--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There never is absolute birth nor…" description: "\"There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the strict sense, consisting in the separation of the soul from the body. What we call births are ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png" --- # There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the… ![“There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the strict sense, consisting in the separation of the soul from the body. What we call births are developments and growths, while what we call deaths are envelopments and diminutions.” quote by Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png) > “There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the strict sense, consisting in the separation of the soul from the body. What we call births are developments and growths, while what we call deaths are envelopments and diminutions.” [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Existence is a continuum; birth and death are transformations, not absolute separations of soul and body. **In simple terms:** Birth and death are changes, not ends. Key Takeaway Accept life as ongoing transformation. Themes philosophy metaphysics life death Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - grief counseling - spiritual practice - education Key Concepts continuity process identity Questions to Reflect On - What does “soul” mean to you? - How do you view personal change over time? A Different Perspective Hard to prove empirically; depends on belief systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Development and growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development-and-growth/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Separation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separation/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) ## Related quotes > [“No revelation can be other than partial. If for true revelation a man must be told all the truth, then farewell to revelation; yea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/no-revelation-can-be-other-than-partial-if-for-true-revelation-a-man/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“The charge that Anarchism is destructive, rather than constructive, and that, therefore, Anarchism is opposed to organization, is one of the many falsehoods spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-charge-that-anarchism-is-destructive-rather-than-constructive-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [All growth depends upon activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/all-growth-depends-upon-activity/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [the idea of a finished human product not only appears presumptuous but even, in my opinion, lacks any strong appeal. Life is struggle and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-horney/the-idea-of-a-finished-human-product-not-only-appears-presumptuous/) [Karen Horney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-horney/) > [Endings are a part of life, and we are actually wired to execute them. But because of trauma, developmental failures, and other reasons, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/endings-are-a-part-of-life-and-we-are-actually-wired-to-execute-them/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [The most meaningful engine of change, powerful enough to confront corporate power, may be not so much environmental quality, as the economic development and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-commoner/the-most-meaningful-engine-of-change-powerful-enough-to-confront/) [Barry Commoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-commoner/) > [It's important to us to see the development and growth. At the end of the day, it's our baby. Genetically it's ours. It's our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-rancic/it-s-important-to-us-to-see-the-development-and-growth-at-the-end-of/) [Bill Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-rancic/) > [The happiest life is that which constantly exercises and educates what is best in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/the-happiest-life-is-that-which-constantly-exercises-and-educates/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [Persons who reach the higher rungs in business management, selling, engineering, religious work, writing, acting, and in every other pursuit get there by following…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-schwartz/persons-who-reach-the-higher-rungs-in-business-management-selling/) [David J. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-schwartz/) > [In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/in-learning-to-know-other-things-and-other-minds-we-become-more/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [Whence it follows that God is absolutely perfect, since perfection is nothing but magnitude of positive reality, in the strict sense, setting aside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/whence-it-follows-that-god-is-absolutely-perfect-since-perfection-is/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [My mom could be pretty strict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/my-mom-could-be-pretty-strict/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [The doctrines of the Bible are often not clothed in the language of strict truth, but in that which was fittest to convey to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-doctrines-of-the-bible-are-often-not-clothed-in-the-language-of/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [The Chinese describe themselves as political refugees. Many base that claim on China's strict population laws, which allow them to have only one child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/the-chinese-describe-themselves-as-political-refugees-many-base-that/) [Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## More by Gottfried Leibniz > [There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-our-reason-very-often-goes/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The present is saturated with the past and pregnant with the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-present-is-saturated-with-the-past-and-pregnant-with-the-future/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Make me the the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/make-me-the-the-master-of-education-and-i-will-undertake-to-change/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [All the different classes of beings which taken together make up the universe are, in the ideas of God who knows distinctly their essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/all-the-different-classes-of-beings-which-taken-together-make-up-the/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I hold that the mark of a genuine idea is that its possibility can be proved, either a priori by conceiving its cause or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-hold-that-the-mark-of-a-genuine-idea-is-that-its-possibility-can-be/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The monad, of which we shall speak here, is nothing but a simple substance which enters into compounds; simple, that is to say, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-monad-of-which-we-shall-speak-here-is-nothing-but-a-simple/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is no way in which a simple substance could begin in the course of nature, since it cannot be formed by means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-no-way-in-which-a-simple-substance-could-begin-in-the-course/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [In symbols one observes an advantage in discovery which is greatest when they express the exact nature of a thing briefly and, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/in-symbols-one-observes-an-advantage-in-discovery-which-is-greatest/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is nothing without reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-nothing-without-reason/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [God, possessing supreme and infinite wisdom, acts in the most perfect manner, not only metaphysically, but also morally speaking, and ... with respect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/god-possessing-supreme-and-infinite-wisdom-acts-in-the-most-perfect/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [It can have its effect only through the intervention of God, inasmuch as in the ideas of God a monad rightly demands that God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-can-have-its-effect-only-through-the-intervention-of-god-inasmuch/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-do-not-conceive-of-any-reality-at-all-as-without-genuine-unity/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The pleasure we obtain from music comes from counting, but counting unconsciously. Music is nothing but unconscious arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-pleasure-we-obtain-from-music-comes-from-counting-but-counting/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [If we were magically shrunk and put into someone's brain while she was thinking, we would see all the pumps, pistons, gears and levers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/if-we-were-magically-shrunk-and-put-into-someone-s-brain-while-she/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) [Explore all 127 Gottfried Leibniz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the strict sense, consisting in the separation of the soul from the body. What we call births are developments and growths, while what we call deaths are envelopments and diminutions.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gottfried Leibniz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-complete-death-in-the-strict-sense/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absolutes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-complete-death-in-the-strict-sense/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/gottfried-leibniz-3585_absolutes_there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-comple_2732400.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There never is absolute birth nor complete death, in the strict sense, consisting in the separation of the…” — Gottfried Leibniz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gottfried Leibniz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There never is absolute birth nor...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-complete-death-in-the-strict-sense/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-never-is-absolute-birth-nor-complete-death-in-the-strict-sense/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```