--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know my time will come soon enough, but…" description: "\"I know my time will come soon enough, but I will not dwell on it. What is the purpose? We might as well dwell on the work of our teeth or on the mechan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/821/alberto-manguel-2467_death_i-know-my-time-will-come-soon-enough-but_2636205.jpg" --- # I know my time will come soon enough, but I will not dwell… ![“I know my time will come soon enough, but I will not dwell on it. What is the purpose? We might as well dwell on the work of our teeth or on the mechanics of our walk. It is there, it will always be there, and I don't intend to spend my glorious hours looking over my shoulder to see death's icy…” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/821/alberto-manguel-2467_death_i-know-my-time-will-come-soon-enough-but_2636205.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/821/alberto-manguel-2467_death_i-know-my-time-will-come-soon-enough-but_2636205.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/821/alberto-manguel-2467_death_i-know-my-time-will-come-soon-enough-but_2636205.jpg) > “I know my time will come soon enough, but I will not dwell on it. What is the purpose? We might as well dwell on the work of our teeth or on the mechanics of our walk. It is there, it will always be there, and I don't intend to spend my glorious hours looking over my shoulder to see death's icy face.” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages focusing on present work and purpose rather than obsessing over mortality. **In simple terms:** Live purposefully, not fearfully. Key Takeaway Focus on meaningful actions. Themes mortality purpose mindfulness Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - daily routines - health decisions Key Concepts existentialism philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What daily actions give your life meaning? - How do you balance awareness of death with living fully? A Different Perspective May downplay legitimate concerns about health and aging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Mechanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanic/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not worried. My time will come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddy-adu/i-m-not-worried-my-time-will-come/) [Freddy Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddy-adu/) > [There's a tendency for us to think that the secret of our success is something that is mystical and maybe someday my time will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/there-s-a-tendency-for-us-to-think-that-the-secret-of-our-success-is/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [you ask me what I'm looking for, and I outline you. you don't recognize the shape, offer other names. you say my time will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-ask-me-what-i-m-looking-for-and-i-outline-you-you-don-t-recognize/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Somebody told me when Abe Lincoln was a young man, studying by firelight, he said, "I will work hard. I will prepare myself. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/somebody-told-me-when-abe-lincoln-was-a-young-man-studying-by/) [Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/) > [I'll always be thankful for what I have right now. I feel that it's been a blessing. But I know my time will come.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorena-ochoa/i-ll-always-be-thankful-for-what-i-have-right-now-i-feel-that-it-s/) [Lorena Ochoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorena-ochoa/) > [Only when the clock stops does time come to life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/only-when-the-clock-stops-does-time-come-to-life/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [My time will come, that is: after the finish of the recurring song cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/my-time-will-come-that-is-after-the-finish-of-the-recurring-song/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [The selection rules are the same for everybody. I am trying to make a comeback just like some other players who got dropped after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sourav-ganguly/the-selection-rules-are-the-same-for-everybody-i-am-trying-to-make-a/) [Sourav Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sourav-ganguly/) > [Only the dead are truly smart, truly cool. Nothing touches them. While I live, however, I side with bumbling suffering crooked life, with anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-bey/only-the-dead-are-truly-smart-truly-cool-nothing-touches-them-while-i/) [Hakim Bey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-bey/) > [Up rose the wild old winter-king, And shook his beard of snow; "I hear the first young hard-bell ring, 'Tis time for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-godfrey-leland/up-rose-the-wild-old-winter-king-and-shook-his-beard-of-snow-i-hear/) [Charles Godfrey Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-godfrey-leland/) > [Those blue, blue eyes, icy blue, looking back at me as if I could warm them up. They’re pretty powerful, you know, those eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/those-blue-blue-eyes-icy-blue-looking-back-at-me-as-if-i-could-warm/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [You've got this world, these pathologists that are, day in and day out, taking apart bodies, coming up with theories about how they died…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-ventimiglia/you-ve-got-this-world-these-pathologists-that-are-day-in-and-day-out/) [Milo Ventimiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-ventimiglia/) > [The first four months of writing the book, my mental image is scratching with my hands through granite. My other image is pushing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-higgins-clark/the-first-four-months-of-writing-the-book-my-mental-image-is/) [Mary Higgins Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-higgins-clark/) > [I mean, look, no matter how you feel about Bush, watching him speak is difficult. It's like- it's like watching a drunk man cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-carlson/i-mean-look-no-matter-how-you-feel-about-bush-watching-him-speak-is/) [Tucker Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-carlson/) > [...that icy glass reduces your beauty - dims your fire - let me be your mirror...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-icy-glass-reduces-your-beauty-dims-your-fire-let-me-be-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feelings-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Then one day, from the window of a car (the destination of that journey is now forgotten), I saw a billboard by the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/then-one-day-from-the-window-of-a-car-the-destination-of-that-journey/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feeling-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know my time will come soon enough, but I will not dwell on it. What is the purpose? We might as well dwell on the work of our teeth or on the mechanics of our walk. 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