--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Children...wake up and find themselves…" description: "\"“Children...wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like sleepwalkers, in full stride..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/annie-dillard-509_cardiac-arrest_children-wake-up-and-find-themselves-her_2479008.jpg" --- # Children...wake up and find themselves here, discover… ![“Children...wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like sleepwalkers, in full stride,; they wake like people brought back from cardiac arrest or from drowning: in medias res, surrounded by familiar people and objects, equipped with…” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/annie-dillard-509_cardiac-arrest_children-wake-up-and-find-themselves-her_2479008.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/annie-dillard-509_cardiac-arrest_children-wake-up-and-find-themselves-her_2479008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/annie-dillard-509_cardiac-arrest_children-wake-up-and-find-themselves-her_2479008.jpg) > ““Children...wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like sleepwalkers, in full stride,; they wake like people brought back from cardiac arrest or from drowning: in medias res, surrounded by familiar people and objects, equipped with a hundred skills. They know the neighborhood, they can read and write English, they are old hands at the commonplace mysteries, and yet they feel themselves to have just stepped off the boat, just converged with their bodies, just flown down from a trance, to lodge in an eerily familiar life already well underway. ”” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Awareness of being present reveals that life feels both familiar and newly discovered, like waking from a deep sleep **In simple terms:** Realizing life is both known and new creates a surreal feeling of rebirth Key Takeaway Embrace the paradox of familiarity and novelty in daily life Themes existence awakening identity Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - mindfulness - transitions - creative work Key Concepts philosophical reflection self‑discovery Questions to Reflect On - What does “waking” mean for your personal growth? - How do you balance familiarity with the desire for change? A Different Perspective The sense of novelty can be unsettling and may cause existential doubt ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cardiac arrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cardiac-arrest/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children Wake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-wake-843542/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Like Sleepwalkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-sleepwalkers-843543/) [Read And Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-and-write/) [Sleepwalkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleepwalkers-527360/) [Wake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake/) [Wake Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-like-492604/) ## Related quotes > [“Children ten years old wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/children-ten-years-old-wake-up-and-find-themselves-here-discover/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Almost anyone could be Fascist under the right circumstances. If they get scared enough. It's because, you see, most people live their lives like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shirley/almost-anyone-could-be-fascist-under-the-right-circumstances-if-they/) [John Shirley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shirley/) > [When my children wake up in the morning they know they will eat breakfast, get hugs from their parents, go to a good, safe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/when-my-children-wake-up-in-the-morning-they-know-they-will-eat/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [I'm knackered. I'm knackered all the time. My stupid, tiny children wake me up at 5:48 A.M. every single morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-webb/i-m-knackered-i-m-knackered-all-the-time-my-stupid-tiny-children-wake/) [Robert Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-webb/) > [“...children always wake after they have slept exactly as long as is good for them..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/children-always-wake-after-they-have-slept-exactly-as-long-as-is-good/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [For a week, almost without speaking, they went ahead like sleepwalkers through a universe of grief, lighted only by the tenuous reflection of luminous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/for-a-week-almost-without-speaking-they-went-ahead-like-sleepwalkers/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [At night I read and write, and things I have never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of the year's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/at-night-i-read-and-write-and-things-i-have-never-understood-become/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [This city belongs to ghosts, to murderers, to sleepwalkers. Where are you, in what bed, in what dream?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/this-city-belongs-to-ghosts-to-murderers-to-sleepwalkers-where-are/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“In this sense, the protagonists of 1914 were sleepwalkers, watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to the reality of the horror they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-clark/in-this-sense-the-protagonists-of-1914-were-sleepwalkers-watchful-but/) [Christopher Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-clark/) > [“The people who denied who they were or where they had been were in the greatest danger. They were blind sleepwalkers on tightropes, fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-finch/the-people-who-denied-who-they-were-or-where-they-had-been-were-in/) [Janet Finch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-finch/) > [“We have to accept that human culture is in a mass hypnotic trance. We’re sleepwalkers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/we-have-to-accept-that-human-culture-is-in-a-mass-hypnotic-trance-we/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Every concert pianist knows that the surest way to ruin a