--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don’t you want to be alive before you die?" description: "\"Don’t you want to be alive before you die?\" — Anthony Doerr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png" --- # Don’t you want to be alive before you die? ![“Don’t you want to be alive before you die?” quote by Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png) > “Don’t you want to be alive before you die?” [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages living fully now rather than postponing life until after death. **In simple terms:** Live fully before you die. Key Takeaway Embrace present experiences. Themes mortality presence urgency Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - travel - relationships - career decisions - health choices Key Concepts existentialism mindfulness carpe diem Questions to Reflect On - What does “alive” mean to you today? - How can you act on this urgency? A Different Perspective Ignoring present can lead to regret. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Alive Die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive-die-451496/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Don Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-want/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-alive-1775180/) ## Related quotes > [The only dream worth having, I told her, is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/the-only-dream-worth-having-i-told-her-is-to-dream-that-you-will-live/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [A lot of money is spent trying to keep people alive who don't necessarily want to be alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/a-lot-of-money-is-spent-trying-to-keep-people-alive-who-don-t/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [If you want to be alive and live in a real world, if you want to have any emotions at all in your life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loni-anderson/if-you-want-to-be-alive-and-live-in-a-real-world-if-you-want-to-have/) [Loni Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loni-anderson/) > [I want to take a dive, I want to take a chance. I want to make the most of every day I have. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-harris/i-want-to-take-a-dive-i-want-to-take-a-chance-i-want-to-make-the-most/) [Mark Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-harris/) > [“IF YOU WANT TO ALIVE REAL, THEN JOIN THE COMMUNITY OF HUMAN.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arbab-jehangir/if-you-want-to-alive-real-then-join-the-community-of-human/) [ARBAB JEHANGIR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arbab-jehangir/) > [“Alive. I want to be alive, and I have no idea why, seeing how hideous life is at times. Maybe it's belief, hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/alive-i-want-to-be-alive-and-i-have-no-idea-why-seeing-how-hideous/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [“I want to be alive again," she said. "Not in this half-life. I want to be really alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-want-to-be-alive-again-she-said-not-in-this-half-life-i-want-to-be/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“sometimes you get to a point in your life where you don't know what you want to do tomorrow, you just know you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-urban-griot/sometimes-you-get-to-a-point-in-your-life-where-you-don-t-know-what/) [The Urban Griot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-urban-griot/) > [“Laura looked up at him with dead blue eyes. I want to be alive again," she said. "Not in this half-life. I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/laura-looked-up-at-him-with-dead-blue-eyes-i-want-to-be-alive-again/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“All the feelings Are dead inside me And I want them To be alive”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/all-the-feelings-are-dead-inside-me-and-i-want-them-to-be-alive/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But if there's anyone I want to be like when I do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/i-don-t-know-what-i-want-to-be-when-i-grow-up-but-if-there-s-anyone-i/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [The only thing I do know is that I don't want to be alive breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-laura/the-only-thing-i-do-know-is-that-i-don-t-want-to-be-alive-breathing/) [Jasmine Laura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-laura/) > [The BBC did a survey of the top 50 things to do before we die. Not while we're still alive, before we die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/the-bbc-did-a-survey-of-the-top-50-things-to-do-before-we-die-not/) [Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/) > [I Can't Describe How Much I Love You, But I Can Tell You What You Mean To Me, You're My Entire World, Being With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-t-describe-how-much-i-love-you-but-i-can-tell-you-what-you-mean/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The fundamental fact about all of us is that we’re alive for a while but will die before long. This fact is the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-fundamental-fact-about-all-of-us-is-that-we-re-alive-for-a-while/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) ## More by Anthony Doerr > [I was a nerdy kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-was-a-nerdy-kid/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“he moved neither forward nor backward in time, but merely endured variations of the same day over and over. Maybe he was the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/he-moved-neither-forward-nor-backward-in-time-but-merely-endured/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“Open your eyes, the Frenchman on the radio used to say, and see what you can with them before they close forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/open-your-eyes-the-frenchman-on-the-radio-used-to-say-and-see-what/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“Just when we think we have a system, ...the system collapses. Just when we know our way around, we get lost. Just when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/just-when-we-think-we-have-a-system-the-system-collapses-just-when-we/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“An hour passed and another and then, like a glass of water overfilled - the meniscus inverting, going convex, gravity pulling at the edges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/an-hour-passed-and-another-and-then-like-a-glass-of-water-overfilled/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“For dinner, he orders wild boar cooked with fresh mushrooms. And a full bottle of Bordeaux. Especially during wartime, such things remain important. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/for-dinner-he-orders-wild-boar-cooked-with-fresh-mushrooms-and-a-full/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“Do you know what happens, Etienne,” says Madame Manec from the other side of the kitchen, “when you drop a frog in a pot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/do-you-know-what-happens-etienne-says-madame-manec-from-the-other/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“You ever hope for something so much? So much you can't sleep, so much your skull hurts? But the thing is, you don't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/you-ever-hope-for-something-so-much-so-much-you-can-t-sleep-so-much/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“Hope was a sunrise, a friend in the alley, a whisper in an empty corridor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/hope-was-a-sunrise-a-friend-in-the-alley-a-whisper-in-an-empty/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/time-is-a-slippery-thing-lose-hold-of-it-once-and-its-string-might/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“...the air a library and the record of every life lived, every sentence spoken, every word transmitted still reverberating within it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/the-air-a-library-and-the-record-of-every-life-lived-every-sentence/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“silent desperation of everything they never said - gaps and absences in every conversation, the past circumscribing the present, the future hemming in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/silent-desperation-of-everything-they-never-said-gaps-and-absences-in/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“She is in charge of everything, but no one knows. It is a tremendous burden, she says, to be responsible for every little thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/she-is-in-charge-of-everything-but-no-one-knows-it-is-a-tremendous/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [I guess you could say I've been writing all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-guess-you-could-say-i-ve-been-writing-all-my-life/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Only Numbers. Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/only-numbers-pure-math-you-have-to-accustom-yourself-to-thinking-that/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) [Explore all 336 Anthony Doerr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don’t you want to be alive before you die?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Doerr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-die/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-die/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/anthony-doerr-886_alive_don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-di_1174441.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don’t you want to be alive before you die?” — Anthony Doerr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anthony Doerr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don’t you want to be alive...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-die/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/don-t-you-want-to-be-alive-before-you-die/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```