--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People disappear when they die. Their…" description: "\"“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png" --- # People disappear when they die. Their voice, their… ![“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continue to…” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png) > ““People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continue to exist.”” [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on mortality, noting that while physical bodies decay, some achieve a form of immortality through the stories they leave behind. **In simple terms:** Stories can outlive the dead. Key Takeaway Write something lasting. Themes mortality legacy memory Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - teaching - family histories Key Concepts immortality through narrative human condition Questions to Reflect On - What stories do you want to leave? - How do we honor those who vanish? A Different Perspective The view may romanticize literary legacy over other forms of remembrance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) ## Related quotes > [“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth-2/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? Mano Dayak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mano-dayak/must-a-people-disappear-for-us-to-know-they-exist-mano-dayak/) Mano Dayak > [ “Mom, you know what? I just realized you have a knack for making people disappear. \[Lella's son catches on!\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-grazia-swan/mom-you-know-what-i-just-realized-you-have-a-knack-for-making-people/) [Maria Grazia Swan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-grazia-swan/) > [“They do not disappear when they die. They leave us their strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-r-kling/they-do-not-disappear-when-they-die-they-leave-us-their-strength/) [Heidi R. Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-r-kling/) > [“Were all stars to disappear and die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/were-all-stars-to-disappear-and-die-i-should-learn-to-look-at-an/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [Sometimes you don't realize how dependent you are on just a few people, and if they disappear, suddenly you can be thrown on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/sometimes-you-don-t-realize-how-dependent-you-are-on-just-a-few/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [That kind of woman who used to be there at the time is not here any longer. In 10 years, people disappear. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manolo-blahnik/that-kind-of-woman-who-used-to-be-there-at-the-time-is-not-here-any/) [Manolo Blahnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manolo-blahnik/) > [“People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/people-disappear-all-the-time-ask-any-policeman-better-yet-ask-a/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [We should be protected from the people who will leave us in the end, from all the people who will disappear or forget us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/we-should-be-protected-from-the-people-who-will-leave-us-in-the-end/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [You are here and so am I. Maybe millions and millions and millions of people go by but they all disappear from view because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-troutman/you-are-here-and-so-am-i-maybe-millions-and-millions-and-millions-of/) [Roger Troutman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-troutman/) > [Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/magic-trick-to-make-people-disappear-ask-them-to-fulfill-their/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In a city this size, every year, hundreds of husbands walk away. Kids leave home. Wives escape. People disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/in-a-city-this-size-every-year-hundreds-of-husbands-walk-away-kids/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [People disappear quickly when you show them that you need them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blossom/people-disappear-quickly-when-you-show-them-that-you-need-them/) [Blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blossom/) > [People say you never remember anybody who dies in movies, and it's true, you don't. You don't even remember people who disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/people-say-you-never-remember-anybody-who-dies-in-movies-and-it-s/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [People only disappear when they have somewhere to go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/people-only-disappear-when-they-have-somewhere-to-go/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) ## More by Diane Setterfield > [“They are more real than the books on the shelves, books that are sketched with the barest hint of a line here and there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/they-are-more-real-than-the-books-on-the-shelves-books-that-are/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/margaret-lea-the-biographer/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He was the first of my ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-was-the-first-of-my-ghosts/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“It was like living entirely inside a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/it-was-like-living-entirely-inside-a-book/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Then something rang a bell in his mind. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/then-something-rang-a-bell-in-his-mind-what/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-better-way-to-get-to-know-someone-than-through-her-choice-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-have-always-been-a-reader-i-have-read-at-every-stage-of-my-life-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Yesterday or the day before, while I had been going about my business, quietly and in private, some unknown person—some stranger—had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/yesterday-or-the-day-before-while-i-had-been-going-about-my-business/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“the Missus stood like a ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/the-missus-stood-like-a-ghost/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/but-perhaps-the-answer-is-to-stop-writing-altogether-for-when-i-do/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Our clients' faces, with the customary outward paleness and inner glow of the book lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-clients-faces-with-the-customary-outward-paleness-and-inner-glow/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-felt-something-move-in-his-chest-as-though-an-organ-had-been/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Still in my coat and hat, I sank onto the stair to read the letter. (I never read without making sure I am in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/still-in-my-coat-and-hat-i-sank-onto-the-stair-to-read-the-letter-i/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-still-believe-in-stories-i-still-forget-myself-when-i-am-in-the/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued "Jane Eyre" over the anonymous stranger...Of course all of Shakespeare was worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-loved-books-more-than-people-of-course-i-valued-jane-eyre/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) [Explore all 292 Diane Setterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continue to exist.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Setterfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/diane-setterfield-1008_books_people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voi_553745.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh…” — Diane Setterfield", "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": "Diane Setterfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“People disappear when they die. Their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth/#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 } } ] } ```