--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you could breathe a breath so strong…" description: "\"If you could breathe a breath so strong you could blow out the wolf. Like you blow out the copo. Like you blow out the fire from the candela. The wolf ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/cormac-mccarthy-181_blow_if-you-could-breathe-a-breath-so-strong_2149559.jpg" --- # If you could breathe a breath so strong you could blow out… ![“If you could breathe a breath so strong you could blow out the wolf. Like you blow out the copo. Like you blow out the fire from the candela. The wolf is made the way the world is made. You cannot touch the world. You cannot hold it in your hand for it is made of breath only.” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/cormac-mccarthy-181_blow_if-you-could-breathe-a-breath-so-strong_2149559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/cormac-mccarthy-181_blow_if-you-could-breathe-a-breath-so-strong_2149559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e59/cormac-mccarthy-181_blow_if-you-could-breathe-a-breath-so-strong_2149559.jpg) > “If you could breathe a breath so strong you could blow out the wolf. Like you blow out the copo. Like you blow out the fire from the candela. The wolf is made the way the world is made. You cannot touch the world. You cannot hold it in your hand for it is made of breath only.” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A poetic meditation on the intangible nature of existence and the futility of trying to control it. **In simple terms:** Life is fleeting and cannot be grasped. Key Takeaway Embrace impermanence and let go. Themes impermanence control existence Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - grief - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts philosophy metaphor nature Questions to Reflect On - How can you accept life’s fleeting nature? - What does “breath” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective Attempting to dominate the world leads to frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breath/) [Breaths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Lion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lion/) [Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wolf/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [It hurts to breathe because every breath I take proves I can't live without you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-hurts-to-breathe-because-every-breath-i-take-proves-i-can-t-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Shorty thought she subtle but she really was blatant when she shook her thing and violated. Now these wolf-like thoughts are formulated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/q-tip/shorty-thought-she-subtle-but-she-really-was-blatant-when-she-shook/) [Q-tip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/q-tip/) > [“Then the 92nd little pig built a house out of depleted uranium and the wolf was like, "dude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-munroe/then-the-92nd-little-pig-built-a-house-out-of-depleted-uranium-and/) [Randall Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-munroe/) > [To die alone, on rock under sun at the brink of the unknown, like a wolf, like a great bird, seems to me very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/to-die-alone-on-rock-under-sun-at-the-brink-of-the-unknown-like-a/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [He who fox-like got his rank, Is wolf-like in his office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-zhukovsky/he-who-fox-like-got-his-rank-is-wolf-like-in-his-office/) Vasily Zhukovsky > [Anna looked at Brother Wolf. ‘I’d like to see someone try to put a radio control collar on Charles. It might be fun to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/anna-looked-at-brother-wolf-i-d-like-to-see-someone-try-to-put-a/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [“At least you look at my face. I’ll give you that, you little she-wolf. How do you like it?” “I don’t. It’s all burned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/at-least-you-look-at-my-face-i-ll-give-you-that-you-little-she-wolf/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“...one of the wolf-like beasts wraps it's arms around me and howls into my ear, obscuring all other sounds. I lash at the creature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/one-of-the-wolf-like-beasts-wraps-it-s-arms-around-me-and-howls-into/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [“The moment you breathe your first breath, you won.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-rim/the-moment-you-breathe-your-first-breath-you-won/) [J.R. Rim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-rim/) > [Breathe as though it was your last breath, embrace as though it was your last hug, stand by those you love as though you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andres-lara/breathe-as-though-it-was-your-last-breath-embrace-as-though-it-was/) Andres Lara > [“Now you must close your eyes. Yes, that is it. Selinda, you, too. Good. Good. Bring in the dark that I may teach you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-yolen/now-you-must-close-your-eyes-yes-that-is-it-selinda-you-too-good-good/) [Jane Yolen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-yolen/) > [“I don't have any need to breathe. You are my breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/i-don-t-have-any-need-to-breathe-you-are-my-breath/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [Failure is not a one-time event; it's how you deal with life along the way. Until you breathe your last breath, you're still in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/failure-is-not-a-one-time-event-it-s-how-you-deal-with-life-along-the/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [God gave me breath so I could breathe. Each breath I take gets me closer to living with Him eternally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie/god-gave-me-breath-so-i-could-breathe-each-breath-i-take-gets-me/) [Leslie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie/) > [“Were it not Folly, Spider-like to spin The Thread of present Life away to win- What? for ourselves, who know not if we shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/were-it-not-folly-spider-like-to-spin-the-thread-of-present-life-away/) [Omar Khayyám](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Blow quotes > [The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-garagiola/the-wind-always-seems-to-blow-against-catchers-when-they-are-running/) [Joe Garagiola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-garagiola/) > [Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our teeples, drowned the cocks! You sulphurour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/blow-winds-and-crack-your-cheeks-rage-blow-you-cataracts-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If he wants to blow his head off, let him. I don't give a damn about Jim Bakker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-hahn/if-he-wants-to-blow-his-head-off-let-him-i-don-t-give-a-damn-about/) [Jessica Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-hahn/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/music-is-a-wind-that-blows-away-the-years-memories-and-fear-that/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-supposedly-immaterial-soul-we-now-know-can-be-bisected-with-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [One of the wonderful things about Portlandia - and I'm not just blowing smoke, although I can blow smoke, but I'm not - is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-raab/one-of-the-wonderful-things-about-portlandia-and-i-m-not-just-blowing/) [Scott Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-raab/) > [I would always find a way to blow the deal and I'm not sure why. I think there was part of me that wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/i-would-always-find-a-way-to-blow-the-deal-and-i-m-not-sure-why-i/) [Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Truth is, right now two bombs could drop out of the sky and blow up this house and whatever building you're in and just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mackaye/truth-is-right-now-two-bombs-could-drop-out-of-the-sky-and-blow-up/) [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) > [The old saying is true: If you have only the Word, you dry up. If you have only the Spirit, you blow up. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cymbala/the-old-saying-is-true-if-you-have-only-the-word-you-dry-up-if-you/) [Jim Cymbala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cymbala/) > [I can turn an idea into a business before you know it's going to be important. My first step will blow by you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/i-can-turn-an-idea-into-a-business-before-you-know-it-s-going-to-be/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [The Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in ... Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-armstrong/the-brick-house-was-one-of-the-toughest-joints-i-ever-played-in-guys/) [Louis Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-armstrong/) Browse all 2,324 Blow quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you could breathe a breath so strong you could blow out the wolf. Like you blow out the copo. 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