--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You used to believe that with age you…" description: "\"“You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were still young, your suffer..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/douard-lev-10437_death_you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-wo_1101656.jpg" --- # You used to believe that with age you would become less… ![“You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were still young, your suffering was inconsolable because you believed it to be unfounded. Your suicide was scandalously beautiful… You died because you searched for happiness…” quote by Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/douard-lev-10437_death_you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-wo_1101656.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/douard-lev-10437_death_you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-wo_1101656.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/douard-lev-10437_death_you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-wo_1101656.jpg) > ““You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were still young, your suffering was inconsolable because you believed it to be unfounded. Your suicide was scandalously beautiful… You died because you searched for happiness at the risk of finding the void. We shall have to wait for death before we can know what it is that you found. Or before leaving off knowing anything at all, if it is to be silence and emptiness that awaits us.”” [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A reflection on aging, unhappiness, and the paradox of seeking happiness that may lead to emptiness, culminating in a tragic yet beautiful suicide. **In simple terms:** Aging, happiness, and death intertwine. Key Takeaway Embrace life's uncertainties. Themes existential philosophical death loneliness Mood somber reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal crises - mental health discussions - literary analysis Key Concepts nihilism search for meaning psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to find meaning before death? - Can suffering be transformed into growth? A Different Perspective Suicide is not a solution to existential void. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) ## Related quotes > [“You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-lev/you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-would-become-less-unhappy/) [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-lev/) > [“You were said to have died of suffering. But there was not as much sadness in you as there is now in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-were-said-to-have-died-of-suffering-but-there-was-not-as-much/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [Objective art is just the opposite. The man has nothing to throw, he is utterly empty, absolutely clean. Out of this silence, out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/objective-art-is-just-the-opposite-the-man-has-nothing-to-throw-he-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/as-for-me-the-silence-and-the-emptiness-is-so-great-that-i-look-and/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [I began to think that if you're a stutterer, it's about inhabiting silence, emptiness, and nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-began-to-think-that-if-you-re-a-stutterer-it-s-about-inhabiting/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [And the peace which I always found in the silence and emptiness of the moors filled me utterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-herriot/and-the-peace-which-i-always-found-in-the-silence-and-emptiness-of/) [James Herriot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-herriot/) > [In the end, all that were remained silence and emptiness cause what it lost can never be regained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/disgaea/in-the-end-all-that-were-remained-silence-and-emptiness-cause-what-it/) Disgaea > [“That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and after a while it starts to swallow you up. I reached a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/that-was-the-trouble-the-land-is-too-big-out-there-and-after-a-while/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [From him to the stars, in all directions, there was only silence and emptiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/from-him-to-the-stars-in-all-directions-there-was-only-silence-and/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [All silence is. All emptiness. And now: The dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/all-silence-is-all-emptiness-and-now-the-dawn/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-all-kinds-of-silences-and-each-of-them-means-a-different-3/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“I Wish I Could Take All The Reasons To Be Sad , Place Them On A Boat And Watch Them Go , But I'll Miss Them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionut-cazacu/i-wish-i-could-take-all-the-reasons-to-be-sad-place-them-on-a-boat/) Ionut Cazacu > [Prefer to be sad than to be happy! Why!? Because when you are sad you can see all the things that can make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-sad-than-to-be-happy-why-because-when-you-are-sad-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even If I Have Hundreds Of Reasons To Be Sad.. Thousands Of Reasons To Frown.. Millions Of Reasons To Cry..You Are The Only Reason..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-if-i-have-hundreds-of-reasons-to-be-sad-thousands-of-reasons-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I pray for the gift of silence, Of emptiness and solitude, Where everything I touch is turned into prayer:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-harvey/i-pray-for-the-gift-of-silence-of-emptiness-and-solitude-where/) [Andrew Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-harvey/) ## More by Edouard Levé > [“Once you confessed to someone that you had been very depressed when dining with her several months earlier. She was stunned, discovering her blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/once-you-confessed-to-someone-that-you-had-been-very-depressed-when/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/) [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only the living seem incoherent. Death closes the series of events that constitutes their lives. So we resign ourselves to finding a meaning for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-the-living-seem-incoherent-death-closes-the-series-of-events/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I am slow to notice when someone mistreats me, it’s always so surprising: evil is somehow unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-am-slow-to-notice-when-someone-mistreats-me-it-s-always-so/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You directed toward yourself a violence that you did not feel toward others. For them you reserved all your patience and tolerance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-directed-toward-yourself-a-violence-that-you-did-not-feel-toward/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never attended a nudist funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-attended-a-nudist-funeral/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I want this epitaph engraved on my tombstone: “See you soon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-want-this-epitaph-engraved-on-my-tombstone-see-you-soon/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-which-you-had-paced-only-to/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“In their beginnings, events preserve the potential that they lose in their completion. Desire prolongs itself so long as it is not achieved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/in-their-beginnings-events-preserve-the-potential-that-they-lose-in/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I wonder whether anyone besides old people like riot police.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-wonder-whether-anyone-besides-old-people-like-riot-police/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You were said to have died of suffering. But there was not as much sadness in you as there is now in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-were-said-to-have-died-of-suffering-but-there-was-not-as-much/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only once can I say “I’m dying” without telling a lie. The best day of my life may already be behind me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-once-can-i-say-i-m-dying-without-telling-a-lie-the-best-day-of/) [Edouard Leve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never considered sleeping with a nun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-considered-sleeping-with-a-nun/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“At a public urinal the presence of a neighbor delays my micturition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/at-a-public-urinal-the-presence-of-a-neighbor-delays-my-micturition/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) [Explore all 62 Edouard Levé quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## 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": "“You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were still young, your suffering was inconsolable because you believed it to be unfounded. 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