In This Moment I Am Euphoric

About

“In This Moment I am Euphoric” is a quote written by Redditor Aalewis in January of 2013, which became widely mocked as a cringeworthy example of self-important teenage atheist attitudes.

Origin

On January 4th, 2013, Redditor Aalewis submitted a post to the /r/atheism^[1] subreddit, which included a quote about his personal experience of being an atheist:

“Just to be clear, I’m not a professional ‘quote maker’. I’m just an atheist teenager who greatly values his intelligence and scientific fact over any silly fiction book written 3,500 years ago. This being said, I am open to any and all criticism.

‘In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.’"

Prior to being archived, the post received over 2,900 down votes, 1,190 up votes and 900 comments.

Spread

The same day, Redditor balderslash submitted a link to Aalewis’ post via /r/cringe^[2] subreddit, where it gained more than 3,300 up votes and 650 comments before it was archived. Also on January 4th, 2013, a troll quote image featuring Redditor Aalewis’ quote intentionally misattributed to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (shown below) was submitted to the /r/atheism^[8] subreddit. Prior to being archived, the post gathered upwards of 4,600 up votes and 600 comments.

On January 27th, Aalewis’ quote appeared on 4chan’s /sci/ (Science & Math) board^[7], this time, credited to the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. On March 18th, the “Euphoric Atheist” Tumblr^[4] blog was created, which highlights notable photographs and image macros mocking atheist stereotypes, including neckbeards and fedora. On April 16th, Urban Dictionary^[6] user zerk1337 submitted an entry for the “euphoric,” which referenced Aalewis’ quote:

On June 4th, a Facebook^[3] page titled “In This Moment I am Euphoric” was launched. On July 27th, Body Building Forums^[5] member Skeptical_Hippo posted a thread titled “In this moment, I am euphoric,” featuring an animated GIF of a rotating fedora hat with the caption “Euphoric” (shown below, left). On September 2nd, Redditor lockjaw900 submitted a post titled “What I imagine a lot of these cringelords reading” to the /r/cringepics^[9] subreddit, which featured a mock cover for a satirical magazine titled “Euphoria” (shown below, right).