--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A life was a life. She'd been orphaned at…" description: "\"“A life was a life. She'd been orphaned at an age to internalize death as poor material for a joke. And likewise, salvation.”\" — Barbara Kingsolver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/barbara-kingsolver-200_death_a-life-was-a-life-she-d-been-orphaned-at_2612159.png" --- # A life was a life. She'd been orphaned at an age to… ![“A life was a life. She'd been orphaned at an age to internalize death as poor material for a joke. And likewise, salvation.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/barbara-kingsolver-200_death_a-life-was-a-life-she-d-been-orphaned-at_2612159.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/barbara-kingsolver-200_death_a-life-was-a-life-she-d-been-orphaned-at_2612159.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/barbara-kingsolver-200_death_a-life-was-a-life-she-d-been-orphaned-at_2612159.png) > ““A life was a life. She'd been orphaned at an age to internalize death as poor material for a joke. And likewise, salvation.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on a life marked by orphanhood and an early awareness of death, using dark humor to comment on existential themes and salvation. **In simple terms:** A life shaped by loss and dark humor about death. Key Takeaway Find meaning amid hardship. Themes existential humor loss Mood somber thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts mortality salvation Questions to Reflect On - How does humor help you process grief? - What does salvation mean to you? A Different Perspective Humor may mask deeper pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Internalize Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internalize-death-2038093/) [Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Orphaned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-orphaned-2038092/) [Orphaned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orphaned-785970/) [Salvation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salvation/) ## Related quotes > [“The truth is you can be orphaned again and again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-truth-is-you-can-be-orphaned-again-and-again/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“ORPHAN TRAIN is a specifically American story of mobility and rootlessness, highlighting a little-known but historically significant moment in our country’s past. Between 1854…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/orphan-train-is-a-specifically-american-story-of-mobility-and/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“She was a stray after all. A stray not only in its plantation meaning-orphaned, with no one to look after her-but in every other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/she-was-a-stray-after-all-a-stray-not-only-in-its-plantation-meaning/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Asks an orphaned childhood, I am a sign of someone's sin, or I'm result of mistake of youth their mother's . Whatever. I haven't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/asks-an-orphaned-childhood-i-am-a-sign-of-someone-s-sin-or-i-m-result/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“It's like being dropped into a black hole. A vacuum of existence. When I turn around, I will be instantly orphaned because I'll know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-wunder/it-s-like-being-dropped-into-a-black-hole-a-vacuum-of-existence-when/) [Wendy Wunder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-wunder/) > [The truth is you can be orphaned again and again and again. The truth is, you will be. And the secret is, this will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-truth-is-you-can-be-orphaned-again-and-again-and-again-the-truth/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [My father was the orphaned son of immigrants to the United States from Ireland. My father never knew his parents. His mother died -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-j-mitchell/my-father-was-the-orphaned-son-of-immigrants-to-the-united-states/) [George J. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-j-mitchell/) > [It's not so much that I want to direct but that I have to. 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Missing their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-glover/did-you-know-a-child-is-orphaned-by-aids-every-15-seconds-millions-of/) [Danny Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-glover/) > [This country was filled with violent children orphaned by war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/this-country-was-filled-with-violent-children-orphaned-by-war/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/with-spirit-we-are-all-children-of-the-cosmos-without-it-we-are/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [A child, when orphaned, can become anything. If I had not joined the Army, who knows, I may have become a dacoit. I give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milkha-singh/a-child-when-orphaned-can-become-anything-if-i-had-not-joined-the/) [Milkha Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milkha-singh/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. 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