--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura…" description: "\"I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside.\" — Bill Jay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg" --- # I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see… ![“I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside.” quote by Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg) > “I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside.” [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker wishes a coffin that functions as a camera obscura, allowing observation of the world even in death. **In simple terms:** A coffin that lets you see outside after you die. Key Takeaway Seek ways to stay aware of life’s events. Themes mortality observation creativity Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - funeral planning - art installations - personal legacy - mindful living Key Concepts existentialism perspective Questions to Reflect On - How do you want to be remembered? - What does seeing after death symbolize? A Different Perspective May be impractical or morbid for some audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [Coffins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffins/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Childhood is long and narrow like a coffin, and you can't get out of it on your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-ditlevsen/childhood-is-long-and-narrow-like-a-coffin-and-you-can-t-get-out-of/) [Tove Ditlevsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-ditlevsen/) > [Marriage is like a coffin and each kid is like another nail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-simpson/marriage-is-like-a-coffin-and-each-kid-is-like-another-nail/) [Homer Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-simpson/) > [“You see, Marriage is like a Coffin, and each Kid is another Nail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/you-see-marriage-is-like-a-coffin-and-each-kid-is-another-nail/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [“Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/locked-in-darkness-that-surrounded-me-like-a-coffin-i-had-nothing-to/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [“Talking, talking, spinning like a spell, pale skin of words that closes me in like a coffin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/talking-talking-spinning-like-a-spell-pale-skin-of-words-that-closes/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“But they had remained closed, like a coffin on his heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-rice/but-they-had-remained-closed-like-a-coffin-on-his-heart/) [Morgan Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-rice/) > [For me, curiosity is life. If you are not curious, you are in your coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/for-me-curiosity-is-life-if-you-are-not-curious-you-are-in-your-coffin/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [“An expensive coffin does not decrease the deceased’s chances of going to hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/an-expensive-coffin-does-not-decrease-the-deceased-s-chances-of-going/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [She wanted to be buried in a coffin filled with used paperbacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/she-wanted-to-be-buried-in-a-coffin-filled-with-used-paperbacks/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [Science itself is steadily nailing the lid on atheism's coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-strobel/science-itself-is-steadily-nailing-the-lid-on-atheism-s-coffin/) [Lee Strobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-strobel/) > [“Perhaps because it seems so appropriate, I don't notice the rain. It falls in sheets, a blanket of silvery thread rushing to the hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-zink/perhaps-because-it-seems-so-appropriate-i-don-t-notice-the-rain-it/) [Michelle Zink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-zink/) > [Well, I guess I am about the livest dead man you ever saw; although I was once asked to accept a coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-rice/well-i-guess-i-am-about-the-livest-dead-man-you-ever-saw-although-i/) Dan Rice > [At my funeral, if one said, 'Nick was a generous person,' trust me I won't be doing cartwheels in my coffin. Recognition from people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-vujicic/at-my-funeral-if-one-said-nick-was-a-generous-person-trust-me-i-won-t/) [Nick Vujicic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-vujicic/) > [His smile is like the silver plate on a coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-philpot-curran/his-smile-is-like-the-silver-plate-on-a-coffin/) [John Philpot Curran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-philpot-curran/) > [“A premature death does not only rob one of the countless instances where one would have experienced pleasure, it also saves one from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-premature-death-does-not-only-rob-one-of-the-countless-instances/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## More by Bill Jay > [I appreciate photographs which celebrate harmony. I don't particularly want to look at chaos. I see enough of that at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-appreciate-photographs-which-celebrate-harmony-i-don-t-particularly/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [I agree, intellectualism in photography is overrated. I just wish it could be replaced by common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-agree-intellectualism-in-photography-is-overrated-i-just-wish-it/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [Why do photographers photograph? To make unreality visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/why-do-photographers-photograph-to-make-unreality-visible/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [There are many reasons why photography does not attract the social and cultural attention it deserves. I would add one more which has received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/there-are-many-reasons-why-photography-does-not-attract-the-social/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [I start a lot of photo projects but never seem to. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-start-a-lot-of-photo-projects-but-never-seem-to/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [If you cannot think of anything to say that is useful or enlightening about your images, then don't say anything. There are plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/if-you-cannot-think-of-anything-to-say-that-is-useful-or-enlightening/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [Think clearly, act sensibly, commit yourself to caring and work hard in order to discover joy. Then give the images back to the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/think-clearly-act-sensibly-commit-yourself-to-caring-and-work-hard-in/) [Bill Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/) > [Be gentle and tolerant. Intimacy will grow, but will take time and cannot be rushed. 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Reviving magical memories is weaving life with fantastic thread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indeewara-jayawardane/photos-are-moments-in-the-history-reviving-magical-memories-is/) Indeewara Jayawardane > [If in all ideology men and their circumstances appear upside-down as in a camera obscura, this phenomenon arises just as much from their historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/if-in-all-ideology-men-and-their-circumstances-appear-upside-down-as/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [Memory works like the collection glass in the Camera obscura: it gathers everything together and therewith produces a far more beautiful picture than was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/memory-works-like-the-collection-glass-in-the-camera-obscura-it/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [During photography's first decades, exposure times were quite long... So, similar to the drawings produced with the help of a camera obscura, which depicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-manovich/during-photography-s-first-decades-exposure-times-were-quite-long-so/) [Lev Manovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-manovich/) > [Creation rather than painting, or if painting, yet such, and with such co-presence of the whole picture flash'd at once upon the eye, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/creation-rather-than-painting-or-if-painting-yet-such-and-with-such/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) Browse all 9 Camera obscura quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Jay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscura-so-i-can-see-what-s-going/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Camera obscura" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscura-so-i-can-see-what-s-going/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/802/bill-jay-14930_camera-obscura_i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscur_3104915.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside.” — Bill Jay", "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": "Bill Jay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-jay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'd like my coffin to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscura-so-i-can-see-what-s-going/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-jay/i-d-like-my-coffin-to-be-a-camera-obscura-so-i-can-see-what-s-going/#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 } } ] } ```