--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Think of yourself as dead. You have lived…" description: "\"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/marcus-aurelius-139_darkness_think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived_2699217.jpg" --- # Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now… ![“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.” quote by Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/marcus-aurelius-139_darkness_think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived_2699217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/marcus-aurelius-139_darkness_think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived_2699217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/marcus-aurelius-139_darkness_think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived_2699217.jpg) > “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.” [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage urges treating life as a finite resource, urging purposeful living and confronting darkness with light. **In simple terms:** Live fully now, confronting emptiness with purpose. Key Takeaway Live intentionally, avoid darkness. Themes mortality purpose light darkness mindfulness Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - overcoming despair - making meaningful choices - confronting inner void - living with intention Key Concepts existentialism stoicism self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What does “light” represent in your life? - How can you transform unproductive habits into purposeful actions? A Different Perspective Ignoring the finite nature of life can lead to complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creates Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creates-darkness-1262515/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Live Properly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-properly-1425464/) [Think Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-dead/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Transmit Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transmit-light-2188047/) ## Related quotes > [What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-doesn-t-transmit-light-creates-its-own-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived-your-life-now-take-what-s/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly. What doesn’t transmit light creates its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/think-of-yourself-as-dead-you-have-lived-your-life-now-take-what-s-2/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Hate creates a darkness in your soul. You can't shine until you let it go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorri-faye/hate-creates-a-darkness-in-your-soul-you-can-t-shine-until-you-let-it/) [Lorri Faye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorri-faye/) > [“Ideology is the light that creates darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-boswell/ideology-is-the-light-that-creates-darkness/) [Robert Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-boswell/) > [I see Death as the part of us that knows all the time that we're going to die, reminding us to live properly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/i-see-death-as-the-part-of-us-that-knows-all-the-time-that-we-re/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [To breathe properly is to live properly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-breathe-properly-is-to-live-properly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's true that sometimes we have paparazzi or some kind of photographers following us, but you have to live normal. 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"Because really, that's the most cathartic resolution—if all your friends and family think you're dead.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-castillo-price/or-you-can-fake-your-own-death-bill-suggested-because-really-that-s/) [Jordan Castillo Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-castillo-price/) > [“The world was made for the dead. Think of all the dead there are...There's a million times more dead than living and the dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-world-was-made-for-the-dead-think-of-all-the-dead-there-are-there/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [An old house with its windows gone always makes me think of something dead with its eyes picked out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/an-old-house-with-its-windows-gone-always-makes-me-think-of-something/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [I never thought about heaven per se. I think when you're dead, you're dead. If anything happens after that, you just hope you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-thomas/i-never-thought-about-heaven-per-se-i-think-when-you-re-dead-you-re/) [Helen Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-thomas/) ## More by Marcus Aurelius > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Everything is mere opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/everything-is-mere-opinion/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-any-man-has-done-wrong-the-harm-is-his-own-but-perhaps-he-has-not/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [My true Self is free. I cannot be contained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-true-self-is-free-i-cannot-be-contained/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-best-revenge-is-to-be-unlike-him-who-performed-the-injury/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/nothing-befalls-any-man-which-he-is-not-fitted-to-endure/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The poet says that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/adorn-thyself-with-simplicity-and-with-indifference-towards-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/let-it-be-your-constant-method-to-look-into-the-design-of-people-s/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Our life is a warfare, and a mere pilgrimage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/our-life-is-a-warfare-and-a-mere-pilgrimage/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“If therefore it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-therefore-it-be-a-thing-external-that-causes-thy-grief-know-that/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What's closer to nature's heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/frightened-of-change-but-what-can-exist-without-it-what-s-closer-to/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work - as a human being. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/at-dawn-when-you-have-trouble-getting-out-of-bed-tell-yourself-i-have/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) [Explore all 1,138 Marcus Aurelius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. 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