--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Death is a fascinating thing. The human…" description: "\"“Death is a fascinating thing. The human mind continually returns and returns to death, to mortality, immortality, damnation, salvation. Some fear deat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/marya-hornbacher-2109_death_death-is-a-fascinating-thing-the-human-m_2894439.png" --- # Death is a fascinating thing. The human mind continually… ![“Death is a fascinating thing. The human mind continually returns and returns to death, to mortality, immortality, damnation, salvation. Some fear death, some seek it, but it is in our human nature to wonder at the limits of human life, at least. When you are sick like this you begin to wonder too…” quote by Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/marya-hornbacher-2109_death_death-is-a-fascinating-thing-the-human-m_2894439.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/marya-hornbacher-2109_death_death-is-a-fascinating-thing-the-human-m_2894439.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/marya-hornbacher-2109_death_death-is-a-fascinating-thing-the-human-m_2894439.png) > ““Death is a fascinating thing. The human mind continually returns and returns to death, to mortality, immortality, damnation, salvation. Some fear death, some seek it, but it is in our human nature to wonder at the limits of human life, at least. When you are sick like this you begin to wonder too much. Death is at your shoulder, death is your shadow, your scent, your waking and dreaming companion. You cannot help, when sleep begins to touch your eyes, but to wonder: What if? What if? And in that question, there is a longing, too much like the longing of a young girl in love. The sickness occupies your every thought, breath like a lover at your ear; the sickness stands at your shoulder in the mirror, absorbed with your body, each inch of skin and flesh, and you let it work you over, touch you with rough hands that thrill. Nothing will ever be so close to you again. You will never find a lover so careful, so attentive, so unconditionally present and concerned only with you. Some of us use the body to convey the things for which we cannot find words. Some of us decide to take a shortcut, decide the world is too much or too little, death is so easy, so smiling, so simple; and death is dramatic, a final fuck-you to the world.”” [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) ## 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 explores how confronting mortality intensifies existential reflection, blending fear, fascination, and a yearning for intimacy with death as a companion. **In simple terms:** Thinking about death makes us feel both scared and oddly close to life. Key Takeaway Embrace the awareness of mortality to deepen appreciation of living. Themes mortality existentialism intimacy psychology suffering Mood somber reflective intense Type philosophical poetic confessional When to use this quote - hospitalization - terminal illness - grief counseling - creative writing - philosophical discourse Key Concepts nihilism transcendence attachment Questions to Reflect On - How does confronting mortality change your daily choices? - What can you learn from the intimacy you feel with death? A Different Perspective The focus on death may overlook the potential for hope and resilience in the face of suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Fascinating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-fascinating-1001122/) [Fear Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-death/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-mind/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Like Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-longing-2676636/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [The restlessness and the longing, like the longing that is in the whistle of a faraway train. 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Even though the term "feminism" is founded upon the basic principle of gender equality, it possesses its own fundamental gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/i-am-no-feminist-even-though-the-term-feminism-is-founded-upon-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Margery," I blurted out in a passion of frustration. "I don't know what to make of you!" Nor I you, Mary. Frankly, I cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-r-king/margery-i-blurted-out-in-a-passion-of-frustration-i-don-t-know-what/) [Laurie R. 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It humbles us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/being-here-living-now-recognizing-our-smallness-is-a-spiritual/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [We think of bulimia and anorexia as either a bizarre psychosis, or as a quirky little habit, a phase, or as a thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/we-think-of-bulimia-and-anorexia-as-either-a-bizarre-psychosis-or-as/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [The anoretic operates under the astounding illusion that she can escape the flesh, and, by association, the realm of emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/the-anoretic-operates-under-the-astounding-illusion-that-she-can/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [If I had been a different sort of person, maybe less impressionable, less intense, less fearful, less utterly dependent upon the perceptions of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/if-i-had-been-a-different-sort-of-person-maybe-less-impressionable/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“Every morning I watched the sun rise and read a highly religious little meditation book and tried having a conversation with God. 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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. 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Some fear death, some seek it, but it is in our human nature to wonder at the limits of human life, at least. When you are sick like this you begin to wonder too much. Death is at your shoulder, death is your shadow, your scent, your waking and dreaming companion. You cannot help, when sleep begins to touch your eyes, but to wonder: What if? What if? And in that question, there is a longing, too much like the longing of a young girl in love. The sickness occupies your every thought, breath like a lover at your ear; the sickness stands at your shoulder in the mirror, absorbed with your body, each inch of skin and flesh, and you let it work you over, touch you with rough hands that thrill. Nothing will ever be so close to you again. You will never find a lover so careful, so attentive, so unconditionally present and concerned only with you. Some of us use the body to convey the things for which we cannot find words. 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