--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life, of course, never gets anyone's…" description: "\"“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us.”\" — Janet Malcolm" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_1381122.png" --- # Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention… ![“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us.” quote by Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_1381122.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_1381122.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_1381122.png) > ““Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us.”” [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She reflects that life never fully captures attention, while death remains a compelling, pulling force. **In simple terms:** Life is fleeting; death draws our focus. Key Takeaway Contemplate mortality to appreciate life’s moments. Themes mortality attention philosophy Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - Personal reflection - creative writing - therapy - public speaking Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness of death shape daily choices? - What gives life meaning despite its brevity? A Different Perspective May be unsettling for some listeners. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention-death-4628298/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-remains-2661984/) [Entire Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entire-attention-4784788/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Remains Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains-interesting-3275469/) ## Related quotes > [“What attention would death pay to his pathetic voice? He was powerless without her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-attention-would-death-pay-to-his-pathetic-voice-he-was-powerless/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Sad Reality Of Life, Is That Death Remains The Only Constant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzati-zapita/the-sad-reality-of-life-is-that-death-remains-the-only-constant/) [Mzati Zapita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzati-zapita/) > [My relationship with death remains the same - I'm strongly against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/my-relationship-with-death-remains-the-same-i-m-strongly-against-it/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [Nothing remains interesting where anything may happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/nothing-remains-interesting-where-anything-may-happen/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Hollywood thrillers give away almost 70 percent of the story in promos but still the film remains interesting. In India we do a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sriram-raghavan/hollywood-thrillers-give-away-almost-70-percent-of-the-story-in/) [Sriram Raghavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sriram-raghavan/) > [First-rate science fiction was, and remains, more interesting than second-rate art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/first-rate-science-fiction-was-and-remains-more-interesting-than/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you have counted eighty years and more, Time and Fate will batter at your door; But if you should survive to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/when-you-have-counted-eighty-years-and-more-time-and-fate-will-batter/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More by Janet Malcolm > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-writer-ultimately-tires-of-the-subject-s-self-serving-story-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness through an unspoken agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/society-mediates-between-the-extremes-of-on-the-one-hand-intolerably/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-i-character-in-journalism-is-almost-pure-invention-unlike-the-i/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [I don't want to manipulate actuality; I want to record it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/i-don-t-want-to-manipulate-actuality-i-want-to-record-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalistic 'I' is an overreliable narrator, a functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an ad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalistic-i-is-an-overreliable-narrator-a-functionary-to-whom/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“The subject of a piece of writing has not suffered the tension and anxiety endured by the subject of the "Eichmann experiment" (as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-subject-of-a-piece-of-writing-has-not-suffered-the-tension-and/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [People talk in ungrammatical, unwriterly ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/people-talk-in-ungrammatical-unwriterly-ways/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [This is what it is the business of the artist to do. Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/this-is-what-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-do-art-is-theft-art/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The journalist confines himself to the clean, gentlemanly work of exposing the griefs and shames of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-journalist-confines-himself-to-the-clean-gentlemanly-work-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The dominant and most deep-dyed trait of the journalist is his timorousness. Where the novelist fearlessly plunges into the water of self-exposure, the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-dominant-and-most-deep-dyed-trait-of-the-journalist-is-his/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [If I write a page a day, I feel very good about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/if-i-write-a-page-a-day-i-feel-very-good-about-it/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [“Something seems to happen to people when they meet a journalist, and what happens is exactly the opposite of what one would expect. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/something-seems-to-happen-to-people-when-they-meet-a-journalist-and-2/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [You could say that any book that takes a position is not fair, unless you keep saying, 'On the one hand, on the other...'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/you-could-say-that-any-book-that-takes-a-position-is-not-fair-unless/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) [Explore all 62 Janet Malcolm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. 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