--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everybody agrees that a future in which…" description: "\"Everybody agrees that a future in which you are dead is a very bad thing, and that it isn't made any better by your not being around to notice how bad ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/david-papineau-18257_agree_everybody-agrees-that-a-future-in-which_827264.jpg" --- # Everybody agrees that a future in which you are dead is a… ![“Everybody agrees that a future in which you are dead is a very bad thing, and that it isn't made any better by your not being around to notice how bad it is.” quote by David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/david-papineau-18257_agree_everybody-agrees-that-a-future-in-which_827264.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/david-papineau-18257_agree_everybody-agrees-that-a-future-in-which_827264.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/david-papineau-18257_agree_everybody-agrees-that-a-future-in-which_827264.jpg) > “Everybody agrees that a future in which you are dead is a very bad thing, and that it isn't made any better by your not being around to notice how bad it is.” [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being dead is undesirable, and not being alive to notice it doesn’t improve the situation; death remains a negative state. **In simple terms:** Death is bad, regardless of awareness. Key Takeaway Recognize the value of life. Themes mortality value of life existentialism ethics Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - health decisions - legacy planning - grief counseling Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness affect the bad of death? - What makes life meaningful? A Different Perspective Some argue non‑awareness mitigates harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agree/) [Agrees Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agrees-future-526341/) [Bad thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-thing/) [Bad things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-things/) [Dead Bad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-bad-526339/) [Everybody Agrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody-agrees-526340/) [Future Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-dead-526338/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Something coming back from the dead was almost always bad news. Movies taught me that. For every one Jesus you get a million zombies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/something-coming-back-from-the-dead-was-almost-always-bad-news-movies/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [I am Dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/i-am-dead-but-it-s-not-so-bad-i-ve-learned-to-live-with-it/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [I hate those e-books. They can not be the future... they may well be... I will be dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-hate-those-e-books-they-can-not-be-the-future-they-may-well-be-i/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [“And it occurs to me that there’s no real difference between us, the living and the dead; it’s just a matter of tense: past-dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/and-it-occurs-to-me-that-there-s-no-real-difference-between-us-the/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [“In the foreseeable future, I will be a dead person. I want to remind you that dead people are people too. There are good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/in-the-foreseeable-future-i-will-be-a-dead-person-i-want-to-remind/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [In the future...you're already dead. But today, you're alive. 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Though we do not yet know their names, we know that there shall be far too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/let-us-pray-now-for-the-future-dead-though-we-do-not-yet-know-their/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [“He was saying that as long as you thought that your happiness depended on something that was going to happen in the future, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/consuelo-saah-baehr/he-was-saying-that-as-long-as-you-thought-that-your-happiness/) [Consuelo Saah Baehr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/consuelo-saah-baehr/) > [“It's always a little nerve-wracking when everybody agrees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-hare/it-s-always-a-little-nerve-wracking-when-everybody-agrees/) [Brian Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-hare/) > [Usually if nobody hates a piece, nobody loves it, either; and a magazine which sets itself the goal of provoking thought is not doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-schmidt/usually-if-nobody-hates-a-piece-nobody-loves-it-either-and-a-magazine/) [Stanley Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-schmidt/) > [I'm not sure everybody agrees with me. I guess a lot of people don't. We are living in a time that's as evil as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-not-sure-everybody-agrees-with-me-i-guess-a-lot-of-people-don-t/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Everybody agrees that whatever the solutions are to the big problems, they ... can never be without some element of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/everybody-agrees-that-whatever-the-solutions-are-to-the-big-problems/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nobody-knows-the-age-of-the-human-race-but-everybody-agrees-that-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by David Papineau > [Nearly everybody nowadays accepts the 'causal completeness of physics' - every physical event (or at least its probability) has a full physical cause. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/nearly-everybody-nowadays-accepts-the-causal-completeness-of-physics/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [My first degree was in mathematics. That was great, but it didn't help with many of the things that puzzled me. I became a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/my-first-degree-was-in-mathematics-that-was-great-but-it-didn-t-help/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [If there is such a simple argument for physicalism, how come everybody hasn't always been a physicalist? That's a good question, and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/if-there-is-such-a-simple-argument-for-physicalism-how-come-everybody/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [Kripke says that physicalists like me can't explain the 'apparent contingency' of mind-brain identities. 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Both of us want to show that colour perception doesn't transcend what can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/i-think-my-view-is-rather-more-radical-than-pete-mandik-s-both-of-us/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [On the methodological issue, I think that would be hopeless to try to adjudicate between my view and orthodoxy by appeal to phenomenological introspection.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/on-the-methodological-issue-i-think-that-would-be-hopeless-to-try-to/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [Again, when we view a scene fleetingly, do we consciously see all the details even though we don't retain them, or do we not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/again-when-we-view-a-scene-fleetingly-do-we-consciously-see-all-the/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [I don't think that we can figure out what is going on in conscious colour perception just by phenomenological introspection. We need to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/i-don-t-think-that-we-can-figure-out-what-is-going-on-in-conscious/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [In truth a clear-headed physicalist shouldn't be thinking any of these dualist thoughts. If pains are one and the same as C-fibres firing, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/in-truth-a-clear-headed-physicalist-shouldn-t-be-thinking-any-of/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [The use of neuroscientific data to help resolve phenomenological questions is proving a common theme in much contemporary thinking about the mind. How rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/the-use-of-neuroscientific-data-to-help-resolve-phenomenological/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [Natural selection has ensured that each species achieves the requisite effect somehow, but it doesn't care, so to speak, how the trick is done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/natural-selection-has-ensured-that-each-species-achieves-the/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [I realize that I won't have quite enough time to understand everything - but that hasn't stopped me wanting to understand as much as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/i-realize-that-i-won-t-have-quite-enough-time-to-understand/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [Schrödinger's cat has a 50% quantum chance of coming out of the box alive and a 50% quantum chance of coming out dead. 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On this view, Schrödinger's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/i-favour-an-interpretation-of-quantum-mechanics-the-everett/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) [Explore all 35 David Papineau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) ## More Agree quotes > [Any comprehensive doctrine, religious or secular, can be introduced into any political argument at any time, but I argue that people who do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/any-comprehensive-doctrine-religious-or-secular-can-be-introduced/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. 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