There are horrors beyond life's edge that we do not suspect, and once in a while man's evil prying calls them just within our range.
I am, indeed, an absolute materialist so far as actual belief goes; with not a shred of credence in any form of supernaturalism—religion, spiritualism, transcendentalism, metempsychosis, or immortality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a strong disbelief in anything spiritual or supernatural, emphasizing materialism and the tangible aspects of existence.
H. P. Lovecraft’s quote highlights his firm stance as a materialist, rejecting any belief in the supernatural or spiritual realms. This perspective emphasizes a worldview that values the physical and the empirical, dismissing ideas such as religion, immortality, and spiritualism as ungrounded and inherently untrustworthy, suggesting a focus on the observable and the concrete rather than the metaphysical.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of scientific reasoning over superstition, this quote could emphasize a rational viewpoint.
More from H. P. Lovecraft
All quotes →I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.
The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.
No new horror can be more terrible than the daily torture of the commonplace.
If I am mad, it is mercy! May the gods pity the man who in his callousness can remain sane to the hideous end!
Similar quotes
Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. Judas could not face his shadow; Peter could. The latter befriended the impostor within; the former raged against him.
I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian god may exist; so may the gods of Olympus, or of ancient Egypt, or of Babylon. But no one of these hypotheses is more probable than any other: they lie outside the region of even probable knowledge, and therefore there is no reason to consider any of them.
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact.
Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.
I'll break my staff, bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound, I'll drown my book!
If you give up your freedom for safety, you don't deserve either one