--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As far as history goes I am dead. If…" description: "\"As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d03/henry-miller-179_alive_as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-ther_723783.jpg" --- # As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something… ![“As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which I have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle…” quote by Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d03/henry-miller-179_alive_as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-ther_723783.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d03/henry-miller-179_alive_as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-ther_723783.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d03/henry-miller-179_alive_as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-ther_723783.jpg) > “As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which I have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which lean spirits roam with sharp claws. If a am a hyena I am a lean and hungry one: I go forth to fatten myself.” [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator declares his physical survival but spiritual emptiness, seeing the world as a wild, predatory place where he must assert himself to survive. **In simple terms:** Feeling dead inside while alive outside, confronting a harsh new reality. Key Takeaway Acknowledge inner emptiness and seek authentic purpose. Themes existentialism survival rebirth self‑realization Mood despair defiant Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - post‑war disillusionment - personal crisis - creative awakening Key Concepts nihilism spiritual hunger identity crisis Questions to Reflect On - What does “spiritually dead” mean for you? - How can you find meaning in a chaotic world? A Different Perspective Might glorify aggression over healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn/) [Departed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departed/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Jungle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jungle/) [Menagerie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/menagerie/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-there-is-something-beyond-i-shall/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-have-found-god-but-he-is-insufficient-i-am-only-spiritually-dead/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Emotionally I'm done. Mentally I'm drained. Spiritually I'm dead. Physically I smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/emotionally-i-m-done-mentally-i-m-drained-spiritually-i-m-dead/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In order to progress, modern society should be treating ruined entrepreneurs in the same way we honor dead soldiers, perhaps not with as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-order-to-progress-modern-society-should-be-treating-ruined/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Promise to give me a kiss on my brow when I am dead.--I shall feel it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/promise-to-give-me-a-kiss-on-my-brow-when-i-am-dead-i-shall-feel-it-2/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“TODAY’S THE DAY! ‘… HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE; AND WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH IN ME…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/today-s-the-day-he-that-believeth-in-me-though-he-were-dead-yet-shall/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/both-the-great-and-the-small-shall-die-in-this-land-they-shall-not-be/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [“Then to this earthen Bowl did I adjourn My Lip the secret Well of Life to learn: And Lip to Lip it murmur'd--'While you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/then-to-this-earthen-bowl-did-i-adjourn-my-lip-the-secret-well-of/) [Omar Khayyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [“No dead shall inhabit the same space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-t-hincks/no-dead-shall-inhabit-the-same-space/) [Anthony T. 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C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [“When belonging to an elite group eclipses the love of God, when I draw life and meaning from any source other than my belovedness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/when-belonging-to-an-elite-group-eclipses-the-love-of-god-when-i-draw/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [I will not judge a person to be spiritually dead whom I have judged formerly to have had spiritual life, though I see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/i-will-not-judge-a-person-to-be-spiritually-dead-whom-i-have-judged/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) ## More by Henry Miller > [“I reached out for something to attach myself to—and I found nothing. 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It was the monotony and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/looking-back-upon-my-career-i-see-myself-as-a-person-capable-of/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“The word in your mouth is anarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-word-in-your-mouth-is-anarchy/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) [Explore all 894 Henry Miller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. 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Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. 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It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. 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"That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which I have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which lean spirits roam with sharp claws. 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