Acceptance Quote by Alan Watts
“Everybody should do in their lifetime, sometime, two things. One is to consider death...to observe skulls and skeletons and to wonder what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up-never. That is a most gloomy thing for contemplation; it's like manure. Just as manure fertilizes the plants and so on, so the contemplation of death and the acceptance of death is very highly generative of creating life. You'll get wonderful things out of that.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: The Wisdom of Insecurity, Alan Watts, 1957
Contemplating death, like manure, fertilizes the mind, fostering creativity and appreciation for life.
In simple terms: Thinking about death can inspire life‑creating ideas.
Use mortality to spark purpose.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- personal growth
- artistic inspiration
- spiritual practice
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does confronting mortality change your daily choices?
- What creative projects could arise from this awareness?
Ignoring death may lead to complacency.