Anne Carson Quotes

Beckett does not believe in God, though he seems to imply that God has committed an unforgivable sin by not existing.

I don't believe in God, though I'm not prepared to call myself an atheist either. You know the old phrase: 'There are no atheists in foxholes.' I've never been in a foxhole, and if I ever find myself in a foxhole, I'll let you know if I believe in God or not.

That's true that I'm "not religious as that term is conventionally understood," though I've never been an atheist. Atheism is an active faith; it says, "I believe there is no God." But I don't know what I believe. I was brought up a Lutheran in Jamestown, North Dakota. I have trouble with faith. I'm not proud of this. I don't think it makes me an intellectual. I would believe if I could, and I may be able to before it's over. I would welcome that.

There is no God and we are his prophets.

God is dead, and no one cares! If there is a hell I'll see you there!

Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.

Without worship, we go about miserable.

I love the idea of God, but it's not stylistically in keeping with the way I function. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God. I can see that people who believe in God are happier. ... But I doubt.

If there is no God there is no hereafter. When, therefore, one drives God out of the universe he closes the door of hope upon himself.

I think God is something that people use to avoid reality. I think faith allows people to reject what is right in front of our eyes, which is that thing, this life, this existence, this consciousness, or whatever word you want to use for it, is all we have, and all we'll ever have. I think people have faith because they want and need to believe in something, whatever that something is, because life can be hard and depressing and brutal if you don't.

People don't so much believe in God as that they choose not to believe in nothing.

You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no God. The truth probably lies somewhere between these two statements.

I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism.

Intellectually, now, I believe that it is a complete vanity to say positively there is no God.

My grandfather was a practising Quaker. My father was a nihilist. But nihilism, if you like, is the beginning of faith anyway.

Rather than say he's an atheist, a friend of mine says, 'I'm a tooth fairy agnostic,' meaning he can't disprove God but thinks God is about as likely as the tooth fairy.

I think you can get to a point where nihilism, if that's the right word, is overwhelming, and the basic laws that society has set up - either religious or social laws - become meaningless.

But Charlie, Charlie, how can we ever really know anything? Charlie, what or who is God?

By night an atheist half believes in a God.

The divine is perhaps that quality in man which permits him to endure the lack of God.

I prefer to think that God is not dead, just drunk.

I'm not sure about anything as far as religion and spirituality go.

The atheist has no hope.

I don't believe in angels and I have trouble with the whole God thing. I don't want to say I don't believe in God, but I don't think I do. But I believe in people who do.

In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead.