--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What was it like to wake up after having…" description: "\"What was it like to wake up after having never gone to sleep? That was when you were born.\" — Alan Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d3/alan-watts-587_born_what-was-it-like-to-wake-up-after-having_2041508.jpg" --- # What was it like to wake up after having never gone to… ![“What was it like to wake up after having never gone to sleep? That was when you were born.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d3/alan-watts-587_born_what-was-it-like-to-wake-up-after-having_2041508.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d3/alan-watts-587_born_what-was-it-like-to-wake-up-after-having_2041508.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d3/alan-watts-587_born_what-was-it-like-to-wake-up-after-having_2041508.jpg) > “What was it like to wake up after having never gone to sleep? That was when you were born.” [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. Suggests that birth is the ultimate awakening from an eternal sleep, highlighting consciousness. **In simple terms:** Birth awakens us from timeless sleep. Key Takeaway Cherish consciousness. Themes existence awakening birth Mood reflective curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Parenthood - spiritual practice - creative work Key Concepts Consciousness emergence Philosophical introspection Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness change perception? - What does “sleep” symbolize? A Different Perspective Awakening can be disorienting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Gone Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone-sleep-617385/) [Like Wake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-wake-299998/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sleep Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep-born-3803129/) [Wake Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-having-2736681/) [Wake up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-up/) ## Related quotes > [If you go to bed hungry, you will wake up without having slept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/if-you-go-to-bed-hungry-you-will-wake-up-without-having-slept/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [This face. What is it like to wake up to this face?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuliana-rancic/this-face-what-is-it-like-to-wake-up-to-this-face/) [Giuliana Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuliana-rancic/) > [For the past several years, I have gone to sleep every night in this same little pocket, the most uneventful piece of time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/for-the-past-several-years-i-have-gone-to-sleep-every-night-in-this/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [A song like 'Once You Wake Up,' is about that realization... about finally wanting to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-popper/a-song-like-once-you-wake-up-is-about-that-realization-about-finally/) [John Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-popper/) > [It seems like we wake up and it's a race until you get to bed. It gets to you after a while and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/it-seems-like-we-wake-up-and-it-s-a-race-until-you-get-to-bed-it-gets/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [“He’ll never know what it would be like, to wake up beside her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-bolton/he-ll-never-know-what-it-would-be-like-to-wake-up-beside-her/) [S.J. Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-bolton/) > [You don't like me? great it's not like I wake up everyday and think damn I wished you liked me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/you-don-t-like-me-great-it-s-not-like-i-wake-up-everyday-and-think/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Like anyone else, I go up and down. You wake up some days, and you're like, "Life is great." You wake up other days,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-rodriguez-lopez/like-anyone-else-i-go-up-and-down-you-wake-up-some-days-and-you-re/) [Omar Rodriguez-Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-rodriguez-lopez/) > [I want to learn what it's like to wake up in the morning and not feel sad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-mohamed-ali/i-want-to-learn-what-it-s-like-to-wake-up-in-the-morning-and-not-feel/) [Dr Mohamed Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-mohamed-ali/) > [Nothing like a wake up call with a boob grab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-disick/nothing-like-a-wake-up-call-with-a-boob-grab/) [Scott Disick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-disick/) > [“Like, I don't know, being in here, it's like a wake-up call. It's like, this could be you. You could be dead. But, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabatha-beshears/like-i-don-t-know-being-in-here-it-s-like-a-wake-up-call-it-s-like/) [Tabatha Beshears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabatha-beshears/) > [It's not like I wake up and songs flow out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-casablancas/it-s-not-like-i-wake-up-and-songs-flow-out-of-me/) [Julian Casablancas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-casablancas/) > [Of all the people I've ever met that I got a bit tongue-tied around was Chris Moyles. And it was just down the corridor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vick-hope/of-all-the-people-i-ve-ever-met-that-i-got-a-bit-tongue-tied-around/) [Vick Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vick-hope/) > [Id like to wake up next to you every morning!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-josland/id-like-to-wake-up-next-to-you-every-morning/) [Azgraybebly Josland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azgraybebly-josland/) > [I like to wake up each morning felling a new man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-harlow/i-like-to-wake-up-each-morning-felling-a-new-man/) [Jean Harlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-harlow/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. 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 Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If you can believe it, Hollywood wanted to change my birthdate. I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/if-you-can-believe-it-hollywood-wanted-to-change-my-birthdate-i-was/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) [Browse all 11,606 Born quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What was it like to wake up after having never gone to sleep? 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