--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let death find us as we are building up…" description: "\"Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick protests against its waves.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg" --- # Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick… ![“Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick protests against its waves.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg) > “Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick protests against its waves.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We should accept death while actively resisting its inevitable approach through purposeful protest. **In simple terms:** Accept death while actively resisting. Key Takeaway Live purposefully despite mortality. Themes mortality resistance purpose philosophy Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - social movements - creative expression - political activism Key Concepts existentialism activism meaning Questions to Reflect On - How can we turn acceptance into constructive action? - What forms of protest feel meaningful to you? A Different Perspective Resistance may be symbolic and not change the outcome. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Protests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protests/) ## Related quotes > [“What I know about love, I can write on the head of a matchstick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-avon/what-i-know-about-love-i-can-write-on-the-head-of-a-matchstick/) [Barbara Avon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-avon/) > [For God's sake, Marks, do you think anyone really wants a glance at those dried-up matchsticks you call legs?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/for-god-s-sake-marks-do-you-think-anyone-really-wants-a-glance-at/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [If any good comes out of the current famine in the Horn of Africa - amidst the pictures of mothers carrying dying babies at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josette-sheeran/if-any-good-comes-out-of-the-current-famine-in-the-horn-of-africa/) [Josette Sheeran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josette-sheeran/) > [In the camp, this meant committing my verse-many thousands of lines-to memory. To help me with this I improvised decimal counting beads and, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/in-the-camp-this-meant-committing-my-verse-many-thousands-of-lines-to/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Atheists blame religion when priests do wrong. Anything can be misused, whether it is nuclear power or a matchstick. So, how can I blame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asghar-ali-engineer/atheists-blame-religion-when-priests-do-wrong-anything-can-be-misused/) [Asghar Ali Engineer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asghar-ali-engineer/) > [I have no intention of watching undersized Englishmen perched on horses with matchstick legs race along courses planned to amuse Nell Gwynn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-harding/i-have-no-intention-of-watching-undersized-englishmen-perched-on/) Gilbert Harding > [I don't smoke but I keep a match box in my pocket, when my heart slips towards sin, I burn the matchstick and heat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/i-don-t-smoke-but-i-keep-a-match-box-in-my-pocket-when-my-heart-slips/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“A minimum of two matchsticks must be added.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-grabarchuk-family/a-minimum-of-two-matchsticks-must-be-added/) The Grabarchuk Family > [You don’t get it, do you?" I said. “It’s not a question of ‘what then’. Some people get a kick out of reading railroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-don-t-get-it-do-you-i-said-it-s-not-a-question-of-what-then-some/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Name none of the fallen, for they stand in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/name-none-of-the-fallen-for-they-stand-in-our-place-and-stand-there/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Don't let death make you sad, don't let it make you think differently of the person! but most important, DON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-death-make-you-sad-don-t-let-it-make-you-think-differently/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I had always thought that life was the actual thing, the natural thing, and that death was simply the end of living. Now, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nando-parrado/i-had-always-thought-that-life-was-the-actual-thing-the-natural-thing/) [Nando Parrado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nando-parrado/) > [When my friend Melot set the trap, I think I knew it. I turned to death full face, as I had turned to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-my-friend-melot-set-the-trap-i-think-i-knew-it-i-turned-to-death/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“I know what's wrong with me - I could never stand still for death! Which you've got to do by a certain age, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/i-know-what-s-wrong-with-me-i-could-never-stand-still-for-death-which/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Building quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. 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We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'd like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I'd need building up, though he's very frail now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/i-d-like-to-play-ian-paisley-actually-i-d-need-building-up-though-he/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. 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I need to act and keep building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillian-whyte/i-m-30-i-m-about-to-hit-my-prime-now-i-need-to-act-and-keep-building/) [Dillian Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillian-whyte/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) Browse all 5,974 Building quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick protests against its waves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up-our-matchstick-protests/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Building" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up-our-matchstick-protests/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alain-de-botton-221_building_let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up_2271396.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let death find us as we are building up our matchstick protests against its waves.” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Let death find us as we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up-our-matchstick-protests/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/let-death-find-us-as-we-are-building-up-our-matchstick-protests/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```