--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what is to be done? Is it possible to…" description: "\"But what is to be done? Is it possible to infect ourselves on purpose just in order to have the satisfaction of dying beautifully and tranquilly? No! W..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/dmitry-pisarev-55435_alive_but-what-is-to-be-done-is-it-possible-to_1188176.png" --- # But what is to be done? Is it possible to infect ourselves… ![“But what is to be done? Is it possible to infect ourselves on purpose just in order to have the satisfaction of dying beautifully and tranquilly? No! What is to be done? We must live while we are alive, eat dry bread if there is no roast beef, know many women if it is not possible to love a woman…” quote by Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/dmitry-pisarev-55435_alive_but-what-is-to-be-done-is-it-possible-to_1188176.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/dmitry-pisarev-55435_alive_but-what-is-to-be-done-is-it-possible-to_1188176.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/911/dmitry-pisarev-55435_alive_but-what-is-to-be-done-is-it-possible-to_1188176.png) > “But what is to be done? Is it possible to infect ourselves on purpose just in order to have the satisfaction of dying beautifully and tranquilly? No! What is to be done? We must live while we are alive, eat dry bread if there is no roast beef, know many women if it is not possible to love a woman, and, in general, we must not dream about orange trees and palms, when under foot are snowdrifts and the cold tundra.” [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He urges living authentically, embracing hardship, and avoiding futile fantasies in a harsh reality. **In simple terms:** Live fully despite hardship, not chasing impossible dreams. Key Takeaway Embrace reality, act now. Themes existentialism resilience authenticity Mood somber defiant Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - war - poverty - personal loss - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts nihilism human condition Questions to Reflect On - What does “living while we are alive” mean to you? - How can one find meaning in scarcity? A Different Perspective May romanticize suffering without practical solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Alive Eat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive-eat-2922177/) [Beef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beef/) [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dry/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Dying Beautifully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying-beautifully-3515108/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Live Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-alive-435432/) [Orange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orange/) [Orange trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orange-trees/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Palms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palms/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Roast beef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roast-beef/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Tranquilly Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tranquilly-live-3515107/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [I have to sleep to stay alive. I have to eat to stay alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-backlund/i-have-to-sleep-to-stay-alive-i-have-to-eat-to-stay-alive/) [Bob Backlund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-backlund/) > [What would it take for me to eat human flesh? If that was the only way to stay alive, I would. I would eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-monaghan/what-would-it-take-for-me-to-eat-human-flesh-if-that-was-the-only-way/) [Dominic Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-monaghan/) > [“So I went up north to a land of palm trees and mangroves like malignant growths in the mud-filled throats of the bays, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/so-i-went-up-north-to-a-land-of-palm-trees-and-mangroves-like/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [There is only a policeman in front of something you have need for and don't have access to, so you put a guard there...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/there-is-only-a-policeman-in-front-of-something-you-have-need-for-and/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [If orange trees grew all over the country, you couldn't sell oranges. Do you understand that? So, all our decision making is based upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/if-orange-trees-grew-all-over-the-country-you-couldn-t-sell-oranges/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [Maternal love, like an orange tree, buds and blossoms and bears at once. When a woman puts her finger for the first time into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/maternal-love-like-an-orange-tree-buds-and-blossoms-and-bears-at-once/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [Beautiful isles! beneath the sunset skies tall, silver-shafted palm-trees rise, between full orange-trees that shade the living colonade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/beautiful-isles-beneath-the-sunset-skies-tall-silver-shafted-palm/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [“Here where all the trees grow in rows; the palms stand stiffly by the roadsides, and in the groves the orange trees line in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-whitecloud/here-where-all-the-trees-grow-in-rows-the-palms-stand-stiffly-by-the/) [Thomas Whitecloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-whitecloud/) > [Do not adjust your sandals while passing through a melon-field, nor yet arrange your hat beneath an orange-tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-bramah/do-not-adjust-your-sandals-while-passing-through-a-melon-field-nor/) [Ernest Bramah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-bramah/) > [Time will come; we will plant trees to other planets! I see the orange trees and the cherries in the far lands beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/time-will-come-we-will-plant-trees-to-other-planets-i-see-the-orange/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“There was no Disney World then, just rows of orange trees. Millions of them. Stretching for miles. And somewhere near the middle was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-dorsey/there-was-no-disney-world-then-just-rows-of-orange-trees-millions-of-2/) [Tim Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-dorsey/) > [There is a relative order to the fossilized species of plants found in the geologic record for which Flood Geology cannot account, unless you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zindler/there-is-a-relative-order-to-the-fossilized-species-of-plants-found/) [Frank Zindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zindler/) > [“There was no Disney World then, just rows of orange trees. Millions of them. Stretching for miles And somewhere near the middle was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-dorsey/there-was-no-disney-world-then-just-rows-of-orange-trees-millions-of/) [Tim Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-dorsey/) > [Morality is the fruit of religion: to desire the former without the latter is to desire an orange without an orange-tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/morality-is-the-fruit-of-religion-to-desire-the-former-without-the/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [I wear myself out trying to render the orange trees so that they're not stiff but like those I saw by Botticelli in Florence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berthe-morisot/i-wear-myself-out-trying-to-render-the-orange-trees-so-that-they-re/) [Berthe Morisot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berthe-morisot/) ## More by Dmitry Pisarev > [So easily do weak men put in high positions turn villains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-pisarev/so-easily-do-weak-men-put-in-high-positions-turn-villains/) [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) > [If there is no sarcasm, there's no true love towards the mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-pisarev/if-there-is-no-sarcasm-there-s-no-true-love-towards-the-mankind/) [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) > [What can be broken, should be broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-pisarev/what-can-be-broken-should-be-broken/) [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) > [Break, beat up everything, beat and destroy! Everything that's being broken is rubbish and has no right to life! What survives is good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-pisarev/break-beat-up-everything-beat-and-destroy-everything-that-s-being/) [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) > [The more developed a nation is, the more complete is the independence of the individual, and the safer the individual from encroachments by another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-pisarev/the-more-developed-a-nation-is-the-more-complete-is-the-independence/) [Dmitry Pisarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) [Explore all 6 Dmitry Pisarev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-pisarev/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But what is to be done? Is it possible to infect ourselves on purpose just in order to have the satisfaction of dying beautifully and tranquilly? No! What is to be done? 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