--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Normally, to decide whether we are alive…" description: "\"“Normally, to decide whether we are alive we do not look outside of ourselves to find out if we are nourishing and generating life. We look into oursel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/arthur-c-mcgill-103125_alive_normally-to-decide-whether-we-are-alive_2105269.jpg" --- # Normally, to decide whether we are alive we do not look… ![“Normally, to decide whether we are alive we do not look outside of ourselves to find out if we are nourishing and generating life. We look into ourselves to find out how strong and healthy and vital we are. But the notion of the seed that dies demands an extraordinary redirection of the sense of…” quote by Arthur C. McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/arthur-c-mcgill-103125_alive_normally-to-decide-whether-we-are-alive_2105269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/arthur-c-mcgill-103125_alive_normally-to-decide-whether-we-are-alive_2105269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/arthur-c-mcgill-103125_alive_normally-to-decide-whether-we-are-alive_2105269.jpg) > ““Normally, to decide whether we are alive we do not look outside of ourselves to find out if we are nourishing and generating life. We look into ourselves to find out how strong and healthy and vital we are. But the notion of the seed that dies demands an extraordinary redirection of the sense of life. Now to know if anyone is alive, we do not look at them; look beyond them to the mode of their expenditures and the life that they nourish and preserve beyond themselves.”” [Arthur C. McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-mcgill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An exploration of internal versus external measures of life, emphasizing self‑knowledge over observation of others. **In simple terms:** Life is judged by inner health, not outward signs. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner vitality and self‑awareness. Themes self‑knowledge existence inner health philosophy of life Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal health assessment - mindfulness practice - coaching sessions Key Concepts self‑reflection biological vitality spiritual growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess your own vitality? - What practices reveal inner health? A Different Perspective External validation can be misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Alive Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive-look-3929555/) [Decide Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide-alive-4224657/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Nourish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-nourish-1772715/) [Notion Seed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion-seed-4224659/) [Sense Of Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-life/) [Vital Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vital-notion-4224658/) ## Related quotes > [I prize my seamstress, I value my copyist; but my cook, who knows well how to prepare the food to sustain life, and nourish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/i-prize-my-seamstress-i-value-my-copyist-but-my-cook-who-knows-well/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [“Everything's dead, but good, because it's dead before coming alive, not dead after being alive. That's how I look at it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/everything-s-dead-but-good-because-it-s-dead-before-coming-alive-not/) [Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/) > [People who are fully alive look out of their minds to those who simply exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-mcmanus/people-who-are-fully-alive-look-out-of-their-minds-to-those-who/) [Erwin McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-mcmanus/) > [We should learn and reflect to the best of our capacity, but when we reach a point where we are unable to make sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baal-shem-tov/we-should-learn-and-reflect-to-the-best-of-our-capacity-but-when-we/) [Baal Shem Tov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baal-shem-tov/) > [We live in the best of worlds. But still, it's like we've lost something on the way to here: a sense of life. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/we-live-in-the-best-of-worlds-but-still-it-s-like-we-ve-lost/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [“The birthing journey requires us as women to get back to a sense of life basics where our connection to intuition and instinct are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maha-al-musa/the-birthing-journey-requires-us-as-women-to-get-back-to-a-sense-of/) [Maha Al Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maha-al-musa/) > [“In peaceful dawn in quiet wood … all sense of life is understood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-g-space-2/in-peaceful-dawn-in-quiet-wood-all-sense-of-life-is-understood/) [L G Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-g-space-2/) > [“In much of urban and Western civilization today, with no proper tragic sense of life, we try to believe that it is all upward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/in-much-of-urban-and-western-civilization-today-with-no-proper-tragic/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I was living my own future and my brother's lost one as well. I represented him here just as he represented me there, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/i-was-living-my-own-future-and-my-brother-s-lost-one-as-well-i/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an indispensable companion to all those who are keen to make sense of life in an infinitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-hitchhiker-s-guide-to-the-galaxy-is-an-indispensable-companion-to/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/writing-and-reading-decrease-our-sense-of-isolation-they-deepen-and/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I had learnt to seek intensity rather than happiness, not joys and prosperity but more of life, a concentrated sense of life, a strengthened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/i-had-learnt-to-seek-intensity-rather-than-happiness-not-joys-and/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing less than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-would-have-been-impossible-for-me-to-have-told-anyone-what-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“The ovarian world is the product of a life rhythm. The moment a child is born it becomes part of a world in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-ovarian-world-is-the-product-of-a-life-rhythm-the-moment-a-child/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“ I Am! I am—yet what I am none cares or knows; My friends forsake me like a memory lost: I am the self-consumer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-am-i-am-yet-what-i-am-none-cares-or-knows-my-friends-forsake-me/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) ## More by Arthur C. McGill > [“Every action is a losing, a letting go, a passing away from oneself of some bit of one’s own reality into the existence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-mcgill/every-action-is-a-losing-a-letting-go-a-passing-away-from-oneself-of/) [Arthur C. McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-mcgill/) [Explore all 2 Arthur C. McGill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-mcgill/) ## 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. 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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": "“Normally, to decide whether we are alive we do not look outside of ourselves to find out if we are nourishing and generating life. We look into ourselves to find out how strong and healthy and vital we are. But the notion of the seed that dies demands an extraordinary redirection of the sense of life. Now to know if anyone is alive, we do not look at them; look beyond them to the mode of their expenditures and the life that they nourish and preserve beyond themselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur C. 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