--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know that we live after death and again…" description: "\"I know that we live after death and again and again, not in the memory of our children, or as a mulch for trees and flowers, however poetic that may be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png" --- # I know that we live after death and again and again, not… ![“I know that we live after death and again and again, not in the memory of our children, or as a mulch for trees and flowers, however poetic that may be, but looking passionately and egocentrically out of our eyes.” quote by Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png) > “I know that we live after death and again and again, not in the memory of our children, or as a mulch for trees and flowers, however poetic that may be, but looking passionately and egocentrically out of our eyes.” [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life continues beyond death through memory and nature, yet we often look outwardly with self‑centered passion, missing deeper connection. **In simple terms:** Life persists after death, but we focus on self‑centered views. Key Takeaway Cultivate humility and deeper connection. Themes mortality memory nature self‑centeredness Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - grieving loss - environmental appreciation - personal introspection Key Concepts existentialism poetic reflection legacy Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to live beyond yourself? - How can you honor memory without selfishness? A Different Perspective Self‑centered focus can limit meaningful remembrance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [After death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after-death/) [Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [“Life cannot withstand death, but memory is gaining in its struggle against nothingness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tzvetan-todorov/life-cannot-withstand-death-but-memory-is-gaining-in-its-struggle/) [Tzvetan Todorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tzvetan-todorov/) > [“Let every man in mankind's frailty consider his last day; and let none presume on his good fortune until he find Life, at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/let-every-man-in-mankind-s-frailty-consider-his-last-day-and-let-none/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Let every man in mankind's frailtyConsider his last day; and let nonePresume on his good fortune until he findLife, at his death, a memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/let-every-man-in-mankind-s-frailtyconsider-his-last-day-and-let/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“This dirty, damp patch of grass—was this really the setting of those years of my childhood, so radiant and winged in my memory? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/this-dirty-damp-patch-of-grass-was-this-really-the-setting-of-those/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [If we lose our memory, we lose ourselves. Forgetting is one of the symptoms of death. Without memory we cease to be human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/if-we-lose-our-memory-we-lose-ourselves-forgetting-is-one-of-the/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“What does it remember? Itself, death as memory. An immense memory in which one dies. First to forget. To remember only where one remembers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/what-does-it-remember-itself-death-as-memory-an-immense-memory-in/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“A ghost-memory rises, here: a phantom moment, a shaky reflection in the pool of remembrance. I know how it felt when the scavengers took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/a-ghost-memory-rises-here-a-phantom-moment-a-shaky-reflection-in-the/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [The earth doesn’t care where death occurs. ...It’s the artist, by coming in and writing about it or painting it or taking a photograph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/the-earth-doesn-t-care-where-death-occurs-it-s-the-artist-by-coming/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death the memory be green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/though-yet-of-hamlet-our-dear-brother-s-death-the-memory-be-green/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“We think we only die at the end of our physical life but really, we die every day. Every decision we make that moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-beshqoy/we-think-we-only-die-at-the-end-of-our-physical-life-but-really-we/) [Natalia Beshqoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-beshqoy/) > [“Death is not a memory you can fake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-brody/death-is-not-a-memory-you-can-fake/) [Jessica Brody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-brody/) > [Perhaps we are given a mom that we might take into death the memory of a lullaby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/perhaps-we-are-given-a-mom-that-we-might-take-into-death-the-memory/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow, but phone calls taper off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/for-days-after-death-hair-and-fingernails-continue-to-grow-but-phone/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## More by Brenda Ueland > [“At least I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/at-least-i-understood-that-writing-was-this-an-impulse-to-share-with/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [If I did not wear torn pants, orthopedic shoes, frantic disheveled hair, that is to say, if I did not tone down my beauty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/if-i-did-not-wear-torn-pants-orthopedic-shoes-frantic-disheveled-hair/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“\[4It is hard to be carefree when you have many anxieties. But the more you have, the more necessary it is to feel carefree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/4it-is-hard-to-be-carefree-when-you-have-many-anxieties-but-the-more/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“I will tell you what I have learned myself. For me, a long five- or six-mile walk helps. And one must go alone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-will-tell-you-what-i-have-learned-myself-for-me-a-long-five-or-six/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Self-trust is so important. When you launch on a story, make your neck loose, feel free, good-natured. And be lazy. Feel that you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/self-trust-is-so-important-when-you-launch-on-a-story-make-your-neck/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [We start out in our lives as little children, full of light and the clearest vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/we-start-out-in-our-lives-as-little-children-full-of-light-and-the/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Inspiration