and the great thing about it is that they were all mixed in race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-generation-produced-some-terrific-writers-from-all-over-and-the/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“Your generation - you've not heard the Verve or Jimi Hendrix or Eminem, you've not read The Catcher in the Rye, you've not seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-generation-you-ve-not-heard-the-verve-or-jimi-hendrix-or-eminem/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/since-auschwitz-we-know-what-man-is-capable-of-and-since-hiroshima-we/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat the eleventh grade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-w-loewen/those-who-don-t-remember-the-past-are-condemned-to-repeat-the/) [James W. Loewen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-w-loewen/) > [I stated that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are 'among the most unspeakable crimes in history.' I took no position on just where they stand on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-stated-that-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-are-among-the-most-unspeakable/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“So, let us be alert--alert in a twofold sense. Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-let-us-be-alert-alert-in-a-twofold-sense-since-auschwitz-we-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is no question in my mind that we live in one of the truly bestial centuries in human history. There are plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-chargaff/there-is-no-question-in-my-mind-that-we-live-in-one-of-the-truly/) [Erwin Chargaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-chargaff/) > [I can only see what's in front of me, but God can see what's behind, what's ahead of me, what's beside me, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-orji/i-can-only-see-what-s-in-front-of-me-but-god-can-see-what-s-behind/) [Yvonne Orji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-orji/) > [Here is God, there is God, ahead is God, the God behind, the God above, below the God, God is everywhere, and where there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/here-is-god-there-is-god-ahead-is-god-the-god-behind-the-god-above/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [We should put God ahead of everyone else in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/we-should-put-god-ahead-of-everyone-else-in-our-lives/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [If God is about putting God ahead of myself then I've just quit being religious, because that's what got me into such deep trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-brown-taylor/if-god-is-about-putting-god-ahead-of-myself-then-i-ve-just-quit-being/) [Barbara Brown Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-brown-taylor/) > [“It was an unbroken network of causality leading back to the first human who wasn't a chimp. And farther back, to the coalescing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/it-was-an-unbroken-network-of-causality-leading-back-to-the-first/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [No sane person wants hell to exist. No sane person wants evil to exist. But hell is just evil eternalized. If there is evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/no-sane-person-wants-hell-to-exist-no-sane-person-wants-evil-to-exist/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [“I remember that one Holy Week, the magazine I got every Thursday, Anteojito , came with a free poster depicting the Stations of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcelo-figueras/i-remember-that-one-holy-week-the-magazine-i-got-every-thursday/) [Marcelo Figueras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcelo-figueras/) > [We need creativity. We need more poetry after Auschwitz.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/we-need-creativity-we-need-more-poetry-after-auschwitz/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) ## More by R. J. Hollingdale > [The sense that the meaning of the universe had evaporated was what seemed to escape those who welcomed Darwin as a benefactor of mankind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-hollingdale/the-sense-that-the-meaning-of-the-universe-had-evaporated-was-what/) [R. J. Hollingdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-hollingdale/) [Explore all 2 R. J. Hollingdale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-hollingdale/) ## 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? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [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/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating, but the radical and universal consciousness of the death of God is still ahead of us. Perhaps we shall have to colonise the stars before it is finally borne in upon us that God is not out there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R. J. 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