--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There must be other leaps in life - as…" description: "\"“There must be other leaps in life - as momentous as the \"mirror stage\" - that Lacan didn't mention. Some are universal; others, culturally particular...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4d/amit-chaudhuri-15700_death_there-must-be-other-leaps-in-life-as-mom_3205854.jpg" --- # There must be other leaps in life - as momentous as the… ![“There must be other leaps in life - as momentous as the "mirror stage" - that Lacan didn't mention. Some are universal; others, culturally particular. To understand that your parents are human (and not an element of the natural world), that they're separate from you, that they were children once…” quote by Amit Chaudhuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4d/amit-chaudhuri-15700_death_there-must-be-other-leaps-in-life-as-mom_3205854.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4d/amit-chaudhuri-15700_death_there-must-be-other-leaps-in-life-as-mom_3205854.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4d/amit-chaudhuri-15700_death_there-must-be-other-leaps-in-life-as-mom_3205854.jpg) > ““There must be other leaps in life - as momentous as the "mirror stage" - that Lacan didn't mention. Some are universal; others, culturally particular. To understand that your parents are human (and not an element of the natural world), that they're separate from you, that they were children once, that they were born and came into the world, is another leap. It's as if you hadn't seen who they were earlier - just as, before you were ten months old, you didn't know it was you in the mirror. This happens when you're sixteen or seventeen. Not long after - maybe a year - you find out your parents will die. It's not as if you haven't encountered death already. But, before now, your precocious mind can't accommodate your parents' death except as an academic nicety - to be dismissed gently as too literary and sentimental. After that day, your parents' dying suddenly becomes simple. It grows clear that you're alone and always have been, though certain convergences start to look miraculous - for instance, between your father, mother, and yourself. Though your parents don't die immediately - what you've had is a realisation, not a premonition - you'll carry around this knowledge for their remaining decades or years. You won't think, looking at them, "You're going to die". It'll be an unspoken fact of existence. Nothing about them will surprise you anymore.”” [Amit Chaudhuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-chaudhuri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A profound realization of parental mortality reshapes personal identity, revealing isolation and interconnectedness across generations. **In simple terms:** Realizing parents will die changes how you see yourself and family. Key Takeaway Accept mortality, reflect on personal growth. Themes identity family mortality growth Mood reflective somber introspective Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - teenage self‑discovery - grieving a parent - family therapy - philosophical reflection Key Concepts psychology existentialism developmental stages Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing parental death affect your sense of self? - What can you learn from this awareness? 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After our parents death my wicked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/true-life-story-my-sister-and-i-lost-our-parents-at-the-age-of-4/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [“But for a moment, standing there with Tariq in the sunlight, it was as though those years had never happened. Her parents deaths, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/but-for-a-moment-standing-there-with-tariq-in-the-sunlight-it-was-as/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“In my professional work I am struck by how often sibling relationships fall apart around the life-cycle stage of caring for elderly parents, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-lerner/in-my-professional-work-i-am-struck-by-how-often-sibling/) [Harriet Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-lerner/) > [Writer Somerset Maugham, after his parents deaths, spent a few stultifying years in his uncle's vicarage. 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Death, about which so much mystery is made,is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/there-is-nothing-so-difficult-to-arrive-at-as-the-nature-and/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“For the rest of the morning they worked quietly ad steadily, realizing that their contentment here at Uncle Monty's house did not erase their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/for-the-rest-of-the-morning-they-worked-quietly-ad-steadily-realizing/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) > [Soon I will honor my parents by dying as they died. and if all they believed about death was true, soon I will join…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/soon-i-will-honor-my-parents-by-dying-as-they-died-and-if-all-they/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) ## More by Amit Chaudhuri > [“The intention (of the puja pandals) is not so much to entertain as to disorient and astonish; to tap into the Bengali’s appetite for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-chaudhuri/the-intention-of-the-puja-pandals-is-not-so-much-to-entertain-as-to/) [Amit Chaudhuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-chaudhuri/) > [“The city was still … Soon the machinery would start working again, not out of any sense of purpose, but like a watch that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-chaudhuri/the-city-was-still-soon-the-machinery-would-start-working-again-not/) [Amit Chaudhuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-chaudhuri/) > [“the world’s cheapest small car, Tata’s Nano, worth only $1500. 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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": "“There must be other leaps in life - as momentous as the \"mirror stage\" - that Lacan didn't mention. Some are universal; others, culturally particular. To understand that your parents are human (and not an element of the natural world), that they're separate from you, that they were children once, that they were born and came into the world, is another leap. It's as if you hadn't seen who they were earlier - just as, before you were ten months old, you didn't know it was you in the mirror. This happens when you're sixteen or seventeen. Not long after - maybe a year - you find out your parents will die. It's not as if you haven't encountered death already. But, before now, your precocious mind can't accommodate your parents' death except as an academic nicety - to be dismissed gently as too literary and sentimental. After that day, your parents' dying suddenly becomes simple. It grows clear that you're alone and always have been, though certain convergences start to look miraculous - for instance, between your father, mother, and yourself. 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