--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Imagine, for example, birds. When they…" description: "\"Imagine, for example, birds. When they look out at the world, they have a sense that they are alive. If they are in pain, they can do something about i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/antonio-damasio-9144_alive_imagine-for-example-birds-when-they-look_2220138.png" --- # Imagine, for example, birds. When they look out at the… ![“Imagine, for example, birds. When they look out at the world, they have a sense that they are alive. If they are in pain, they can do something about it. If they have hunger or thirst, they can satisfy that. It's this basic feeling that there is life ticking away inside of you.” quote by Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/antonio-damasio-9144_alive_imagine-for-example-birds-when-they-look_2220138.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/antonio-damasio-9144_alive_imagine-for-example-birds-when-they-look_2220138.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/antonio-damasio-9144_alive_imagine-for-example-birds-when-they-look_2220138.png) > “Imagine, for example, birds. When they look out at the world, they have a sense that they are alive. If they are in pain, they can do something about it. If they have hunger or thirst, they can satisfy that. It's this basic feeling that there is life ticking away inside of you.” [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) ## 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 bodily needs signals life; recognizing pain, hunger, or thirst confirms our al. **In simple terms:** Physical sensations prove we are alive. Key Takeaway Listen to bodily signals. Themes biology consciousness well‑being Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - health monitoring - mindfulness practice - stress response Key Concepts neuroscience psychology mind‑body connection Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond to bodily cues? - What practices heighten this awareness? A Different Perspective Ignoring signals can lead to health issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/when-it-comes-to-having-a-central-nervous-system-and-the-ability-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Love hunger and thirst for the sake of Christ. Insofar as you pacify your body, so much much will you do make your soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennadius-of-constantinople/love-hunger-and-thirst-for-the-sake-of-christ-insofar-as-you-pacify/) [Gennadius of Constantinople](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennadius-of-constantinople/) > [O love, whose lordly hand Has bridled my desires, And raised my hunger and my thirst To dignity and pride, Let not the strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/o-love-whose-lordly-hand-has-bridled-my-desires-and-raised-my-hunger/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is it only the mouth and belly which are injured by hunger and thirst? Men's minds are also injured by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mencius/is-it-only-the-mouth-and-belly-which-are-injured-by-hunger-and-thirst/) [Mencius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mencius/) > [Hunger, thirst, heat and cold: I had tasted them in full](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-thesiger/hunger-thirst-heat-and-cold-i-had-tasted-them-in-full/) [Wilfred Thesiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-thesiger/) > [God is waiting eagerly to respond with new strength to each little act of self-control, small disciplines of prayer, feeble searching after him. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holloway/god-is-waiting-eagerly-to-respond-with-new-strength-to-each-little/) [Richard Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holloway/) > [Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they are sticking to their diets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/blessed-are-those-who-hunger-and-thirst-for-they-are-sticking-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hunger. I'm thirst. Where I bite, I hold till I die, and even after death they must cut out my mouthful from my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-hunger-i-m-thirst-where-i-bite-i-hold-till-i-die-and-even-after/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To expel hunger and thirst there is no necessity of sitting in a palace and submitting to the supercilious brow and contumelious favour of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-expel-hunger-and-thirst-there-is-no-necessity-of-sitting-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A healthy appetite for righteousness, kept in due control by good manners, is an excellent thing; but to hunger and thirst after it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-broad/a-healthy-appetite-for-righteousness-kept-in-due-control-by-good/) [C. D. Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-broad/) > [Stress is a good thing, of course. Hunger, thirst are both stresses; if not for them, we would not survive. It is only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milind-soman/stress-is-a-good-thing-of-course-hunger-thirst-are-both-stresses-if/) [Milind Soman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milind-soman/) > [For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-what-is-evil-but-good-tortured-by-its-own-hunger-and-thirst/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some mountaineers are proud of having done all their climbs without bivouac. How much they have missed ! And the same applies to those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/some-mountaineers-are-proud-of-having-done-all-their-climbs-without/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [There are really good stories that can be told in a way that makes people feel good at the end of the day, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-roumie/there-are-really-good-stories-that-can-be-told-in-a-way-that-makes/) [Jonathan Roumie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-roumie/) > [The god of love lives in a state of need. It is a need. It is an urge. It is a homeostatic imbalance. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-god-of-love-lives-in-a-state-of-need-it-is-a-need-it-is-an-urge/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) ## More by Antonio Damasio > [We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/we-are-not-thinking-machines-that-feel-rather-we-are-feeling-machines/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Consciousness begins when brains acquire the power, the simple power I must add, of telling a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/consciousness-begins-when-brains-acquire-the-power-the-simple-power-i/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [I got interested in the emotions after studying patients who had lost the ability to emote and feel under certain circumstances. Many of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/i-got-interested-in-the-emotions-after-studying-patients-who-had-lost/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Rather than being a luxury, emotions are a very intelligent way of driving an organism toward certain outcomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/rather-than-being-a-luxury-emotions-are-a-very-intelligent-way-of/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Of necessity, the autobiographical self is not just about one individual but about all the others that an individual interacts with. Of necessity, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/of-necessity-the-autobiographical-self-is-not-just-about-one/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [A self that is very robust, that has many, many levels of organization, from simple to complex, and that functions as a sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/a-self-that-is-very-robust-that-has-many-many-levels-of-organization/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [A mind is so closely shaped by the body and destined to serve it that only one mind could possibly arise in it. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/a-mind-is-so-closely-shaped-by-the-body-and-destined-to-serve-it-that/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [When you deal with something like compassion for physical pain, which we know is very, very old in evolution - we can find evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/when-you-deal-with-something-like-compassion-for-physical-pain-which/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [You can be highly concentrated on a person, on a problem, and be so good at excluding all other material that that becomes not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/you-can-be-highly-concentrated-on-a-person-on-a-problem-and-be-so/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [ We may express them \[emotions\] physically slightly differently, and it's of course graded depending on the circumstance, but the essence of the process is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/we-may-express-them-emotions-physically-slightly-differently-and-it-s/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [The autobiographical self is built on the basis of past memories and memories of the plans that we have made; it's the lived past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/the-autobiographical-self-is-built-on-the-basis-of-past-memories-and/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [It's very interesting to think about the distinction with mind, which I just made in very general terms, but it can be made more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/it-s-very-interesting-to-think-about-the-distinction-with-mind-which/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [ What happens \[in a coma\] is that you lose the grounding of the self, you no longer have access to any feeling of your… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/what-happens-in-a-coma-is-that-you-lose-the-grounding-of-the-self-you/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [All of that is constantly operating when you not only learn, but when you recall. But as you recall in a different light, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/all-of-that-is-constantly-operating-when-you-not-only-learn-but-when/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) [Explore all 74 Antonio Damasio quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) ## 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 > [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": "Imagine, for example, birds. When they look out at the world, they have a sense that they are alive. If they are in pain, they can do something about it. If they have hunger or thirst, they can satisfy that. 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