--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life and Reality are not things you can…" description: "\"Life and Reality are not things you can have for yourself unless you accord them to all others. They do not belong to particular persons any more than ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/951/alan-watts-587_accord_life-and-reality-are-not-things-you-can_2590295.jpg" --- # Life and Reality are not things you can have for yourself… ![“Life and Reality are not things you can have for yourself unless you accord them to all others. They do not belong to particular persons any more than the sun, moon and stars.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/951/alan-watts-587_accord_life-and-reality-are-not-things-you-can_2590295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/951/alan-watts-587_accord_life-and-reality-are-not-things-you-can_2590295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/951/alan-watts-587_accord_life-and-reality-are-not-things-you-can_2590295.jpg) > “Life and Reality are not things you can have for yourself unless you accord them to all others. They do not belong to particular persons any more than the sun, moon and stars.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life and reality belong to everyone, not just individuals, similar to universal celestial bodies. **In simple terms:** Life is shared, not owned individually. Key Takeaway Treat others as part of a shared reality. Themes interconnectedness ethics universality Mood thoughtful ethical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - community building - environmental stewardship - global policy Key Concepts philosophy social theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you practice shared ownership? - What responsibilities arise from this view? A Different Perspective Individualism can clash with shared responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accord/) [Belong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belong/) [Belong Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belong-particular-1855003/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life And Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-reality/) [Life reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-reality/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Moon and stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon-and-stars/) [Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-things-301159/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Sun moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-moon/) [Sun moon and stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-moon-and-stars/) ## Related quotes > [... a country encapsulates our childhood and those lanes, byres, fields, flowers, insects, suns, moons and stars are forever reoccurring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/a-country-encapsulates-our-childhood-and-those-lanes-byres-fields/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [The Old Religion, as we call it, is closer in spirit to Native American traditions or to shamanism of the Arctic. 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Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Accord quotes > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. 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And I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-ve-never-had-a-very-quiet-voice-i-tried-in-choir-to-make-it-smaller/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/) [Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/) > [“I'm not here to grant you the extraordinary love you never had for yourself. I'm here, on my own accord, to love you. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/i-m-not-here-to-grant-you-the-extraordinary-love-you-never-had-for/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-misfortune-that-necessity-has-induced-men-to-accord-greater/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. 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