--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Eternity is not something that begins…" description: "\"Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time.\" — Charlotte Perkins Gilman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_begins_eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-af_148120.png" --- # Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead… ![“Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time.” quote by Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_begins_eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-af_148120.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_begins_eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-af_148120.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_begins_eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-af_148120.png) > “Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time.” [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eternity is continuous, not a post‑death state; it exists perpetually. **In simple terms:** Eternity is always happening, not after death. Key Takeaway Live with awareness of ongoing existence. Themes time eternity philosophy continuity Mood contemplative calm thoughtful Type philosophical spiritual reflective When to use this quote - Meditation - creative work - daily routines Key Concepts Existentialism temporal perception Questions to Reflect On - How does viewing eternity as ongoing affect daily choices? - What does continuous existence mean to you? A Different Perspective Concept may be abstract and hard to grasp. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Eternity of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity-of-life/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Live in the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-in-the-present/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Eternity is not something that begins after you're dead. It is going on all the time. We are in it now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-after-you-re-dead-it-is-going/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [“Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead,it is going on all the time. CP Gilman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-after-you-are-dead-it-is-going-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When Time is spent, Eternity begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-time-is-spent-eternity-begins/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [find your eternity in each moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/find-your-eternity-in-each-moment/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There's no man, alive or dead, who's going to fault you for living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dean-morgan/there-s-no-man-alive-or-dead-who-s-going-to-fault-you-for-living/) [Jeffrey Dean Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dean-morgan/) > [“Apart from being dead its going to be necessary to die. And I'm dealing at the moment with the realization that at my age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-tarn/apart-from-being-dead-its-going-to-be-necessary-to-die-and-i-m/) Nathaniel Tarn > [“Who says I’m dying? Did you see the amount of sheer effort it took me to escape the land of the dead? I’m not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-stroud/who-says-i-m-dying-did-you-see-the-amount-of-sheer-effort-it-took-me/) [Jonathan Stroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-stroud/) > [God will take care of the poor trampled slave, but where will the slaveholder be when eternity begins?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sojourner-truth/god-will-take-care-of-the-poor-trampled-slave-but-where-will-the/) [Sojourner Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sojourner-truth/) > [“And once their imaginations are liberated, they begin glimpse the grand interconnectedness of all things. Eternity begins to peek out from behind the everyday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-wood/and-once-their-imaginations-are-liberated-they-begin-glimpse-the/) [Geoffrey Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-wood/) > [Eternity begins and ends with the oceans tides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/eternity-begins-and-ends-with-the-oceans-tides/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hold infinity in the palm of your hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/hold-infinity-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The past, the future: - two eternities!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-moore/the-past-the-future-two-eternities/) [Thomas Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-moore/) > [Time is: Too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-van-dyke/time-is-too-slow-for-those-who-wait-too-swift-for-those-who-fear/) [Henry Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-van-dyke/) > [To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/to-see-a-world-in-a-grain-of-sand-and-a-heaven-in-a-wildflower/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Enough for me is the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality. There is in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/enough-for-me-is-the-mystery-of-the-eternity-of-life-and-the-inkling/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Charlotte Perkins Gilman > [“They were inconveniently reasonable, these women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/they-were-inconveniently-reasonable-these-women/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Architecture might be more sportive and varied if every man built his own house, but it would not be the art and science that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/architecture-might-be-more-sportive-and-varied-if-every-man-built-his/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [To-day there is hardly a woman of intelligence in all America ... who is not definitely and actively concerned in some social interest, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/to-day-there-is-hardly-a-woman-of-intelligence-in-all-america-who-is/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [“Here she comes, running, out of prison and off the pedestal: chains off, crown off, halo off, just a live woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/here-she-comes-running-out-of-prison-and-off-the-pedestal-chains-off/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [“I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have! I used to lie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-never-saw-so-much-expression-in-an-inanimate-thing-before-and-we/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [In New York City, everyone is an exile, none more so than the Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/in-new-york-city-everyone-is-an-exile-none-more-so-than-the-americans/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The fact that women in the home have shut themselves away from the thought and life of the world has done much to retard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-fact-that-women-in-the-home-have-shut-themselves-away-from-the/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Now why should that man have fainted? But he did,and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/now-why-should-that-man-have-fainted-but-he-did-and-right-across-my/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The best proof of man's dissatisfaction with the home is found in his universal absence from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-best-proof-of-man-s-dissatisfaction-with-the-home-is-found-in-his/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-home-is-the-centre-and-circumference-the-start-and-the-finish-of/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/audiences-are-always-better-pleased-with-a-smart-retort-some-joke-or/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [No matter what the belief, if it had modestly said, 'This is our best thought, go on, think farther!' then we could have smoothly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/no-matter-what-the-belief-if-it-had-modestly-said-this-is-our-best/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [A house does not need a wife any more than it needs a husband.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/a-house-does-not-need-a-wife-any-more-than-it-needs-a-husband/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-home-is-a-human-institution-all-human-institutions-are-open-to/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [It would have saved trouble had I remained Perkins from the first, this changing of women's names is a nuisance we are now happily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/it-would-have-saved-trouble-had-i-remained-perkins-from-the-first/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) [Explore all 167 Charlotte Perkins Gilman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) ## More Begins quotes > [When I was 3, my parents strapped on a pair of Playskool plastic roller skates to my feet, and that's where the story begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-celski/when-i-was-3-my-parents-strapped-on-a-pair-of-playskool-plastic/) [J. R. Celski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-celski/) > [Whether one is twenty, forty, or sixty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along; whether yesterday was full of sun or storm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-mitchell-hodges/whether-one-is-twenty-forty-or-sixty-whether-one-has-succeeded-failed/) Leigh Mitchell Hodges > [The end of the world begins the moment you die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-end-of-the-world-begins-the-moment-you-die/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“healing begins the moment you want it to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nayyirah-waheed/healing-begins-the-moment-you-want-it-to/) [Nayyirah Waheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nayyirah-waheed/) > [Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcelene-cox/life-begins-when-a-person-first-realizes-how-soon-it-will-end/) [Marcelene Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcelene-cox/) > [Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/russians-not-only-vehemently-despise-blacks-they-believe-africa/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The struggle ends when the gratitude begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-struggle-ends-when-the-gratitude-begins/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The longest journey begins with a single step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/the-longest-journey-begins-with-a-single-step/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Libraries are where it all begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/libraries-are-where-it-all-begins/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [“Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-thomas/every-accomplishment-begins-with-the-decision-to-try/) [Esther Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-thomas/) > [Prayer begins where our power ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/prayer-begins-where-our-power-ends/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [Each piece of writing I undertake, whether a story, novel, play, or poem, begins with an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/each-piece-of-writing-i-undertake-whether-a-story-novel-play-or-poem/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [“Civilization begins at 10 am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-n-peacock/civilization-begins-at-10-am/) B.N. Peacock > [The end of the world begins in the sea we love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/the-end-of-the-world-begins-in-the-sea-we-love/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [Remove the predators, and the whole ecosystem begins to crash like a house of cards. As the sharks disappear, the predator-prey balance dramatically shifts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-skerry/remove-the-predators-and-the-whole-ecosystem-begins-to-crash-like-a/) [Brian Skerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-skerry/) Browse all 499 Begins quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. 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