--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the beginning of their end, people…" description: "\"In the beginning of their end, people created their gods and their after-lives.\" — Ryan Miller" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/ryan-miller-34303_ends_in-the-beginning-of-their-end-people-cre_914756.jpg" --- # In the beginning of their end, people created their gods… ![“In the beginning of their end, people created their gods and their after-lives.” quote by Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/ryan-miller-34303_ends_in-the-beginning-of-their-end-people-cre_914756.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/ryan-miller-34303_ends_in-the-beginning-of-their-end-people-cre_914756.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/ryan-miller-34303_ends_in-the-beginning-of-their-end-people-cre_914756.jpg) > “In the beginning of their end, people created their gods and their after-lives.” [Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-miller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that when societies face decline, they invent deities and concepts of an afterlife to cope with uncertainty. **In simple terms:** People create gods and afterlife when confronting endings. Key Takeaway Recognize how fear of endings fuels belief systems. Themes existence belief mortality culture psychology Mood reflective somber Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - political collapse - personal crisis - cultural transition - existential dread Key Concepts mythmaking coping mechanisms social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - Why do humans turn to the divine in times of decline? - What alternatives exist to mythmaking? A Different Perspective It may overlook rationalist perspectives that reject supernatural explanations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“You die because you think the gods are looking after you. That's ok for animals, but you should know better." "We should not trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/you-die-because-you-think-the-gods-are-looking-after-you-that-s-ok/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [The poet's body even is not fed like other men's, but he sometimes tastes the genuine nectar and ambrosia of the gods, and lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-poet-s-body-even-is-not-fed-like-other-men-s-but-he-sometimes/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“It was suffering and incapacity that created all afterworlds - this, and that brief madness of bliss which is experienced only by those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-was-suffering-and-incapacity-that-created-all-afterworlds-this-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If we go back to the beginnings of things, we shall always find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that imagination, rapture and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach/if-we-go-back-to-the-beginnings-of-things-we-shall-always-find-that/) [Baron d'Holbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-d-holbach/) > [“Gods always behave like the people who created them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/gods-always-behave-like-the-people-who-created-them/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [As I have always found, and often am forced to remember, to all things there is a beginning and an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-miller/as-i-have-always-found-and-often-am-forced-to-remember-to-all-things/) [Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-miller/) > [Mankind has been punished long and heavily for having created its gods; nothing but pain and persecution have been man's lot since gods began.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/mankind-has-been-punished-long-and-heavily-for-having-created-its/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“The belief of an infinity of creative and created Gods, each more eminently requiring an intelligent author of his being than the foregoing, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-belief-of-an-infinity-of-creative-and-created-gods-each-more-2/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“...The Devil would not have begun by an open and obvious sin to tempt man into doing something which God had forbidden, had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-of-hippo/the-devil-would-not-have-begun-by-an-open-and-obvious-sin-to-tempt/) [Augustine of Hippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-of-hippo/) > [During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution human fantasy created gods in man's own image, who, by the operations of their will were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/during-the-youthful-period-of-mankind-s-spiritual-evolution-human/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“The belief of an infinity of creative and created Gods, each more eminently requiring an intelligent author of his being than the foregoing, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-belief-of-an-infinity-of-creative-and-created-gods-each-more/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“If we go back to the beginning we shall find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that fancy, enthusiasm, or deceit adorned or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-d-holbach-2/if-we-go-back-to-the-beginning-we-shall-find-that-ignorance-and-fear/) Baron D. Holbach > [Fear first created the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/fear-first-created-the-gods/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“One of Richard Dawkins’s main God Delusion arguments is that, if God created everything, we would have to ask who created God. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-lennox/one-of-richard-dawkins-s-main-god-delusion-arguments-is-that-if-god/) [John C. Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-lennox/) > [Fear created the first gods in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caecilius-statius/fear-created-the-first-gods-in-the-world/) Caecilius Statius ## More by Ryan Miller > [As I have always found, and often am forced to remember, to all things there is a beginning and an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-miller/as-i-have-always-found-and-often-am-forced-to-remember-to-all-things/) [Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-miller/) > [From the coaches on down, especially Jim Corsi whose been a great supporter, a true friend who really cares about his players and allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-miller/from-the-coaches-on-down-especially-jim-corsi-whose-been-a-great/) [Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-miller/) > [Do that which will make you happiest both now and in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-miller/do-that-which-will-make-you-happiest-both-now-and-in-the-future/) [Ryan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-miller/) > [There will never again be a day exactly like today. 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