--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Death is, and must be, deeply emotional…" description: "\"“Death is, and must be, deeply emotional. To intentionally cause death is to engender a form of intimacy, one that we’re not used to thinking about. To..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/derrick-jensen-2824_death_death-is-and-must-be-deeply-emotional-to_2343359.jpg" --- # Death is, and must be, deeply emotional. To intentionally… ![“Death is, and must be, deeply emotional. To intentionally cause death is to engender a form of intimacy, one that we’re not used to thinking about. To kill without emotion and without respect, or to ignore the intimacy inherent in the act, is to rob it of its dignity, and to rob the life that you…” quote by Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/derrick-jensen-2824_death_death-is-and-must-be-deeply-emotional-to_2343359.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/derrick-jensen-2824_death_death-is-and-must-be-deeply-emotional-to_2343359.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/derrick-jensen-2824_death_death-is-and-must-be-deeply-emotional-to_2343359.jpg) > ““Death is, and must be, deeply emotional. To intentionally cause death is to engender a form of intimacy, one that we’re not used to thinking about. To kill without emotion and without respect, or to ignore the intimacy inherent in the act, is to rob it of its dignity, and to rob the life that you are ending of its significance. By robbing death and life of significance we reduce ourselves to the machines Descartes dreamed about. And we deny our own significance.”” [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death carries deep emotional weight; killing without reverence strips dignity and reduces humanity to mechanistic existence. **In simple terms:** Killing without feeling dehumanizes us. Key Takeaway Respect the intimacy of death. Themes mortality ethics humanity dignity Mood somber reflective Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - warfare - capital punishment - euthanasia - animal slaughter Key Concepts existentialism psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging death’s intimacy change our actions? - Can we ever truly respect a life we end? A Different Perspective A may argue that emotional distance can be necessary for certain duties. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death and life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-and-life/) [Without Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-respect/) ## Related quotes > [Dad never really got over Jack's death and was deeply inspired by his brother throughout his life to delve deeper into his own faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carter-cash/dad-never-really-got-over-jack-s-death-and-was-deeply-inspired-by-his/) [John Carter Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carter-cash/) > [“Why would anyone set out to break the heart of someone he loved? Why would anyone intentionally cause that kind of pain? Why did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-would-anyone-set-out-to-break-the-heart-of-someone-he-loved-why/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Treated without respect, food can be dangerous stuff. It can nourish you and at the same time, it can destroy you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-cat-callan/treated-without-respect-food-can-be-dangerous-stuff-it-can-nourish/) [Jamie Cat Callan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-cat-callan/) > [Two people can only live as one when each is prepared to give and receive trust and understanding. Above that lies respect. Without respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hollick/two-people-can-only-live-as-one-when-each-is-prepared-to-give-and/) [Helen Hollick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hollick/) > [There can be no love without respect. Respect means respecting and keeping in mind the other persons likes and dislikes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/there-can-be-no-love-without-respect-respect-means-respecting-and/) Senoraroy > [“It was a city in which the very old and the awkwardly new jostled each other, not uncomfortably, but without respect;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-was-a-city-in-which-the-very-old-and-the-awkwardly-new-jostled/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Without respect for the freedom of choice, peace is not possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz-jr/without-respect-for-the-freedom-of-choice-peace-is-not-possible/) [Miguel Ruiz Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz-jr/) > [“That we shall, in like manner, without respect of persons endeavour the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, (that is, church-government by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/various/that-we-shall-in-like-manner-without-respect-of-persons-endeavour-the/) Various > [Western society has accepted as unquestionable a technological imperative that is quite as arbitrary as the most primitive taboo: not merely the duty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/western-society-has-accepted-as-unquestionable-a-technological/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [“-i was "far and away"-riding my motorcycle along an american back road, skiing through the snowy Quebec woods, or lying awake in a backwater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/i-was-far-and-away-riding-my-motorcycle-along-an-american-back-road/) [Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/) > [To be happy, you first must declare it with your mouth and then have the courage to express it without respect to useless negativities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/to-be-happy-you-first-must-declare-it-with-your-mouth-and-then-have/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [Care and responsibility are constituent elements of love, but without respect for and knowledge of the beloved person, love deteriorates into domination and possessiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/care-and-responsibility-are-constituent-elements-of-love-but-without/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“Sometimes I have to act crazy to handle the crazies. Trying to be normal near the crazies makes me as crazy as them. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/sometimes-i-have-to-act-crazy-to-handle-the-crazies-trying-to-be/) [Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/) > [Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/not-everyone-can-wait-neither-the-sated-nor-the-satisfied-nor-those/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“If you've treated your girlfriend without respect, taken advantage of her, or cheated on her, your actions have taught her that she has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-shipp/if-you-ve-treated-your-girlfriend-without-respect-taken-advantage-of/) Josh Shipp ## More by Derrick Jensen > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“In sum, one of the primary things I learned was how to kill time. I learned also to wish away my life. I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/in-sum-one-of-the-primary-things-i-learned-was-how-to-kill-time-i/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“I had broken the most basic commandment of our culture: Thou shalt pretend there is nothing wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/i-had-broken-the-most-basic-commandment-of-our-culture-thou-shalt/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“Someone asked me once at a talk why I so stress the positive with my students yet am such an unstinting critic of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/someone-asked-me-once-at-a-talk-why-i-so-stress-the-positive-with-my/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [If the world is presented as resources to be exploited, then, more than likely, you're going to exploit the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-the-world-is-presented-as-resources-to-be-exploited-then-more-than/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [It's no wonder we don't defend the land where we live. We don't live here. We live in television programs and movies and books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/it-s-no-wonder-we-don-t-defend-the-land-where-we-live-we-don-t-live/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“ISOLATION DOES STRANGE THINGS to a person’s mind. This is true for any social creature, human or otherwise. Monkeys taken from their mothers at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/isolation-does-strange-things-to-a-person-s-mind-this-is-true-for-any/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [My great-grandmother grew up in a sod house in Nebraska. When she was a tiny girl - in other words, only four human generations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/my-great-grandmother-grew-up-in-a-sod-house-in-nebraska-when-she-was/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/where-will-you-drive-your-own-picket-stake-where-will-you-choose-to/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“So often, environmentalists and others working to slow the destruction are capable of plainly describing the problems (Who wouldn’t be? The problems are neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-often-environmentalists-and-others-working-to-slow-the-destruction/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Forests precede us and deserts dog our heels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/forests-precede-us-and-deserts-dog-our-heels/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-condition-of-alienation-of-being-asleep-of-being-unconscious-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-me-that-the-fundamental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [People say 'what do you mean' when you talk about 'bringing down civilization.' What I really mean is depriving the rich of the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/people-say-what-do-you-mean-when-you-talk-about-bringing-down/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Explore all 149 Derrick Jensen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. 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": "“Death is, and must be, deeply emotional. To intentionally cause death is to engender a form of intimacy, one that we’re not used to thinking about. 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