---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Take the matter of being born. What does…"
description: "\"“Take the matter of being born. What does being born mean to most people? Catastrophe unmitigated. Socialrevolution. The cultured aristocrat yanked out..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/846/e-e-cummings-2586_biology_take-the-matter-of-being-born-what-does_1270523.jpg"
---

#  Take the matter of being born. What does being born mean…

![“Take the matter of being born. What does being born mean to most people? Catastrophe unmitigated. Socialrevolution. The cultured aristocrat yanked out of his hyperexclusively ultravoluptuous superpalazzo,and dumped into an incredibly vulgar deterioncamp swarming with every conceivable species of…” quote by E. E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/846/e-e-cummings-2586_biology_take-the-matter-of-being-born-what-does_1270523.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/846/e-e-cummings-2586_biology_take-the-matter-of-being-born-what-does_1270523.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/846/e-e-cummings-2586_biology_take-the-matter-of-being-born-what-does_1270523.jpg)

> ““Take the matter of being born. What does being born mean to most people? Catastrophe unmitigated. Socialrevolution. The cultured aristocrat yanked out of his hyperexclusively ultravoluptuous superpalazzo,and dumped into an incredibly vulgar deterioncamp swarming with every conceivable species of undesirable organism. Mostpeople fancy a guaranteed birthproof safetysuit of nondestructible selflessness. If mostpeople were to be born twice they'd improbably call it dying. you and I are not snobs. We can never be born enough.””

[E. E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/)

## 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 portrays birth as a violent rupture from privileged isolation into chaotic society, suggesting that existence is inherently catastrophic and that no amount of birth can satisfy the yearning for meaning.

**In simple terms:** Birth is a harsh plunge from comfort into disorder.

Key Takeaway

Embrace the chaos of life.

Themes

existence alienation social critique identity philosophy

Mood

melancholic defiant reflective

Type

poetic philosophical critical

When to use this quote

- war trauma
- immigration
- class displacement
- personal crisis
- creative awakening

Key Concepts

nihilism existentialism social stratification

Questions to Reflect On

- How does society shape our perception of birth?
- Can we find meaning without constant upheaval?

A Different Perspective

It may romanticize suffering and overlook the value of stability and safety.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

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> [Those born once will die twice and those born twice will die once](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-missler/those-born-once-will-die-twice-and-those-born-twice-will-die-once/)

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> [There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice - patched, retreaded and approved for the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/there-ought-i-thought-to-be-a-ritual-for-being-born-twice-patched/)

[Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/)

> [In a way, I was born twice. I was born in 1934 and again in 1955 when I came to Pittsburgh. I am thankful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-clemente/in-a-way-i-was-born-twice-i-was-born-in-1934-and-again-in-1955-when-i/)

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> [It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-more-surprising-to-be-born-twice-than-once-everything-in/)

[Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/)

> [“After all, it is no more surprising to me to be born twice than it is to be born once.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/after-all-it-is-no-more-surprising-to-me-to-be-born-twice-than-it-is/)

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> [women are born twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/women-are-born-twice/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [If you're born once, you die twice; but if you're born twice, you die once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-stewart/if-you-re-born-once-you-die-twice-but-if-you-re-born-twice-you-die/)

[David J. Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-stewart/)

> [It's not any more unusual to be born twice than it is to be born once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-wylie-hubbard/it-s-not-any-more-unusual-to-be-born-twice-than-it-is-to-be-born-once/)

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## More by E. E. Cummings

> [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/)

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> [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/)

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> [“...for life's not a paragraph/ and death, i think, is no parenthesis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/for-life-s-not-a-paragraph-and-death-i-think-is-no-parenthesis/)

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