---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Time is life itself, and life resides in…"
description: "\"Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.\" — Michael Ende"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg"
---

#  Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.

![“Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.” quote by Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg)

> “Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.”

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Time and life are intertwined, both residing within the human heart.

**In simple terms:** Time lives in the heart.

Key Takeaway

Live fully in the present.

Themes

time life humanity

Mood

inspirational contemplative

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- mindfulness practice
- personal reflection
- creative writing

Key Concepts

philosophy literature

Questions to Reflect On

- How does heart‑centered living affect perception of time?
- What practices nurture this awareness?

A Different Perspective

May be abstract for practical use.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Human heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-heart/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Life life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-life/) [Life Resides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-resides-1054467/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Time Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-life/)

## Related quotes

> [Life holds one great but quite commonplace mystery. Though shared by each of us and known to all, seldom rates a second thought. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/life-holds-one-great-but-quite-commonplace-mystery-though-shared-by/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [“The woman he had loved most (he was thirty at the time) would tell him (he was nearly in despair when he heard it)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-woman-he-had-loved-most-he-was-thirty-at-the-time-would-tell-him/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [I have discovered the meaning of life. It resides in what I can wrest from each day that I live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/i-have-discovered-the-meaning-of-life-it-resides-in-what-i-can-wrest/)

[Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/)

> [It's not the time in your life, it's the life in your time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/it-s-not-the-time-in-your-life-it-s-the-life-in-your-time/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [“Make time for life, or life won’t make time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-cixin/make-time-for-life-or-life-won-t-make-time/)

[Liu Cixin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-cixin/)

> [Anything designed to be inoffensive isn't worth your time -- life itself is pretty offensive, ending as it does with death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-lisle/anything-designed-to-be-inoffensive-isn-t-worth-your-time-life-itself/)

[Holly Lisle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-lisle/)

> [A well-thought-out story doesn’t need to resemble real life. Life itself tries with all its might to resemble a well-crafted story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-babel/a-well-thought-out-story-doesn-t-need-to-resemble-real-life-life/)

[Isaac Babel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-babel/)

> [For Lou Ann, life itself was a life-threatening enterprise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/for-lou-ann-life-itself-was-a-life-threatening-enterprise/)

[Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/)

> [The most uncertain thing in life is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girish-choudhary/the-most-uncertain-thing-in-life-is-life-itself/)

[Girish Choudhary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girish-choudhary/)

> [I have always preferred the reflection of the life to life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-truffaut/i-have-always-preferred-the-reflection-of-the-life-to-life-itself/)

[Francois Truffaut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-truffaut/)

> [The best thing you can depend your life upon is your life itself, not on anything in the world that is vanity and temporal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaze-olamiday/the-best-thing-you-can-depend-your-life-upon-is-your-life-itself-not/)

[Blaze Olamiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaze-olamiday/)

> [The solution of the problem of life is life itself. Life is not attained by reason and analysis but first of all by living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-solution-of-the-problem-of-life-is-life-itself-life-is-not/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

> [Life is only traveled once; todays moment becomes tomorrows memory. Enjoy every moment, good or bad, because the GIFT of LIFE is LIFE itself¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-only-traveled-once-todays-moment-becomes-tomorrows-memory/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/and-what-can-life-be-worth-if-the-first-rehearsal-for-life-is-life/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [“Life itself is a gift. It's a compliment just being born: to feel, breathe, think, play, dance, sing, work, make love, for this particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-rose-kingma/life-itself-is-a-gift-it-s-a-compliment-just-being-born-to-feel/)

[Daphne Rose Kingma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-rose-kingma/)

