--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man sees a dying animal, horror…" description: "\"When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him: that which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his eyes--is ceasin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_when-a-man-sees-a-dying-animal-horror-co_1761530.jpg" --- # When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him… ![“When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him: that which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his eyes--is ceasing to be. But when the dying one is a person, and a beloved person, then, besides a sense of horror at the annihilation of life, there is a feeling…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_when-a-man-sees-a-dying-animal-horror-co_1761530.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_when-a-man-sees-a-dying-animal-horror-co_1761530.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_when-a-man-sees-a-dying-animal-horror-co_1761530.jpg) > “When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him: that which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his eyes--is ceasing to be. But when the dying one is a person, and a beloved person, then, besides a sense of horror at the annihilation of life, there is a feeling of severance and a spiritual wound which, like a physical wound, sometimes kills and sometimes heals, but always hurts and fears any external, irritating touch.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes profound horror at witnessing death, especially of loved ones, which creates a deep spiritual wound that both harms and heals. **In simple terms:** Seeing death, especially of loved ones, causes deep horror and a lasting spiritual wound. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and process grief to heal. Themes mortality grief spirituality Mood somber philosophical introspective Type literary reflective When to use this quote - funeral rites - personal loss - therapy sessions Key Concepts existential dread empathy psychological trauma Questions to Reflect On - How does confronting mortality change one's life? - What practices help heal spiritual wounds? A Different Perspective May generalize personal anguish to all death experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Annihilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation/) [Beloved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beloved/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Essence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [“A woman sees herself dying, in these cases not at the actual moment of death but months, sometimes years before, when death has hideously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-woman-sees-herself-dying-in-these-cases-not-at-the-actual-moment-of/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-bednar/there-is-no-physical-pain-no-spiritual-wound-no-anguish-of-soul-or/) [David A. Bednar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-bednar/) > [We are fastened to a dying animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-are-fastened-to-a-dying-animal/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The spectator is a dying animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/the-spectator-is-a-dying-animal/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [Nor dread nor hope attend a dying animal; a man awaits his end dreading and hoping all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/nor-dread-nor-hope-attend-a-dying-animal-a-man-awaits-his-end/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Consume my heart away, sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is, and gather me Into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/consume-my-heart-away-sick-with-desire-and-fastened-to-a-dying-animal/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“Killing was a relatively simple matter--a blow to the head, a knife to the throat--complicated only by how much one cared about the pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cronon/killing-was-a-relatively-simple-matter-a-blow-to-the-head-a-knife-to/) [William Cronon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cronon/) > [“The reality of the dying person is very different from that of the living. She is experiencing we cannot fully understand or enter into.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megory-anderson/the-reality-of-the-dying-person-is-very-different-from-that-of-the/) [Megory Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megory-anderson/) > [“This way of behaving, this way of feeling, so hysterical, so sad, when someone has died, I don't like at all and would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/this-way-of-behaving-this-way-of-feeling-so-hysterical-so-sad-when/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“I hear you." Angry words get louder when people do not listen. 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That would be enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-salcedo/what-if-the-most-courageous-thing-you-do-is-hold-a-dying-person-s/) [Nicki Salcedo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-salcedo/) > [“There is a moment when the body is about to cease its natural functions, when it is important to accept that death is happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megory-anderson/there-is-a-moment-when-the-body-is-about-to-cease-its-natural/) [Megory Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megory-anderson/) > [There is a difference between a person who is dying and a person who is suicidal. I do not want to die. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-maynard/there-is-a-difference-between-a-person-who-is-dying-and-a-person-who/) [Brittany Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-maynard/) > [“We could only pay attention to one dying person at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kimball/we-could-only-pay-attention-to-one-dying-person-at-a-time/) [Michael Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kimball/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! 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She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him: that which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his eyes--is ceasing to be. 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