--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there really is such a thing as…" description: "\"If there really is such a thing as turning in one's grave, Shakespeare must get a lot of exercise.\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/george-orwell-57_exercise_if-there-really-is-such-a-thing-as-turni_819672.jpg" --- # If there really is such a thing as turning in one's grave… ![“If there really is such a thing as turning in one's grave, Shakespeare must get a lot of exercise.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/george-orwell-57_exercise_if-there-really-is-such-a-thing-as-turni_819672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/george-orwell-57_exercise_if-there-really-is-such-a-thing-as-turni_819672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/george-orwell-57_exercise_if-there-really-is-such-a-thing-as-turni_819672.jpg) > “If there really is such a thing as turning in one's grave, Shakespeare must get a lot of exercise.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Orwell jokes that Shakespeare’s restless spirit would be active, implying that great works keep their creators perpetually engaged. **In simple terms:** Great art keeps its creator alive. Key Takeaway Value timeless literature’s lasting impact. Themes literature humor legacy Mood witty thoughtful Type literary humorous When to use this quote - classroom teaching - literary criticism - public speaking - media commentary Key Concepts Shakespeare posthumous influence creative endurance Questions to Reflect On - How does art keep creators relevant? - What does “turning in one’s grave” reveal about cultural memory? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay serious historical context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) ## Related quotes > [Turning in grave on seeing her bf with another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeepkumardevi/turning-in-grave-on-seeing-her-bf-with-another/) [Pradeepkumardevi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pradeepkumardevi/) > [I think Shakespeare had a lot to contribute with his understanding of the human condition,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-gless/i-think-shakespeare-had-a-lot-to-contribute-with-his-understanding-of/) [Sharon Gless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-gless/) > [I really like Shakespeare a lot. The characters that he writes for females, I think, are really great and a lot more compelling than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-stiles/i-really-like-shakespeare-a-lot-the-characters-that-he-writes-for/) [Julia Stiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-stiles/) > [I've always taken a lot of exercise - I get a bit depressed if I don't. In terms of food, I'm a bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-penry-jones/i-ve-always-taken-a-lot-of-exercise-i-get-a-bit-depressed-if-i-don-t/) [Rupert Penry-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-penry-jones/) > [I do a lot of conditionning in the off season with my coach but there a lot of exercise and they are specific to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-wilfried-tsonga/i-do-a-lot-of-conditionning-in-the-off-season-with-my-coach-but-there/) [Jo-Wilfried Tsonga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-wilfried-tsonga/) > [I try to be as fit as possible, so I do a lot of exercise every day. Cardio, weights, uphill walking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-wallace/i-try-to-be-as-fit-as-possible-so-i-do-a-lot-of-exercise-every-day/) [Gregg Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-wallace/) > [When you're an actress - or just a woman - a lot of the exercise classes that are offered are so sort of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-gilpin/when-you-re-an-actress-or-just-a-woman-a-lot-of-the-exercise-classes/) [Betty Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-gilpin/) > [“I told them that I’d need a larger casket.” I don’t want to know. “Why?” “Because I plan on spending the majority of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrianne-brooks/i-told-them-that-i-d-need-a-larger-casket-i-don-t-want-to-know-why/) [Adrianne Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrianne-brooks/) > [If Lincoln were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-r-ford/if-lincoln-were-alive-today-he-d-be-turning-over-in-his-grave/) [Gerald R. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [“Verrazzano must have been turning in his grave. (Except that he didn’t have one because he’d been eaten.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-clarke/verrazzano-must-have-been-turning-in-his-grave-except-that-he-didn-t/) [Stephen Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-clarke/) > [“You hear a sound and it's truth turning in its grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/you-hear-a-sound-and-it-s-truth-turning-in-its-grave/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I bet Eazy E is turning over in his grave, to see that some of ya'll done made gangsta rap gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-quik/i-bet-eazy-e-is-turning-over-in-his-grave-to-see-that-some-of-ya-ll/) [DJ Quik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-quik/) > [In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/in-the-home-of-the-brave-jefferson-turning-over-in-his-grave/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“If Abraham Lincoln were alive now, he'd roll over in his grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-ford/if-abraham-lincoln-were-alive-now-he-d-roll-over-in-his-grave/) [Gerald Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-ford/) > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. 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In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Exercise quotes > [Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/every-one-knows-that-the-exercise-of-military-power-is-forever/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [The United States cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of religion. The free exercise of religion is at the very heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/the-united-states-cannot-and-should-not-discriminate-on-the-basis-of/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [I always wanted to make sure that within my unit that I was never the weak person. So I made sure that my physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carmouche/i-always-wanted-to-make-sure-that-within-my-unit-that-i-was-never-the/) [Liz Carmouche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carmouche/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can't wait to finish your breakfast. You can't wait to do your exercises. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/everyday-happiness-means-getting-up-in-the-morning-and-you-can-t-wait/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [If your goal is to look different, you'll see results faster with strength training than with cardio alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kaiser/if-your-goal-is-to-look-different-you-ll-see-results-faster-with/) [Anna Kaiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kaiser/) > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [Exercise teaches you the pleasure of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/exercise-teaches-you-the-pleasure-of-discipline/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/one-should-try-to-locate-power-at-the-extreme-of-its-exercise-where/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [What do you think of our gym <3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-do-you-think-of-our-gym-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is exactly in the repetition of the exercises that the education of the senses exists; not that the child shall know colors, forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-exactly-in-the-repetition-of-the-exercises-that-the-education/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [One things guys have to remember is consistency... 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