There's an old saying: 'No piece of writing is ever finished, it's just abandoned.' But my own rule is: No piece of work is done until you want to kill everyone involved in the publishing process, especially yourself.
Chuck PalahniukRead
Someday you will die, and until you know that, you're useless to me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the inevitability of death, suggesting that acknowledging mortality can lead to a deeper understanding of life.
Chuck Palahniuk's quote confronts the reality of mortality, implying that recognizing one's eventual death is crucial for authentic living. It suggests that those who ignore the finite nature of life may miss out on its profound meanings and purposes, thus becoming 'useless' in a philosophical sense. The acknowledgment of death serves as a motivator to live fully and meaningfully.
Themes
MortalityLifeDeathExistenceMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy class discussing the meaning of life, this quote can initiate deep conversations among students.
More from Chuck Palahniuk
All quotes →Griping isn't the same as creating something. Rebelling isn't rebuilding. Ridiculing isn't replacing. We've taken the world apart but we have no idea what to do with the pieces.
Chuck PalahniukRead
If we can forgive what’s been done to us... If we can forgive what we’ve done to others... If we can leave all of our stories behind. Our being villains or victims. Only then can we maybe rescue the world.
Chuck PalahniukRead
We're all trapped. It's always 1734. All of us, we're stuck in the same time capsule, the same as those television shows where the same people are marooned on the same desert island for thirty seasons and never age or escape. They just wear more makeup. In a creepy way, those shows are maybe too authentic.
Chuck PalahniukRead
One thing I really envy about my friends who have kids is that as their children develop, they're able to revisit their own developmental stages and recognise themselves and undo a lot of things they decided.
Chuck PalahniukRead
If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing 'real' was at risk, what would you do? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do - all the exciting things they no longer can.
Chuck PalahniukRead
Similar quotes
All God's creatures are His family; and he is the most beloved of God who tries to do most good to God's creatures.
Abdul KalamRead
Order and disorder', said the speaker, 'they each have their beauty.
Orson Scott CardRead
One of the most persistent ambiguities that we face is that everybody talks about peace as a goal. However, it does not take sharpest-eyed sophistication to discern that while everbody talks about peace, peace has become practically nobody's business among the power-wielders. Many men cry Peace! Peace! but they refuse to do the things that make for peace.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
Is not anyone with any degree of mental honesty conscious of telling lies all day long, both in talking and writing, simply because lies will fall into artistic shape when truth will not?
George OrwellRead
Myths give us our sense of personal identity, answering the question, 'Who am I?'
Rollo MayRead
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.
LaoziRead