--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reality is a prison, where one vegetates…" description: "\"Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/cesare-pavese-1924_action_reality-is-a-prison-where-one-vegetates_1411359.jpg" --- # Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will… ![“Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is to come to grips with reality. The rest can go.” quote by Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/cesare-pavese-1924_action_reality-is-a-prison-where-one-vegetates_1411359.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/cesare-pavese-1924_action_reality-is-a-prison-where-one-vegetates_1411359.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/cesare-pavese-1924_action_reality-is-a-prison-where-one-vegetates_1411359.jpg) > “Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is to come to grips with reality. The rest can go.” [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reality confines us; thought and action are fleeting diversions; we must confront reality directly **In simple terms:** Reality is a prison; we must face it, not escape into distraction Key Takeaway Confront reality, let go of distractions Themes existentialism freedom mindfulness Mood somber introspective Type existential motivational When to use this quote - personal crises - creative blocks - daily routines Key Concepts Phenomenology subjective experience psychology Questions to Reflect On - What distractions prevent you from facing reality? - How can you transform distraction into productive reflection? A Different Perspective Escapism can be a coping mechanism ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/reality-is-a-prison-where-one-vegetates-and-always-will/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [I think the reality of prison is you don't get anything unless you want it in there. 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The rest, and it is presumably the much larger part, is silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/language-can-only-deal-meaningfully-with-a-special-restricted-segment/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Often and often must he have thought, that, to be or not to be forever, was a question, which must be settled; as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jones-very/often-and-often-must-he-have-thought-that-to-be-or-not-to-be-forever/) [Jones Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jones-very/) > [The whole aim of Zen is not to make foolproof statements about experience, but to come to direct grips with reality without the mediation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-whole-aim-of-zen-is-not-to-make-foolproof-statements-about/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Put to rest what you thought of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linkin-park/put-to-rest-what-you-thought-of-me/) [Linkin Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linkin-park/) > [Sometimes the act of walking in the face of the elements helps us come to grips with reality. Or it simply exhausts us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashcroft/sometimes-the-act-of-walking-in-the-face-of-the-elements-helps-us/) [John Ashcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashcroft/) > [When Reality is a prison, Your mind can set you free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zack-snyder/when-reality-is-a-prison-your-mind-can-set-you-free/) [Zack Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zack-snyder/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I wouldn't call girls a hobby. It's a pastime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-presley/i-wouldn-t-call-girls-a-hobby-it-s-a-pastime/) [Elvis Presley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-presley/) > [You know this baseball game of ours comes up from the youth - that means the boys. And after you've been a boy, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-this-baseball-game-of-ours-comes-up-from-the-youth-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pastime with good company I love and shall, until I die. Grudge who list, but none deny! So God be pleased, thus live will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-viii-of-england/pastime-with-good-company-i-love-and-shall-until-i-die-grudge-who/) [Henry VIII of England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-viii-of-england/) > [Food as a hobby used to be an elite pastime, and it has become something that is totally ordinary for people of every background.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/food-as-a-hobby-used-to-be-an-elite-pastime-and-it-has-become/) [Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/) > [Fantasizing about the future is one of my favorite pastimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/fantasizing-about-the-future-is-one-of-my-favorite-pastimes/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) ## More by Cesare Pavese > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/why-does-a-man-who-is-truly-in-love-insist-that-this-relationship/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [I thought of how many places there are in the world that belong in this way to someone, who has it in his blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/i-thought-of-how-many-places-there-are-in-the-world-that-belong-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Now that I've seen what war is, what civil war is, I know that everybody, if one day it should end, ought to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/now-that-i-ve-seen-what-war-is-what-civil-war-is-i-know-that/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [It had to happen to you, to concentrate your whole life on one point, and then discover that you can do anything except live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/it-had-to-happen-to-you-to-concentrate-your-whole-life-on-one-point/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There is only one pleasure-that of being alive. 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I began to see that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/meanwhile-we-arrived-at-our-lane-and-the-sight-of-the-olive-tree/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi. (Death will come and it will have your eyes.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/verr-la-morte-e-avr-i-tuoi-occhi-death-will-come-and-it-will-have/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [All our "most sacred affections " are merely prosaic habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/all-our-most-sacred-affections-are-merely-prosaic-habit/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-comes-a-day-when-for-someone-who-has-persecuted-us-we-feel-only/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/a-consoling-thought-what-matters-is-not-what-we-do-but-the-spirit-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/one-does-not-kill-oneself-for-love-of-a-woman-but-because-love-any/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) [Explore all 171 Cesare Pavese quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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