--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At that time the only treatment of…" description: "\"“At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is, excessive abstraction of the self from itself, was recovery of the self through ordeal. ”\" — Wal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg" --- # At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is… ![“At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is, excessive abstraction of the self from itself, was recovery of the self through ordeal.” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg) > ““At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is, excessive abstraction of the self from itself, was recovery of the self through ordeal. ”” [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Angelism abstracts the self; recovery comes through painful trials. **In simple terms:** Self‑abstraction needs ordeal for recovery. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship to rediscover self. Themes self‑discovery spirituality trial philosophy Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crises - rituals - therapy - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What ordeals have reshaped you? - Can recovery happen without pain? A Different Perspective Extreme hardship can be harmful if misapplied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Whiskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whiskey/) ## Related quotes > [Valor consists in the power of self recovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/valor-consists-in-the-power-of-self-recovery/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The journey to true happiness and to happiness now is not a journey of physical distance or time; it is one of personal "self-recovery,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-holden/the-journey-to-true-happiness-and-to-happiness-now-is-not-a-journey/) [Robert Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-holden/) > [“Valor consists in the power of self-recovery, so that a man cannot have his flank turned, cannot be out-generalled, but put him where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/valor-consists-in-the-power-of-self-recovery-so-that-a-man-cannot-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/love-is-a-mutual-self-giving-which-ends-in-self-recovery/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Valor consists in the power of self-recovery, so that a man cannot have his flank turned, cannot be out-generalled, but put him where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/valor-consists-in-the-power-of-self-recovery-so-that-a-man-cannot/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Love is a mutual self-giving that ends in self-recovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulton/love-is-a-mutual-self-giving-that-ends-in-self-recovery/) [Robert Fulton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulton/) > [In Love ,, Self-giving ends in self-recovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/praveen-singhal/in-love-self-giving-ends-in-self-recovery/) [Praveen Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/praveen-singhal/) > [“Light brown hair—short on the sides, long and wavy on top—piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, a wide, easy smile. Ugly wasn’t a word anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-reyne/light-brown-hair-short-on-the-sides-long-and-wavy-on-top-piercing/) [Layla Reyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layla-reyne/) > [Champagne's funny stuff. I'm used to whiskey. Whiskey is a slap on the back, and champagne's a heavy mist before my eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-stewart/champagne-s-funny-stuff-i-m-used-to-whiskey-whiskey-is-a-slap-on-the/) [James Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-stewart/) > [I am ashamed. That's how it is with whiskey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coyote-waits-movie/i-am-ashamed-that-s-how-it-is-with-whiskey/) Coyote Waits - Movie > [Awesome! I'd just bullied Jesus into doing a shot with me. Nobody would ever believe it, but I didn't care. We ordered the insanely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/awesome-i-d-just-bullied-jesus-into-doing-a-shot-with-me-nobody-would/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [“I couldn't take another thing. That if they wanted to die, couldn't they do it with someone else? These days, I was holding myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/strong-hold-publishing/i-couldn-t-take-another-thing-that-if-they-wanted-to-die-couldn-t/) [Strong Hold Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/strong-hold-publishing/) > [My father? A hard drinking man from the 70's. We actually have no pictures of my dad where he is not holding a beer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/my-father-a-hard-drinking-man-from-the-70-s-we-actually-have-no/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [My dad worked for different companies that made whiskey for a long time, so we were definitely whiskey drinkers. Growing up, my friends would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-krieger/my-dad-worked-for-different-companies-that-made-whiskey-for-a-long/) [Mike Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-krieger/) > [She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/she-was-only-a-whiskey-maker-but-he-loved-her-still/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) ## More by Walker Percy > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Americans are the nicest, most generous, and sentimental people on earth. Yet Americans have killed more unborn children than any nation in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/americans-are-the-nicest-most-generous-and-sentimental-people-on/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“The real wonder is not that the Cosmos is now seen as wonderful but that it is not. Despite its inconceivable vastness, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-real-wonder-is-not-that-the-cosmos-is-now-seen-as-wonderful-but/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Ours is the only civilization in history which has enshrined mediocrity as its national ideal. Others have been corrupt, but leave it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/ours-is-the-only-civilization-in-history-which-has-enshrined/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [ \[In art\] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the-listener-or-the-viewer/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“People usually told him the same joke two or three times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/people-usually-told-him-the-same-joke-two-or-three-times/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [For the world is broken, sundered, busted down the middle, self ripped from self and man pasted back together as mythical monster, half angel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-the-world-is-broken-sundered-busted-down-the-middle-self-ripped/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nobody but a Southerner knows the wrenching rinsing sadness of the cities of the North.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nobody-but-a-southerner-knows-the-wrenching-rinsing-sadness-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-me-all-signifiers-fit-me-one-as-well-as-another-i-am-rascal-hero/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“But the expectation of the self, to be informed in its nothingness--if only I can get out of this old place and into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/but-the-expectation-of-the-self-to-be-informed-in-its-nothingness-if/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nothing remains but desire, and desire comes howling down Elysian Fields like a mistral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nothing-remains-but-desire-and-desire-comes-howling-down-elysian/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [A novel is what you call something that won't sell if you call it poems or short stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-novel-is-what-you-call-something-that-won-t-sell-if-you-call-it/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-search-is-what-anyone-would-undertake-if-he-were-not-sunk-in-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Am I, in my search, a hundred miles ahead of my fellow Americans or a hundred miles behind them? That is to say: Have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/am-i-in-my-search-a-hundred-miles-ahead-of-my-fellow-americans-or-a/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) [Explore all 194 Walker Percy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## More Identity quotes > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/) [S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/) > [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [“Why were there no words that spoke positively about being concerned about the self? Why was there only negative connotation in terms like "selfish",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-dalton/why-were-there-no-words-that-spoke-positively-about-being-concerned/) A.J. Dalton [Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is, excessive abstraction of the self from itself, was recovery of the self through ordeal. ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walker Percy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angelism-that-is-excessive/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Identity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angelism-that-is-excessive/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/walker-percy-1958_identity_at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angel_947871.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At that time the only treatment of angelism, that is, excessive abstraction of the self from itself, was…” — Walker Percy", "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": "Walker Percy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“At that time the only treatment...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angelism-that-is-excessive/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/at-that-time-the-only-treatment-of-angelism-that-is-excessive/#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 } } ] } ```