--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These are but dreaming men. Breathe, and…" description: "\"These are but dreaming men. Breathe, and they fade.\" — Dylan Thomas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/dylan-thomas-1889_breathe_these-are-but-dreaming-men-breathe-and-t_589808.jpg" --- # These are but dreaming men. Breathe, and they fade. ![“These are but dreaming men. Breathe, and they fade.” quote by Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/dylan-thomas-1889_breathe_these-are-but-dreaming-men-breathe-and-t_589808.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/dylan-thomas-1889_breathe_these-are-but-dreaming-men-breathe-and-t_589808.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/dylan-thomas-1889_breathe_these-are-but-dreaming-men-breathe-and-t_589808.jpg) > “These are but dreaming men. Breathe, and they fade.” [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dreams fade when we try to grasp them; they dissolve like breath. **In simple terms:** Dreams vanish when pursued too hard. Key Takeaway Let dreams breathe naturally. Themes dreams impermanence reality Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - goal setting - mindfulness Key Concepts philosophy poetry Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance dreaming and doing? - What helps you keep dreams alive? A Different Perspective Over‑attachment can kill imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreaming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreaming/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [“Whether we are men dreaming we are butterflies or butterflies dreaming we are men, the one truth is that all life is an illusion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenifer-mohammed/whether-we-are-men-dreaming-we-are-butterflies-or-butterflies/) [Jenifer Mohammed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenifer-mohammed/) > [Dreaming men are haunted men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/dreaming-men-are-haunted-men/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/so-long-as-men-can-breathe-or-eyes-can-see-so-long-lives-this-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I early became conscious that men breathe more audibly than women. Sit in a room in silence with men and women, and you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-franklin/i-early-became-conscious-that-men-breathe-more-audibly-than-women-sit/) [Miles Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-franklin/) > [It is almost never when a state of things is the most detestable that it is smashed, but when, beginning to improve, it permits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/it-is-almost-never-when-a-state-of-things-is-the-most-detestable-that/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“I would like to be the sea I would like to break into millions of pieces and I would like each piece to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fade-merrick/i-would-like-to-be-the-sea-i-would-like-to-break-into-millions-of/) Jane Fade Merrick > [“The best relationships fade out and you're not even sure when it ended.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-c-brown/the-best-relationships-fade-out-and-you-re-not-even-sure-when-it-ended/) Derrick C. Brown > [There is nothing wrong with dedication and goals, but if you focus on yourself, all the lights fade away and you become a fleeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-maravich/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-dedication-and-goals-but-if-you-focus-on/) [Pete Maravich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-maravich/) > [You meet someone. You two get close. It all great for a while. Talk less. Awkward conversation. The drifting. No communication whatsoever. Memories start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/you-meet-someone-you-two-get-close-it-all-great-for-a-while-talk-less/) Unkown > [Don't fade away like everyone else has. I dont want to wak up one morning and realize you are gone too](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-all-his/don-t-fade-away-like-everyone-else-has-i-dont-want-to-wak-up-one/) Im\_all\_his > [What's David's role? David looks good, that's what David does. David looks good, and I'm the funny one, that's what I hear constantly. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-beckham/what-s-david-s-role-david-looks-good-that-s-what-david-does-david/) [Victoria Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-beckham/) > [No, I don't think rock 'n' roll will ever fade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-clark/no-i-don-t-think-rock-n-roll-will-ever-fade/) [Dave Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-clark/) > [Life, it seems, will fade away Drifting further every day Getting lost within myself Nothing matters, no one else I have lost the will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/life-it-seems-will-fade-away-drifting-further-every-day-getting-lost/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I wish it had been something as sexy as the old Joey Tribbiani, falling-down-an-elevator shaft. But no. It just faded out. I wasn't related…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-sears/i-wish-it-had-been-something-as-sexy-as-the-old-joey-tribbiani/) [Teddy Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-sears/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Dylan Thomas > [I liked the taste of beer, its live, white lather, its brass-bright depths, the sudden world through the wet-brown walls of the glass, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-liked-the-taste-of-beer-its-live-white-lather-its-brass-bright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/there-is-only-one-position-for-an-artist-anywhere-and-that-is-upright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [“Thousands of miles,' I said. It's Rhosilli, USA. We're going to camp on a bit of rock that wobbles in the winds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/thousands-of-miles-i-said-it-s-rhosilli-usa-we-re-going-to-camp-on-a/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/one-christmas-was-so-much-like-another-in-those-years-around-the-sea/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-hold-a-beast-an-angel-and-a-madman-in-me-and-my-enquiry-is-as-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Youth calls to age across the tired years: 'What have you found,' he cries, 'what have you sought?" 