## More by Michael Ende

> [Just as the setting sun turned the clouds to liquid gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/just-as-the-setting-sun-turned-the-clouds-to-liquid-gold/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [He had been through a good deal in the course of the Great Quest — he had seen beautiful things and horrible things —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/he-had-been-through-a-good-deal-in-the-course-of-the-great-quest-he/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [There were doors that looked like large keyholes, others that resembled the entrances to caves, there were golden doors, some were padded and some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/there-were-doors-that-looked-like-large-keyholes-others-that/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [“Hasta entonces, todo había sido para él como un gran juego. Se lo había tomado tan en serio como se tomaba cualquier juego y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/hasta-entonces-todo-habi-a-sido-para-e-l-como-un-gran-juego-se-lo/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [Once someone dreams a dream, it can't just drop out of existence. But if the dreamer can't remember it, what becomes of it? It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/once-someone-dreams-a-dream-it-can-t-just-drop-out-of-existence-but/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [“And there in the snow lay the pictures, like jewels bedded in white silk. They were paper-thin sheets of colored transparent isin glass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/and-there-in-the-snow-lay-the-pictures-like-jewels-bedded-in-white/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [There were thousands and thousands of forms of joy in the world, but that all were essentially one and the same, namely, the joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/there-were-thousands-and-thousands-of-forms-of-joy-in-the-world-but/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [“A person’s reason for doing someone a good turn matters as much as the good turn itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/a-person-s-reason-for-doing-someone-a-good-turn-matters-as-much-as/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [As they advanced (towards the fountain) one after another of Bastian's Fastastican gifts fell away from him. The strong, handsome, fearless hero became the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/as-they-advanced-towards-the-fountain-one-after-another-of-bastian-s/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [You wish for something, you've wanted it for years, and you're sure you want it, as long as you know you can't have it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/you-wish-for-something-you-ve-wanted-it-for-years-and-you-re-sure-you/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [I wonder, what's in a book while it's closed. Oh, I know it's full of letters printed on paper, but all the same, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/i-wonder-what-s-in-a-book-while-it-s-closed-oh-i-know-it-s-full-of/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [“When your turn comes to jump into the Nothing, you too will be a nameless servant of power, with no will of your own.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/when-your-turn-comes-to-jump-into-the-nothing-you-too-will-be-a/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [All that matters in life," the grey man went on, "is to climb the ladder of success, amount to something, own things. When a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/all-that-matters-in-life-the-grey-man-went-on-is-to-climb-the-ladder/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

> [Momo listened to everyone and everything - even to the rain and the wind and the pine trees - and all of them spoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/momo-listened-to-everyone-and-everything-even-to-the-rain-and-the/)

[Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

[Explore all 99 Michael Ende quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/)

## More Clock quotes

> [Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/even-einstein-had-to-rely-for-his-time-on-his-clock/)

[Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/)

> [“Time was never neutral and often felt dangerous. We either think we have all the time in the world or time moves too fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-reay/time-was-never-neutral-and-often-felt-dangerous-we-either-think-we/)

[Katherine Reay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-reay/)

> [Before a clock was in the tower, Or e'er a watch was worn; I knew of night the passing hour, And prophesied the morn;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-a-clock-was-in-the-tower-or-e-er-a-watch-was-worn-i-knew-of/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/)

[Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/)

> [“Time is, to put it in its most impressive and some might say poncy-sounding form, my domain. I can see things that once happened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-rayner/time-is-to-put-it-in-its-most-impressive-and-some-might-say-poncy/)

[Jacqueline Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-rayner/)

> [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/)

[Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/)

> [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/)

[Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/)

> [Time.The greatest creator, and the worst destroyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levi-keely/time-the-greatest-creator-and-the-worst-destroyer/)

[Levi Keely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levi-keely/)

> [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/)

[Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/)

> [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [Those who stop marketing to save money are like those who stop a clock to save time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/those-who-stop-marketing-to-save-money-are-like-those-who-stop-a/)

[Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/)

> [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/)

[Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/)

> [I don't know if it's just me or everyone, but the whole vibe with skiing is not so much thriving on competition against others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/picabo-street/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-just-me-or-everyone-but-the-whole-vibe-with/)

[Picabo Street](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/picabo-street/)

> [Time goes on, even when yer not looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/time-goes-on-even-when-yer-not-looking/)

[Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/)

> [CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/clock-n-a-machine-of-great-moral-value-to-man-allaying-his-concern/)

[Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/)

[Browse all 2,738 Clock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michael Ende"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in-the-human-heart/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Clock"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in-the-human-heart/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/michael-ende-2862_clock_time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in_2960588.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.” — Michael Ende",
                "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": "Michael Ende",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Time is life itself, and life...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in-the-human-heart/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/time-is-life-itself-and-life-resides-in-the-human-heart/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```