performance is to be aware of what the fingers are doing. Every dancer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/every-concert-pianist-knows-that-the-surest-way-to-ruin-a-performance/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [I remember that I'm invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-remember-that-i-m-invisible-and-walk-softly-so-as-not-awake-the/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“London? It's a city full of sleepwalkers chasing other people's dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-merrick/london-it-s-a-city-full-of-sleepwalkers-chasing-other-people-s-dreams/) [Steve Merrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-merrick/) > [“You are all sleepwalkers, whether climbing creative peaks or slogging through some mundane routine for the thousandth time. You are all sleepwalkers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/you-are-all-sleepwalkers-whether-climbing-creative-peaks-or-slogging/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Cardiac arrest quotes > [Ignore him," Heather begged. "I do. Constantly." Jean-Luc studied the coach, then turned to Heather with a wary look. "Every man in this town…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerrelyn-sparks/ignore-him-heather-begged-i-do-constantly-jean-luc-studied-the-coach/) [Kerrelyn Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerrelyn-sparks/) > [“Alot can happen in eleven minutes. Decker can run two miles in eleven minutes. I once wrote an English essay in ten. And God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-miranda/alot-can-happen-in-eleven-minutes-decker-can-run-two-miles-in-eleven/) [Megan Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-miranda/) > [“Leave your life. Leave everyone you love, every care, every stress, every commitment. Live alone. Understand what it feels like to know that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-carlino/leave-your-life-leave-everyone-you-love-every-care-every-stress-every/) [Renée Carlino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-carlino/) > [Sorry your unhealthy lifestyle makes cardiac arrest a feasible outcome from an April Fool's joke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sorry-your-unhealthy-lifestyle-makes-cardiac-arrest-a-feasible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As she explained to her students, patients often awoke from very bad illnesses or cardiac arrests, talking about how they had been floating over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erika-hayasaki/as-she-explained-to-her-students-patients-often-awoke-from-very-bad/) [Erika Hayasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erika-hayasaki/) > [“One night, Tess finds me sobbing during the health segment of the evening news. Scientists have discovered scarred cells from cardiac arrest fall away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/one-night-tess-finds-me-sobbing-during-the-health-segment-of-the/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [The New World is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). There is some intense, bloodless violence and the beautiful underage lead actress (15-year-old Q'orianka Kilcher)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manohla-dargis/the-new-world-is-rated-pg-13-parents-strongly-cautioned-there-is-some/) [Manohla Dargis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manohla-dargis/) > [“When Kirsten carried out a portable defibrillator the size of a breadbox, I very nearly went into cardiac arrest. Which, let’s face it, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-spain/when-kirsten-carried-out-a-portable-defibrillator-the-size-of-a/) [Emmett Spain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-spain/) > [“(Riders had heard stories of some cyclists setting alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to exercise, so that their EPO-thickened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-macur/riders-had-heard-stories-of-some-cyclists-setting-alarms-to-wake-up/) [Juliet Macur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-macur/) > [The patient that's on the floor with the cardiac arrest is not Wall Street. It's the American economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/the-patient-that-s-on-the-floor-with-the-cardiac-arrest-is-not-wall/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [“Children ten years old wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/children-ten-years-old-wake-up-and-find-themselves-here-discover/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We have a terrific economy, it's like a great athlete that's had a cardiac arrest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-warren-buffett/we-have-a-terrific-economy-it-s-like-a-great-athlete-that-s-had-a/) [Howard Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-warren-buffett/) > ['Cardiac Arrest' was the first British drama to use a lot of medical jargon. 'ER' began the following year and was the first American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-mercurio/cardiac-arrest-was-the-first-british-drama-to-use-a-lot-of-medical/) [Jed Mercurio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-mercurio/) > [“Roosevelt pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it. “How can you smoke at a time like this?” asked the captain. His eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mayne/roosevelt-pulled-a-cigar-from-his-pocket-and-lit-it-how-can-you-smoke/) [Andrew Mayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mayne/) > [I felt a strange fluttering sensation in my chest. Butterflies, cardiac arrest . . . it was hard to say what exactly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/i-felt-a-strange-fluttering-sensation-in-my-chest-butterflies-cardiac/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) [Browse all 28 Cardiac arrest quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cardiac-arrest/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Children...wake up and find themselves here, discover themselves to have been here all along; is this sad? They wake like sleepwalkers, in full stride,; they wake like people brought back from cardiac arrest or from drowning: in medias res, surrounded by familiar people and objects, equipped with a hundred skills. 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