Atheism Quote by Salman Rushdie
“God, Satan, Paradise, and Hell all vanished one day in my fifteenth year, when I quite abruptly lost my faith. ... and afterwards, to prove my new-found atheism, I bought myself a rather tasteless ham sandwich, and so partook for the first time of the forbidden flesh of the swine. No thunderbolt arrived to strike me down. ... From that day to this I have thought of myself as a wholly secular person.”
About This Quote
Source Autobiography: The Satanic Verses, 1988
A personal crisis of faith led to embracing atheism, symbolized by eating pork despite cultural taboos.
In simple terms: Lost faith, chose secular life.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions, live authentically.
Themes
faith
identity
secularism
Mood
reflective
defiant
introspective
Type
personal
confessional
narrative
When to use this quote
- college years
- family gatherings
- religious debates
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
existentialism
cultural taboo
personal transformation
Questions to Reflect On
- How did this act change your worldview?
- What does “forbidden” mean to you?
A Different Perspective
May face social backlash for rejecting tradition.
![“There isn't [in new atheism]. Nothing that wasn't in Bertrand Russell or probably Robert Ingersoll. But I suppose it is more of a political effect, in that all these books happened to come out at the same time. I like to think that we have some influence.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/291/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_there-isn-t-in-new-atheism-nothing-that_1237906.jpg)
