--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Which got me to wondering whether it’s…" description: "\"“Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn how to be a person in a world where all the people are dead.”\" — John Green" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg" --- # Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn… ![“Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn how to be a person in a world where all the people are dead.” quote by John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg) > ““Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn how to be a person in a world where all the people are dead.”” [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning to be a person amid loss is a profound, existential challenge **In simple terms:** Finding humanity when everyone seems gone Key Takeaway Seek growth despite emptiness Themes existence loneliness growth Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grieving - creative writing - self‑reflection Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does “being a person” mean after loss? - How can we learn humanity in isolation? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex grief ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Zombies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zombies/) ## Related quotes > [“if I were in your position, I might be wondering about X. Is it possible that that is an issue for you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-maister/if-i-were-in-your-position-i-might-be-wondering-about-x-is-it/) [David H. Maister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-maister/) > [The public should always be wondering how it is possible to give so much for the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/the-public-should-always-be-wondering-how-it-is-possible-to-give-so/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [“Harry shrugged. “I think it’s possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you’ve realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/harry-shrugged-i-think-it-s-possible-to-learn-the-problem-is-that-we/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [It is possible to learn more than your doctor knows, particularly in key areas that specifically apply to you. In fact, you may discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-saul/it-is-possible-to-learn-more-than-your-doctor-knows-particularly-in/) [Andrew Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-saul/) > [To teach is to show what is possible; to learn is to make yourself possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-teach-is-to-show-what-is-possible-to-learn-is-to-make-yourself/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, it is possible to learn something that can enrich our lives and the lives of others...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wherever-we-are-and-whatever-we-are-doing-it-is-possible-to-learn/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One can only know as much as one has lived to know, though it is certainly possible to learn a great deal less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saladin-ahmed/one-can-only-know-as-much-as-one-has-lived-to-know-though-it-is/) [Saladin Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saladin-ahmed/) > [You can't teach people photography, they've got to learn how to do it the best way possible for them. They can learn from looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/you-can-t-teach-people-photography-they-ve-got-to-learn-how-to-do-it/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [It took me 10 years to realize that I don't know 'em, 10 years to realize that it's possible to learn them, then another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-zevon/it-took-me-10-years-to-realize-that-i-don-t-know-em-10-years-to/) [Warren Zevon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-zevon/) > [“I think it's possible to learn. The problem is that we learn so damned slowly, so that by the time you've realized something, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/i-think-it-s-possible-to-learn-the-problem-is-that-we-learn-so-damned/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [Each person in the world to be an atheist, then the religion contractor What will do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/each-person-in-the-world-to-be-an-atheist-then-the-religion/) Mak\_786 > [“We lived like the only two people on the planet because we thought we were, I still need to know that... That you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neena-jaydon/we-lived-like-the-only-two-people-on-the-planet-because-we-thought-we/) Neena Jaydon > [To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. ~unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-the-world-you-may-be-one-person-but-to-one-person-you-may-be-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Of course, one person can be the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/of-course-one-person-can-be-the-world/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [I don't like to talk about what other players think because, as we say in Spanish, every person is a world, their own world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ander-herrera/i-don-t-like-to-talk-about-what-other-players-think-because-as-we-say/) [Ander Herrera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ander-herrera/) ## More by John Green > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [A Margo for each of us--and each more mirror than window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/a-margo-for-each-of-us-and-each-more-mirror-than-window/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/no-one-ever-says-good-bye-unless-they-want-to-see-you-again/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/traffic-s-not-too-bad-on-sheridan-and-i-m-cornering-the-car-like-it-s/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Praise God for good nurses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/praise-god-for-good-nurses/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nothing has ever looked like that ever in all of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-has-ever-looked-like-that-ever-in-all-of-human-history/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“said to him quietly, as if I couldn’t hear or something. Dad was about to respond but I interrupted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/said-to-him-quietly-as-if-i-couldn-t-hear-or-something-dad-was-about/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Explore all 3,614 John Green quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More Intellectual quotes > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/today-it-is-the-skeptics-who-are-the-social-conformists-though/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Love isn't intellectual - it's visceral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-mcgillis/love-isn-t-intellectual-it-s-visceral/) [Kelly McGillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-mcgillis/) > [Faith is the avenue to salvation. Not intellectual understanding. Not money. Not your works. Just simple faith. How much faith? The faith of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/faith-is-the-avenue-to-salvation-not-intellectual-understanding-not/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ \[Our understanding is\] not intellectual, but instinctive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/our-understanding-is-not-intellectual-but-instinctive/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [It only takes a day to change someone from an anti-intellectual to an intellectual by persuading him that he might be one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/it-only-takes-a-day-to-change-someone-from-an-anti-intellectual-to-an/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [This film business, perhaps more so in America than in Europe, has always been about young sexuality. It's not true of theatre, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-bisset/this-film-business-perhaps-more-so-in-america-than-in-europe-has/) [Jacqueline Bisset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-bisset/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Browse all 3,782 Intellectual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn how to be a person in a world where all the people are dead.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-possible-to-learn-how-to-be-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intellectual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-possible-to-learn-how-to-be-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/john-green-12_intellectual_which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-p_1759485.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Which got me to wondering whether it’s possible to learn how to be a person in a world where all the people…” — John Green", "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": "John Green", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Which got me to wondering whether...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-possible-to-learn-how-to-be-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/which-got-me-to-wondering-whether-it-s-possible-to-learn-how-to-be-a/#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 } } ] } ```