--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are everything and we are nothing. We…" description: "\"We are everything and we are nothing. We are a forgotten moment. We don't even exist, which is the freeing part. We just think we do. That's the illusi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/frederick-lenz-8_exist_we-are-everything-and-we-are-nothing-we_446940.jpg" --- # We are everything and we are nothing. We are a forgotten… ![“We are everything and we are nothing. We are a forgotten moment. We don't even exist, which is the freeing part. We just think we do. That's the illusion.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/frederick-lenz-8_exist_we-are-everything-and-we-are-nothing-we_446940.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/frederick-lenz-8_exist_we-are-everything-and-we-are-nothing-we_446940.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbf/frederick-lenz-8_exist_we-are-everything-and-we-are-nothing-we_446940.jpg) > “We are everything and we are nothing. We are a forgotten moment. We don't even exist, which is the freeing part. We just think we do. That's the illusion.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human identity is an illusion; recognizing our emptiness brings freedom. **In simple terms:** We are not what we think we are. Key Takeaway Embrace the void to find liberation. Themes identity illusion freedom spirituality Mood reflective calm Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - creative work - relationships - life transitions Key Concepts non‑duality existentialism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing emptiness change your actions? - What freedoms arise from letting go of self‑concept? A Different Perspective Denial of the illusion can cause suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist/) [Exist Freeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist-freeing-3907803/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/) [Think Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-illusion-709203/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We've decided what we are. That's the dream. When the dream fades, it's not that we don't exist. 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JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [Nirvana is a very exclusive club - no one is in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-very-exclusive-club-no-one-is-in-it/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Zen has lost its zip, if you will, or its nothingness and has become ritualistic Its established in monastaries with strict codes of koan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/zen-has-lost-its-zip-if-you-will-or-its-nothingness-and-has-become/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [When you visit Nirvana, there is neither existence nor nonexistence. Your baggage never arrives because there is no one there to claim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-visit-nirvana-there-is-neither-existence-nor-nonexistence/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Life is a series of dreams, a series of interlocking awarenesses. I don't necessarily believe in linear time. Everything happens all at once forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/life-is-a-series-of-dreams-a-series-of-interlocking-awarenesses-i-don/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What is incarnation? Incarnation is self-reflection. The universe that we are in is constructed, is a reflection of ourselves. We picked the dimension according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-is-incarnation-incarnation-is-self-reflection-the-universe-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [So in the world of Enlightenment, things are just things, except they're not things. We're in nirvana. There is no debating team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/so-in-the-world-of-enlightenment-things-are-just-things-except-they/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The way of nothingness is the way of Zen. It is just a term. The contemplation of nothingness or everythingness is where everything starts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-way-of-nothingness-is-the-way-of-zen-it-is-just-a-term-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [When you stop all thought, the battle is won. Everything is still and peaceful. You will come to see the eternal voidness of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-stop-all-thought-the-battle-is-won-everything-is-still-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Mind only comes into apparent existence through the action of perception. Mind appears to exist because it perceives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/mind-only-comes-into-apparent-existence-through-the-action-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. 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Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Exist quotes > [A vacuum can only exist, I imagine, by the things which enclose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/a-vacuum-can-only-exist-i-imagine-by-the-things-which-enclose-it/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbie-hancock/you-would-not-exist-if-you-did-not-have-something-to-bring-to-the/) [Herbie Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbie-hancock/) > [I don't believe in moral victories. I don't think in pro ball they exist, and they shouldn't exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-witten/i-don-t-believe-in-moral-victories-i-don-t-think-in-pro-ball-they/) [Jason Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-witten/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? Mano Dayak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mano-dayak/must-a-people-disappear-for-us-to-know-they-exist-mano-dayak/) [Mano Dayak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mano-dayak/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [“And then again, maybe people and things are the same as emotions: Even when you can't see them or feel them or be with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/and-then-again-maybe-people-and-things-are-the-same-as-emotions-even/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [When you rely on incentives, you undermine virtues. 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