--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even death is a power, a capacity. It is…" description: "\"“Even death is a power, a capacity. It is not a simple event that will happen to me, an objective and observable fact; here my power to be will cease, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/maurice-blanchot-12571_death_even-death-is-a-power-a-capacity-it-is-n_3067611.jpg" --- # Even death is a power, a capacity. It is not a simple… ![“Even death is a power, a capacity. It is not a simple event that will happen to me, an objective and observable fact; here my power to be will cease, here I will no longer be able to be here. But death, insofar as it belongs to me and belongs to me alone, since no one can die my death in my stead…” quote by Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/maurice-blanchot-12571_death_even-death-is-a-power-a-capacity-it-is-n_3067611.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/maurice-blanchot-12571_death_even-death-is-a-power-a-capacity-it-is-n_3067611.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/maurice-blanchot-12571_death_even-death-is-a-power-a-capacity-it-is-n_3067611.jpg) > ““Even death is a power, a capacity. It is not a simple event that will happen to me, an objective and observable fact; here my power to be will cease, here I will no longer be able to be here. But death, insofar as it belongs to me and belongs to me alone, since no one can die my death in my stead or in my place, makes of this non-possibility, this impending future of mine, this relation to myself always open until my end, yet another power. Dying, I can still die, this is our sign as man.”” [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death is framed as a personal power and possibility, not merely an external event, highlighting human agency over mortality. **In simple terms:** Death is a personal power, not just an event. Key Takeaway Recognize agency in facing death. Themes mortality agency existentialism Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical existential reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - philosophical writing - end‑of‑life counseling Key Concepts ontological freedom selfhood future orientation Questions to Reflect On - How does viewing death as power change your life choices? - Can this perspective coexist with communal rituals? A Different Perspective It may overlook cultural or religious views that see death as beyond personal control. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able-death-5173771/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-power-447270/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Power Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-dying-5173772/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/every-element-of-our-own-self-reliance-must-be-put-to-death-by-the/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [A physician can sometimes parry the scythe of death, but has no power over the sand in the hourglass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hester-lynch-piozzi/a-physician-can-sometimes-parry-the-scythe-of-death-but-has-no-power/) [Hester Lynch Piozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hester-lynch-piozzi/) > [Death's power is limited -- It cannot eradicate memories Or slay love It cannot destroy even a threadbare faith Or permanently hobble the smallest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-vanliere/death-s-power-is-limited-it-cannot-eradicate-memories-or-slay-love-it/) [Donna VanLiere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-vanliere/) > [Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/let-us-seek-death-or-he-not-found-supply-with-our-own-hands-his/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Stage performing is a dying art form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-spector/stage-performing-is-a-dying-art-form/) [Ronnie Spector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-spector/) > [He emphasised basic truths: you are not dying yet, you have to live your life until you are. Underpinning them was the belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/he-emphasised-basic-truths-you-are-not-dying-yet-you-have-to-live/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [You make choice's about your life if you want to life or die sometimes I think I feel like dying because know one care's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skrillex/you-make-choice-s-about-your-life-if-you-want-to-life-or-die/) [Skrillex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skrillex/) > [“...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-slaughter/our-loves-ones-truly-are-ever-present-we-may-bury-their-bodies-or/) [April Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-slaughter/) > [Life has no guarantees, though. What good is living if all you think about is dying?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-garvis-graves/life-has-no-guarantees-though-what-good-is-living-if-all-you-think/) [Tracey Garvis-Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-garvis-graves/) > [... there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/there-are-far-far-worse-things-in-the-living-world-than-dying/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“There is more to living than not dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-is-more-to-living-than-not-dying/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I don't want to just die a normal death, I wanna be killed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/i-don-t-want-to-just-die-a-normal-death-i-wanna-be-killed-twice/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) ## More by Maurice Blanchot > [“How not to search that space where, for a time span lasting from dusk to dawn, two beings have no other reason to exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/how-not-to-search-that-space-where-for-a-time-span-lasting-from-dusk/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [But my silence is real. If I hid it from you, you would find it again a little farther on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-my-silence-is-real-if-i-hid-it-from-you-you-would-find-it-again-a/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“As the German expression has it, the last judgement is the youngest day, and it is a day surpassing all days. Not that judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/as-the-german-expression-has-it-the-last-judgement-is-the-youngest/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“Writing is not destined to leave traces, but to erase, by traces, all traces, to disappear in the fragmentary space of writing more definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/writing-is-not-destined-to-leave-traces-but-to-erase-by-traces-all/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“If the sculptor uses stone and if the road builder also uses stone, the first uses it in a way that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-the-sculptor-uses-stone-and-if-the-road-builder-also-uses-stone/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer who writes, ''I am alone''... can be considered rather comical. It is comical for a man to recognize his solitude by addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-who-writes-i-am-alone-can-be-considered-rather-comical-it-is/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“I went in; I closed the door. I sat down on the bed. Blackest space extended before me. I was not in this blackness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/i-went-in-i-closed-the-door-i-sat-down-on-the-bed-blackest-space/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“But this is the rule, and there is no way to free oneself of it: as soon as the thought has arisen, it must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-this-is-the-rule-and-there-is-no-way-to-free-oneself-of-it-as/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [The Journal is not essentially a confession, a story about oneself. It is a Memorial. What does the writer have to remember? Himself, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-journal-is-not-essentially-a-confession-a-story-about-oneself-it/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [We can never put enough distance between ourselves and what we love. To think that God is, is still to think of him as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/we-can-never-put-enough-distance-between-ourselves-and-what-we-love/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer never reads his work. For him, it is the unreadable, a secret, and he cannot remain face to face with it. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-never-reads-his-work-for-him-it-is-the-unreadable-a-secret/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [Lovers of painting and lovers of music are people who openly display their preference like a delectable ailment that isolates them and makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/lovers-of-painting-and-lovers-of-music-are-people-who-openly-display/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“When Kafka allows a friend to understand that he writes because otherwise he would go mad, he knows that writing is madness already, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/when-kafka-allows-a-friend-to-understand-that-he-writes-because/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“The anonymous puts the name in place, leaves it empty, as if the name were there only to let itself be passed through because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-anonymous-puts-the-name-in-place-leaves-it-empty-as-if-the-name/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [If nothing were substituted for everything, it would still be too much and too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-nothing-were-substituted-for-everything-it-would-still-be-too-much/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) [Explore all 42 Maurice Blanchot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. 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. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Even death is a power, a capacity. It is not a simple event that will happen to me, an objective and observable fact; here my power to be will cease, here I will no longer be able to be here. 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