To see the gods dispelled in mid-air and dissolve like clouds is one of the great human experiences. It is not as if they had gone over the horizon to disappear for a time; nor as if they had been overcome by other gods of greater power and profounder knowledge. It is simply that they came to nothing.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The loss of religious belief is a profound human experience where gods disappear not by defeat but by simply ceasing to exist in human thought.
- In plain terms
- Gods don't die; people just stop believing they exist.
- What can you take from it?
- Faith fades when the idea of the divine loses its hold.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What happens when your beliefs dissolve?
- Is belief a choice or a feeling?
Another view
It may overlook how spiritual experiences persist beyond belief.
More from Wallace Stevens
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
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