--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mother is not dying exactly, but has…" description: "\"The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.\" — Clive Barnes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png" --- # The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point… ![“The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.” quote by Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png) > “The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.” [Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The character is not dying but lives near death, making death a familiar presence. **In simple terms:** Near-death defines his life. Key Takeaway Acknowledge mortality’s influence. Themes mortality existence psychology Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - health counseling - elder care - philosophical study Key Concepts Transience awareness human condition Questions to Reflect On - How does constant awareness of death shape choices? - Can this awareness be motivating? A Different Perspective Focusing on death may overlook living possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Points in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/points-in-life/) ## Related quotes > [Once I tried to make a standardization of staircases. Probably that is one of the oldest of the standardizations. Of course, we design new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/once-i-tried-to-make-a-standardization-of-staircases-probably-that-is/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I just - I kind of see it that way. I find the higher angles down. 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It's a bad place to be and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/i-ve-seen-a-lot-in-my-life-and-everybody-goes-down-the-dark-winding/) [Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/) > [Often, what seems an impossible climb is just a staircase without the steps drawn in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/often-what-seems-an-impossible-climb-is-just-a-staircase-without-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [In a crime story, the details become tremendously important - where the staircase was in relation to the bed, for example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-james/in-a-crime-story-the-details-become-tremendously-important-where-the/) [Bill James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-james/) > [It is a mark of wisdom not to kick away the very step from which we have risen higher. The removal of one step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-a-mark-of-wisdom-not-to-kick-away-the-very-step-from-which-we/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Clive Barnes > [Television is the first truly democratic culture - the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/television-is-the-first-truly-democratic-culture-the-first-culture/) [Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/) > [One of the few things in dance to match the Royal Ballet's curtain calls is the Royal Ballet's dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/one-of-the-few-things-in-dance-to-match-the-royal-ballet-s-curtain/) [Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/) > [Dance has become an exclusionary enterprise. To participate, one must be thinner than thin, of pleasing form, flexible, athletic and young. 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You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clive Barnes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has-reached-a-point-in-life-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has-reached-a-point-in-life-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/clive-barnes-51837_death_the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has_1523414.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.” — Clive Barnes", "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": "Clive Barnes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The mother is not dying exactly,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has-reached-a-point-in-life-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has-reached-a-point-in-life-where/#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 } } ] } ```