'What have you found,' age answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/youth-calls-to-age-across-the-tired-years-what-have-you-found-he/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Do not go gentle into that goodnight, rage, rage against the dying of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-goodnight-rage-rage-against-the-dying-of/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [To begin, at the beginning...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/to-begin-at-the-beginning/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or circumstantial disabilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/a-born-writer-is-born-scrofulous-his-career-is-an-accident-dictated/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Rhianon, he said, hold my hand, Rhianon. She did not hear him, but stood over his bed and fixed him with an unbroken sorrow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/rhianon-he-said-hold-my-hand-rhianon-she-did-not-hear-him-but-stood/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I know in London a Welsh hairdresser who has striven so vehemently to abolish his accent that he sounds like a man speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-in-london-a-welsh-hairdresser-who-has-striven-so-vehemently-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Dark is a way and light is a place, Heaven that never was Nor will be ever is always true "Poem on His Birthday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/dark-is-a-way-and-light-is-a-place-heaven-that-never-was-nor-will-be/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [And now, gentlemen, like your manners, I must leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/and-now-gentlemen-like-your-manners-i-must-leave-you/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/now-behind-the-eyes-and-secrets-of-the-dreamers-in-the-streets-rocked/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [I believe in New Yorkers. Whether they’ve ever questioned the dream in which they live, I wouldn’t know, because I won’t ever dare ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-believe-in-new-yorkers-whether-they-ve-ever-questioned-the-dream-in/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) [Explore all 201 Dylan Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## More Breathe quotes > [“Well come and stand a little bit closer, breathe in and get a bit higher. You'll ever know what hit you when I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savage-garden/well-come-and-stand-a-little-bit-closer-breathe-in-and-get-a-bit/) [Savage Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savage-garden/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [“Live your dreams. Breathe your dreams. Never give up on your dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/live-your-dreams-breathe-your-dreams-never-give-up-on-your-dreams/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-were-people-asking-can-women-be-funny-people-still-ask-that-it/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [We need to be more conversant with it because science is in our lives. It's in everything. It's in the food we eat. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/we-need-to-be-more-conversant-with-it-because-science-is-in-our-lives/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [“Before we can make seismic professional, economic, and sociological changes, we have to squeeze out of our Spanx and remember how it feels to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-hays-coomer/before-we-can-make-seismic-professional-economic-and-sociological/) [Sarah Hays Coomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-hays-coomer/) > [Manchester United breathe football. When I have to make hard decisions, I always listen to little boy inside me and what he wants. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-van-persie/manchester-united-breathe-football-when-i-have-to-make-hard-decisions/) [Robin van Persie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-van-persie/) > [I drink to feel / I smoke to breathe / Just look what love / Has done to me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/i-drink-to-feel-i-smoke-to-breathe-just-look-what-love-has-done-to-me/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/wherever-you-are-is-the-perfect-place-to-awaken-this-moment-is-the/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [If I had lost a leg, I would tell them, instead of a boy, no one would ever ask me if I was 'over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-edwards/if-i-had-lost-a-leg-i-would-tell-them-instead-of-a-boy-no-one-would/) [Elizabeth Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-edwards/) > [In some ways, what I learned is that you can take a character and breathe with them, and its up to the audience to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aden-young/in-some-ways-what-i-learned-is-that-you-can-take-a-character-and/) [Aden Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aden-young/) Browse all 2,793 Breathe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "These are but dreaming men. 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