comes to us slowly and quietly . prime it with a little solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/inspiration-comes-to-us-slowly-and-quietly-prime-it-with-a-little/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [... to paint with oil paints for the first time ... is like trying to make something exquisitely accurate and microscopically clear out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/to-paint-with-oil-paints-for-the-first-time-is-like-trying-to-make/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [running is the right thing to do! I am free, healthy with a good complexion. It is that automobile addict who should be ashamed:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/running-is-the-right-thing-to-do-i-am-free-healthy-with-a-good/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/the-only-good-teachers-for-you-are-those-friends-who-love-you-who/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [... when I am really alone some power seems to grow in me. ... Conjugality made me think of a three-legged race, where two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-i-am-really-alone-some-power-seems-to-grow-in-me-conjugality/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“In the same way there is much, much in all of us, but we do not know it. No one ever calls it out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/in-the-same-way-there-is-much-much-in-all-of-us-but-we-do-not-know-it/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-we-are-listened-to-it-creates-us-makes-us-unfold-and-expand/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“...the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/the-best-way-to-know-the-truth-or-beauty-is-to-try-to-express-it-and/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [Sometimes I think of life as a process where everybody is discouraging and taking everybody else down a peg or two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/sometimes-i-think-of-life-as-a-process-where-everybody-is/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) [Explore all 121 Brenda Ueland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) ## More After death quotes > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [For days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow, but phone calls taper off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/for-days-after-death-hair-and-fingernails-continue-to-grow-but-phone/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) Empress Dowager Cixi > [You're a religious man, ... You believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to the other world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/you-re-a-religious-man-you-believe-in-god-and-life-after-death-i-also/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [And after death something new begins, over which all the powers of the world of death can have no more control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/and-after-death-something-new-begins-over-which-all-the-powers-of-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If the Soul sees, after death , what passes on this earth , and watches over the welfare of those it loves, then must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/if-the-soul-sees-after-death-what-passes-on-this-earth-and-watches/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [When we see the many grave-stones which have fallen in, which have been defaced by the footsteps of the congregation, which lie buried under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-we-see-the-many-grave-stones-which-have-fallen-in-which-have/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is for all men that come into the world once to die; and after death the judgment! And since death is a debt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rumbold/it-is-for-all-men-that-come-into-the-world-once-to-die-and-after/) [Richard Rumbold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rumbold/) > [What we should be after death, we have to attain in life, i.e. holiness and bliss. Here on earth the Kingdom of God begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paracelsus/what-we-should-be-after-death-we-have-to-attain-in-life-i-e-holiness/) [Paracelsus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paracelsus/) > [(After death.) So few people who come across, possess awareness of any kind. All they bring along with them are worthless values. All they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-matheson/after-death-so-few-people-who-come-across-possess-awareness-of-any/) [Richard Matheson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-matheson/) > [I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/i-think-i-have-fairly-heard-and-fairly-weighed-the-evidence-on-both/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [I want people to emphasize life before death as opposed to life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/i-want-people-to-emphasize-life-before-death-as-opposed-to-life-after/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [I thought of the priest who'd told me that many religions hold that it is easier to be closely connected to people we love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-thought-of-the-priest-who-d-told-me-that-many-religions-hold-that/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“And a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek, and continue on its way to heaven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/and-a-soul-would-run-by-a-living-being-touch-them-softly-on-the/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) [Browse all 303 After death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after-death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know that we live after death and again and again, not in the memory of our children, or as a mulch for trees and flowers, however poetic that may be, but looking passionately and egocentrically out of our eyes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brenda Ueland" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-again-and-again-not-in-the-memory/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "After death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-again-and-again-not-in-the-memory/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/brenda-ueland-3836_after-death_i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-agai_1676464.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know that we live after death and again and again, not in the memory of our children, or as a mulch for…” — Brenda Ueland", "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": "Brenda Ueland", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I know that we live after...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-again-and-again-not-in-the-memory/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/i-know-that-we-live-after-death-and-again-and-again-not-in-the-memory/#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 } } ] } ```