--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After you're dead and buried and floating…" description: "\"After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be6/douglas-coupland-305_alive_after-you-re-dead-and-buried-and-floatin_2688171.jpg" --- # After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever… ![“After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines what it's like to be alive on this planet. What's your takeaway? Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting…” quote by Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be6/douglas-coupland-305_alive_after-you-re-dead-and-buried-and-floatin_2688171.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be6/douglas-coupland-305_alive_after-you-re-dead-and-buried-and-floatin_2688171.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be6/douglas-coupland-305_alive_after-you-re-dead-and-buried-and-floatin_2688171.jpg) > “After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines what it's like to be alive on this planet. What's your takeaway? Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting or elephant rides in Thailand don't count. I want to hear some small moment from your life that proves you're really alive.” [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote asks for a vivid, authentic memory that captures the essence of being alive, beyond superficial experiences. **In simple terms:** Recall a genuine moment that shows true vitality. Key Takeaway Identify and cherish a real, alive experience. Themes authenticity memory life essence Mood reflective nostalgic Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - travel - family gatherings - nature moments - personal milestones Key Concepts existential reflection personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - What simple experience made you feel fully present? - How do everyday moments shape your sense of life? A Different Perspective Superficial thrills may be memorable but don’t reflect deep living. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Best memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-memories/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Elephants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephants/) [Experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiences/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Rafting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rafting/) [Takeaways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/takeaways/) [Thailand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thailand/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [White water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-water/) [Yuppies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yuppies/) ## Related quotes > [“What one moment from you defines what it’s like to be alive on this planet. What’s your takeaway?’’ There is silence. Tobias doesn’t get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/what-one-moment-from-you-defines-what-it-s-like-to-be-alive-on-this/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-culbreath-noel/the-first-river-you-paddle-runs-through-the-rest-of-your-life-it/) [Lynn Culbreath Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-culbreath-noel/) > [I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water... has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderick-haig-brown/i-have-never-seen-a-river-that-i-could-not-love-moving-water-has-a/) [Roderick Haig-Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roderick-haig-brown/) > [. . . the time has also come to identify and preserve free-flowing stretches of our great rivers before growth and development make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/the-time-has-also-come-to-identify-and-preserve-free-flowing/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Swift or smooth, broad as the Hudson or narrow enough to scrape your gunwales, every river is a world of its own, unique in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marshall/swift-or-smooth-broad-as-the-hudson-or-narrow-enough-to-scrape-your/) [Bob Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marshall/) > [I've done plenty of daredeviling - from white-water rafting to bungee jumping. But I think the most fearless was hosting the Emmy Awards. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-patrick-harris/i-ve-done-plenty-of-daredeviling-from-white-water-rafting-to-bungee/) [Neil Patrick Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-patrick-harris/) > [When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/when-you-put-your-hand-in-a-flowing-stream-you-touch-the-last-that/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [A happy memory is perhaps on this earth truer than happiness itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/a-happy-memory-is-perhaps-on-this-earth-truer-than-happiness-itself/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [Memory is earth's retribution for man's sins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusta-jane-evans/memory-is-earth-s-retribution-for-man-s-sins/) [Augusta Jane Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusta-jane-evans/) > [ This is taking \[photos\] from everybody - the entire collective memory of what the Earth looks like - and linking all of that together. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-aguera-y-arcas/this-is-taking-photos-from-everybody-the-entire-collective-memory-of/) Blaise Aguera y Arcas > [Quietly, like a night bird, floating, soaring, wingless. We glide from shore to shore, curving and falling but not quite touching; Earth: a distant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-worden/quietly-like-a-night-bird-floating-soaring-wingless-we-glide-from/) Alfred Worden > [I always want readers to lose themselves completely in a story and feel something, whatever the book invites them to feel. That experience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/i-always-want-readers-to-lose-themselves-completely-in-a-story-and/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) > [ One of the big takeaways from that experience \[in Blue Jasmin\] was just what a thrill it was to act with somebody like Cate… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alden-ehrenreich/one-of-the-big-takeaways-from-that-experience-in-blue-jasmin-was-just/) [Alden Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alden-ehrenreich/) > [I eat a lot of takeaways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-khan/i-eat-a-lot-of-takeaways/) [Amir Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amir-khan/) > [I don't cook, I can't cook, and it is really abominable to see me in the kitchen. I order in takeaway food or get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-barrymore/i-don-t-cook-i-can-t-cook-and-it-is-really-abominable-to-see-me-in/) [Drew Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-barrymore/) ## More by Douglas Coupland > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The future and eternity are two entirely different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/the-future-and-eternity-are-two-entirely-different-things/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Do you remember how you felt at seventeen? I do and I don't (...) Imagine you came from outer space and someone showed you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/do-you-remember-how-you-felt-at-seventeen-i-do-and-i-don-t-imagine/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [You can't fake competence, creativity, or sexual arousal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-can-t-fake-competence-creativity-or-sexual-arousal/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“But Dag, for all of his efforts, might as well have been talking to a cat. Our parents’ generation seems neither able nor interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/but-dag-for-all-of-his-efforts-might-as-well-have-been-talking-to-a/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Negative? Moi? I think realistic might be a better word. You mean to tell me we can drive all the way here from L.A.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/negative-moi-i-think-realistic-might-be-a-better-word-you-mean-to/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [It was pivotal in making you but you don't remember it. Or do you? Do we understand the events that make us who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/it-was-pivotal-in-making-you-but-you-don-t-remember-it-or-do-you-do/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Your ability to rationalize your own bad deeds makes you believe that the whole world is as amoral as you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/your-ability-to-rationalize-your-own-bad-deeds-makes-you-believe-that/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“I like to go beach-combing, and I like to find interestingly shaped rocks. When I really get into the groove I start finding beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-like-to-go-beach-combing-and-i-like-to-find-interestingly-shaped/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“You know, Dag and Claire smile a lot, as do many people I know. But I always wondered if there is something either mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-know-dag-and-claire-smile-a-lot-as-do-many-people-i-know-but-i/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/brain-research-tells-us-that-only-twenty-percent-of-human-beings-have/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [I keep vampire hours, going to bed at 2 A.M. and waking up at about 10:30-11 A.M.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-keep-vampire-hours-going-to-bed-at-2-a-m-and-waking-up-at-about-10/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Anna-Louise leans over and whispers in my ear. "This is so surreal," she says, "I think I'm turning into a melting clock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/anna-louise-leans-over-and-whispers-in-my-ear-this-is-so-surreal-she/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [When you grow up these days, you're told you're going to have four or five different careers during your lifetime. But what they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/when-you-grow-up-these-days-you-re-told-you-re-going-to-have-four-or/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) [Explore all 704 Douglas Coupland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## 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 > [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": "After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines what it's like to be alive on this planet. What's your takeaway? Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting or elephant rides in Thailand don't count. 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