--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything one does in life, even love…" description: "\"Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still mov..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg" --- # Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an… ![“Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg) > “Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.” [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a fast-moving train toward death; seeking escape (e.g., opium) diverts focus from essential existence. **In simple terms:** Life rushes toward death; distractions avoid confronting it. Key Takeaway Recognize and face life's impermanence. Themes mortality distraction existence philosophy Mood reflective somber Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - grieving loss - addiction recovery - mindfulness practice - end‑of‑life counseling Key Concepts nihilism escapism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront mortality without avoidance? - What healthy alternatives replace harmful escapes? A Different Perspective Escaping reality may worsen suffering rather than provide relief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life or death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-or-death/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Opium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opium/) [Smoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) ## Related quotes > [You can drink yourself to death, you can smoke yourself to death, you can eat yourself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/you-can-drink-yourself-to-death-you-can-smoke-yourself-to-death-you/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [And to kill time while awaiting death, I smoke slender cigarettes thumbing my nose to the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-laforgue/and-to-kill-time-while-awaiting-death-i-smoke-slender-cigarettes/) [Jules Laforgue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-laforgue/) > [Without opium, plans, marriages and journeys appear to me just as foolish as if someone falling out of a window were to hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/without-opium-plans-marriages-and-journeys-appear-to-me-just-as/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [It is difficult to live without opium after having known it because it is difficult, after knowing opium, to take earth seriously. And unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/it-is-difficult-to-live-without-opium-after-having-known-it-because/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The smell of opium is the least stupid smell in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-smell-of-opium-is-the-least-stupid-smell-in-the-world/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“The purity of a revolution can last a fortnight. That is why a poet, the revolutionary of the soul, limits himself to the about-turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-purity-of-a-revolution-can-last-a-fortnight-that-is-why-a-poet/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If an addict who has been completely cured starts smoking again he no longer experiences the discomfort of his first addiction. There exists, therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-an-addict-who-has-been-completely-cured-starts-smoking-again-he-no/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Opium resembles religion insofar as a magician resembles Jesus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/opium-resembles-religion-insofar-as-a-magician-resembles-jesus/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Ô, Wanderess, Wanderess When did you feel your most euphoric kiss? Was I the source of your greatest bliss?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/wanderess-wanderess-when-did-you-feel-your-most-euphoric-kiss-was-i/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [“Religion is opium for the masses”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/religion-is-opium-for-the-masses/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [By the time writing was invented, the Greeks and Egyptians had already learned to extract opium from poppies to facilitate sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-duff/by-the-time-writing-was-invented-the-greeks-and-egyptians-had-already/) Kat Duff > [In order to increase his pleasures, man has intentionally added to the number and pressure of his needs, which in their original state were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-order-to-increase-his-pleasures-man-has-intentionally-added-to-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Only the opium eater truly understands the pain of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/only-the-opium-eater-truly-understands-the-pain-of-death/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [For ten thousand dollars, I'd endorse an opium pipe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-brice/for-ten-thousand-dollars-i-d-endorse-an-opium-pipe/) [Fanny Brice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-brice/) ## More by Jean Cocteau > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I am happy to exhibit, but not to put myself on exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-am-happy-to-exhibit-but-not-to-put-myself-on-exhibition/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-have-a-piece-of-great-and-sad-news-to-tell-you-i-am-dead/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lying is the only art form that the public sanctions and instinctively prefers to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lying-is-the-only-art-form-that-the-public-sanctions-and/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Vivre est une chute horizontale”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/vivre-est-une-chute-horizontale/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I expect a black silence that is almost as violent as laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-expect-a-black-silence-that-is-almost-as-violent-as-laughter/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/my-method-is-simple-not-to-bother-about-poetry-it-must-come-of-its/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lack of manners is the sign of a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lack-of-manners-is-the-sign-of-a-hero/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-the-public-criticizes-in-you-cultivate-it-is-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/here-i-am-trying-to-live-or-rather-i-am-trying-to-teach-the-death/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) [Explore all 255 Jean Cocteau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More Concern quotes > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I'm a vegetarian - I think there's a strong possibility, had I not become a vegetarian, I would not be working now. I became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barker/i-m-a-vegetarian-i-think-there-s-a-strong-possibility-had-i-not/) [Bob Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barker/) > [What really concerns me is for Christians to understand the fundamentals of evangelism in a way that is helpful in the contemporary scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/what-really-concerns-me-is-for-christians-to-understand-the/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/the-patriot-act-is-certainly-a-concern-all-of-those-things-are/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [More compassionate mind, more sense of concern for other's well-being, is source of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/more-compassionate-mind-more-sense-of-concern-for-other-s-well-being/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [ I just have to deal with it \[injuries\] if and when problems happen. It's obviously a concern and I've been very careful with my… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-james/i-just-have-to-deal-with-it-injuries-if-and-when-problems-happen-it-s/) [Greg James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-james/) > [Much has been said and continues to be said of what little concern the Turks had for the Acropolis treasures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-mercouri/much-has-been-said-and-continues-to-be-said-of-what-little-concern/) [Melina Mercouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-mercouri/) Browse all 3,297 Concern quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Cocteau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-occurs-in-an-express-train/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Concern" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-occurs-in-an-express-train/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/jean-cocteau-1181_concern_everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-oc_2552674.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to…” — Jean Cocteau", "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": "Jean Cocteau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything one does in life, even...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-occurs-in-an-express-train/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/everything-one-does-in-life-even-love-occurs-in-an-express-train/#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 } } ] } ```