Quote by Neil Gaiman

Newton Pulsifer had never...as far as he knew, ever believed in anything. It had been embarrassing, because he quite wanted to believe in something, since he recognized that belief was the lifebelt that got most people through the choppy waters of Life. He'd have liked to believe in a supreme God, although he'd have preferred a half-hour's chat with Him before committing himself, to clear up one or two points. He'd sat in all sorts of churches, waiting for that single flash of blue light, and it hadn't come. And then he'd tried to become an official Atheist and hadn't got the rock-hard, self-satisfied strength of belief even for that. And every single political party had seemed to him equally dishonest. ....Then he'd tried believing in the Universe, which seemed sound enough until he'd innocently started reading new books with words like Chaos and Time and Quantum in the titles. He'd found that even the people whose job of work was, so to speak, the Universe, didn't really believe in it and were actually quite proud of not knowing what it really was or even if it could theoretically exist.To Newt's straightforward mind this was intolerable.

Summary

This quote explores Newton Pulsifer's struggle to find something to believe in. He feels that belief is necessary for navigating through life's challenges. Newton expresses a desire to believe in a supreme God, but wants clarification before committing himself. He has also tried atheism but lacks the strong belief required. Disillusioned by dishonest political parties, he then considers believing in the Universe but encounters uncertainty when faced with scientific concepts such as Chaos, Time, and Quantum. Newton finds it intolerable that even experts aren't certain about the nature of the Universe, as it goes against his straightforward mindset.