QuoteProject
You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor any thing. Nothing is immortal. But only to us is it given to know that we must die. And that is a great gift: the gift of selfhood. For we have only what we know we must lose, what we are willing to lose... That selfhood which is our torment, and our treasure, and our humanity, does not endure. It changes; it is gone, a wave on the sea. Would you have the sea grow still and the tides cease, to save one wave, to save yourself?
Ursula K. Le Guin
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the inevitability of death and the transient nature of selfhood, suggesting that our awareness of mortality shapes our identity.

Ursula K. Le Guin's quote emphasizes the acceptance of mortality as a unique aspect of human existence, suggesting that knowing we will die enriches our understanding of ourselves. It presents death not just as a loss but as a gift that informs our selfhood and humanity. Rather than clinging to the ephemeral nature of our identities, which are constantly changing, we should embrace the inevitable passage of time and the transformations within us. This awareness allows us to appreciate life more deeply, recognizing that just as waves rise and fall, our experiences and selves are temporary, yet profoundly significant.

Themes

MortalitySelfhoodTransienceLifeAcceptance

In practice

Example use cases

In a eulogy reflecting on the impermanence of life.

More from Ursula K. Le Guin

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead

Similar quotes

In short, there are mysteries of science and of soul that will never be understood no matter how hard we measure, no matter how strongly we believe, no matter how deep our think tanks and how high our aspirations. But as anyone will tell you—for we all know this within our hearts—the impossible happens and grand cosmic mysteries are solved on a regular basis, although most of the time the solutions lead to even greater mysteries.
Neal ShustermanRead
Stick to what's in front of you - idea, action, utterance.
Marcus AureliusRead
The Holy Spirit upon my left leads my feet without ceasing into the camp of the righteous and into the tents of the free.
Maya AngelouRead
I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
Thomas PaineRead
Let no man posture as an advocate of peace if he proposes or supports any social system that initiates the use of force against individual men, in any form.
Ayn RandRead
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.
George Bernard ShawRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.