--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be truly alive is to feel one's…" description: "\"To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.\" — Christian Wiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png" --- # To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence… ![“To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.” quote by Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png) > “To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.” [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living fully means recognizing the profound within everyday moments, not waiting for extraordinary events. **In simple terms:** Find depth in daily life. Key Takeaway Seek meaning in the ordinary. Themes mindfulness existentialism presence Mood reflective contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Morning routine - commuting - family dinner - exercise - creative work Key Concepts Phenomenology authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How can you notice the extraordinary in routine? - What daily moments feel most alive? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize everyday life, overlooking hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [I'm a guy who has problems with moderation. All or nothing. Binge and purge. Kill or be killed. Gray is not a color I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-sutter/i-m-a-guy-who-has-problems-with-moderation-all-or-nothing-binge-and/) [Kurt Sutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-sutter/) > [“There is absolutely no worse death curse than the humdrum daily existence of the living dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/there-is-absolutely-no-worse-death-curse-than-the-humdrum-daily/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/one-of-the-huge-imbalances-in-life-is-the-disparity-between-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“We painfully wake up to an annoying alarm and get ready in a hurry to rush somewhere we don’t want to go. We muddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-fraser/we-painfully-wake-up-to-an-annoying-alarm-and-get-ready-in-a-hurry-to/) Chris Fraser > [“Many have never risked losing the normalcy of their daily existence to gain the astonishing experience of having to see God come through or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-pura/many-have-never-risked-losing-the-normalcy-of-their-daily-existence/) Murray Pura > [“If we think about the world techno-utopians are envisioning, it may be hard for the average citizen to have the freedom and autonomy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-taplin/if-we-think-about-the-world-techno-utopians-are-envisioning-it-may-be/) [Jonathan Taplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-taplin/) > [Each man has to seek out his own special aptitude for a higher life in the midst of the humble and inevitable reality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/each-man-has-to-seek-out-his-own-special-aptitude-for-a-higher-life/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [Humanity needs dreams to be able to survive the miseries of daily existence, even if only for an instant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-niemeyer/humanity-needs-dreams-to-be-able-to-survive-the-miseries-of-daily/) [Oscar Niemeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-niemeyer/) > [It's a lot harder to find fault with the mundane details of daily existence when you really, really know on a cellular level that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ball/it-s-a-lot-harder-to-find-fault-with-the-mundane-details-of-daily/) [Alan Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ball/) > [“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/the-miracle-is-not-to-walk-on-water-the-miracle-is-to-walk-on-the/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“The truly alive soul is tremblingly alive to the feelings of humanity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-temple/the-truly-alive-soul-is-tremblingly-alive-to-the-feelings-of-humanity/) Charlotte Temple > [The symphonic sounds of nature awaken every cell in my body and, in that moment, without a doubt, I am truly alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-somerhalder/the-symphonic-sounds-of-nature-awaken-every-cell-in-my-body-and-in/) [Ian Somerhalder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-somerhalder/) > [Without awareness, we are not truly alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-awareness-we-are-not-truly-alive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is only when I am doing my work that I feel truly alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/it-is-only-when-i-am-doing-my-work-that-i-feel-truly-alive/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [You know you are truly alive when youre living among lions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-you-are-truly-alive-when-youre-living-among-lions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Christian Wiman > [I find myself continually falling back into wounds, wishes, terrors I thought I had risen beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-find-myself-continually-falling-back-into-wounds-wishes-terrors-i/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Intellectuals and artists concerned with faith tend to underestimate the radical, inviolable innocence it requires. We read and read, write long, elaborate essays and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/intellectuals-and-artists-concerned-with-faith-tend-to-underestimate/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Wonder is the precondition for all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/wonder-is-the-precondition-for-all-wisdom/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [We should be suspicious when God's call conforms so neatly to our own inclinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/we-should-be-suspicious-when-god-s-call-conforms-so-neatly-to-our-own/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [God is with us, not beyond us, in suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/god-is-with-us-not-beyond-us-in-suffering/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Let us remember...that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/let-us-remember-that-in-the-end-we-go-to-poetry-for-one-reason-so/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-am-a-christian-because-of-that-moment-on-the-cross-when-jesus/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-is-the-sort-of-poet-who-comes-along-very-very-rarely-even/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“How many loves fail because, in an unconscious effort to make our weaknesses more strong, we link with others precisely at those points? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/how-many-loves-fail-because-in-an-unconscious-effort-to-make-our/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“It is a strange thing how sometimes merely to talk honestly of God, even if it is only to articulate our feelings of separation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/it-is-a-strange-thing-how-sometimes-merely-to-talk-honestly-of-god/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Faith cannot save you from the claims of reason, except insofar as it preserves and protects that wonderful, terrible time when reason, if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/faith-cannot-save-you-from-the-claims-of-reason-except-insofar-as-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“part of my enjoyment of life had always been an unconscious assumption of its continuity. Not necessarily a continuity of reality itself—the moment does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/part-of-my-enjoyment-of-life-had-always-been-an-unconscious/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I suppose I do believe that the greatest art consoles a wound that it creates, that art can give you the capacity to endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-suppose-i-do-believe-that-the-greatest-art-consoles-a-wound-that-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us, whether as explanations for a life that never quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-outgrow-than-anxieties-that-have/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“It is no blasphemy to say that every man creates the God creating him. We are facets of a work whose finished form we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/it-is-no-blasphemy-to-say-that-every-man-creates-the-god-creating-him/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) [Explore all 67 Christian Wiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Wiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/christian-wiman-10211_alive_to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultim_292196.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.” — Christian Wiman", "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": "Christian Wiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To be truly alive is to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/#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 } } ] } ```