--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not death, it is dying that alarms…" description: "\"It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg" --- # It is not death, it is dying that alarms me. ![“It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg) > “It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.” [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The thought of ongoing decline and loss is more frightening than the final end itself. **In simple terms:** Dying scares more than death. Key Takeaway Focus on living fully now. Themes mortality fear life appreciation Mood contemplative somber Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - health crises - aging - terminal illness - caregiving - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism Stoicism Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of life do you cherish most? - How can you confront the fear of decline? A Different Perspective It may overlook those who find peace in the idea of death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ## Related quotes > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Death is a dying industry with an economic phenomenon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perianne-boring/death-is-a-dying-industry-with-an-economic-phenomenon/) [Perianne Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perianne-boring/) > [Living is death; dying is life. We are not what we appear to be. On this side of the grave we are exiles, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/living-is-death-dying-is-life-we-are-not-what-we-appear-to-be-on-this/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [It is not death, but dying, which is terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/it-is-not-death-but-dying-which-is-terrible/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [Death and dying provide a meeting-point between the Tibetan Buddhist and modern scientific traditions. I believe both have a great deal to contribute to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/death-and-dying-provide-a-meeting-point-between-the-tibetan-buddhist/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“If it is death, I am dying every moment. If it is life, I am living every moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vipin-behari-goyal/if-it-is-death-i-am-dying-every-moment-if-it-is-life-i-am-living/) [Vipin Behari Goyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vipin-behari-goyal/) > [I think that nothing teaches you more about life than death and dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-davis/i-think-that-nothing-teaches-you-more-about-life-than-death-and-dying/) [Patti Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-davis/) > [Do not ask the definition of a friend. He/She is that one without whose company death and dying set in earlier and living is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-mckuen/do-not-ask-the-definition-of-a-friend-he-she-is-that-one-without/) [Rod McKuen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-mckuen/) > [“The scariest thing about death is not dying, it's the uncertainty of what happens after”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-j-glenn/the-scariest-thing-about-death-is-not-dying-it-s-the-uncertainty-of/) [Peyton J Glenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-j-glenn/) > [Approaches to death and dying reveal much of the attitude of society as a whole to the individuals who compose it. The development of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cicely-saunders/approaches-to-death-and-dying-reveal-much-of-the-attitude-of-society/) Cicely Saunders > [Knowing about reincarnation helps us relax. It assists us with an understanding of death and dying. Death is not an end, quite the contrary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/knowing-about-reincarnation-helps-us-relax-it-assists-us-with-an/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“A life without living was simply a death without dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ais/a-life-without-living-was-simply-a-death-without-dying/) [Ais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ais/) > [People are scared to death of dying. I am the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-caldwell/people-are-scared-to-death-of-dying-i-am-the-opposite/) [Taylor Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-caldwell/) > [About the presence of death and dying I don't remember the society in the 1950s being so skittish as it has since become. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/about-the-presence-of-death-and-dying-i-don-t-remember-the-society-in/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [I'm not afraid of death; but dying scares the hell out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cleary/i-m-not-afraid-of-death-but-dying-scares-the-hell-out-of-me/) Jack Cleary ## More by Michel de Montaigne > [No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-exempt-from-saying-silly-things-the-mischief-is-to-say-them/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-laws-keep-up-their-credit-not-by-being-just-but-because-they-are/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/every-one-rushes-elsewhere-and-into-the-future-because-no-one-wants/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Beauty is the true prerogative of women, and so peculiarly their own, that our sex, though naturally requiring another sort of feature, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/beauty-is-the-true-prerogative-of-women-and-so-peculiarly-their-own/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The height and value of true virtue consists in the facility, utility, and pleasure of its exercise; so far from difficulty, that boys, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-height-and-value-of-true-virtue-consists-in-the-facility-utility/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The corruption of the age is made up by the particular contribution of every individual man; some contribute treachery, others injustice, atheism, tyranny, avarice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-corruption-of-the-age-is-made-up-by-the-particular-contribution/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [If people must be talking about me, I would have it to be truthfully and justly. I would willingly return from the next world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/if-people-must-be-talking-about-me-i-would-have-it-to-be-truthfully/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Most pleasures embrace us but to strangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/most-pleasures-embrace-us-but-to-strangle/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [In true friendship, in which I am expert, I give myself to my friend more than I draw him to me. I not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/in-true-friendship-in-which-i-am-expert-i-give-myself-to-my-friend/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [There are as many and innumerable degrees of wit, as there are cubits between this and heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-are-as-many-and-innumerable-degrees-of-wit-as-there-are-cubits/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [A man has need of tough ears to hear himself fairly judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-man-has-need-of-tough-ears-to-hear-himself-fairly-judged/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Lucius Arruntius killed himself, he said, to escape both the future and the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lucius-arruntius-killed-himself-he-said-to-escape-both-the-future-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I have a vocabulary all my own. I pass the time when itis wet and disagreeable. Whenit is fine I do not wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-a-vocabulary-all-my-own-i-pass-the-time-when-itis-wet-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Explore all 1,131 Michel de Montaigne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## More Alarms quotes > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [There's a statement from several members of the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, including the Democratic leader, Charles Schumer; John McCain, the chair of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stephanopoulos/there-s-a-statement-from-several-members-of-the-senate-both-democrats/) [George Stephanopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stephanopoulos/) > [Here in the UK the audience immediately reacts and they get the fact that: "What would be the most annoying thing in the world?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/here-in-the-uk-the-audience-immediately-reacts-and-they-get-the-fact/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [It is a hard matter for a man to lie all over, nature having provided king's evidence in almost every member. The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [Who then is free? the wise man who is lord over himself; Whom neither poverty nor death, nor chains alarm; strong to withstand his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-then-is-free-the-wise-man-who-is-lord-over-himself-whom-neither/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Modern man threw a brick through his own window in order to sell himself a burglar alarm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-carr/modern-man-threw-a-brick-through-his-own-window-in-order-to-sell/) [Allen Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-carr/) > [I understand the power and the alarm of words - Not those that they applaud from theatre-boxes, but those which make coffins break from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/i-understand-the-power-and-the-alarm-of-words-not-those-that-they/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [I don't know who Azazel is," he said. "Isn't he the cat from The Smurfs?" He cast about , but Isabelle just looked up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-don-t-know-who-azazel-is-he-said-isn-t-he-the-cat-from-the-smurfs/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Unfortunately, I'm one of those idiots who knows everything about health and is in a constant state of alarm, and yet I continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/unfortunately-i-m-one-of-those-idiots-who-knows-everything-about/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [“batteries in the smoke alarms, and since he “just happened”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-lawson-timmer/batteries-in-the-smoke-alarms-and-since-he-just-happened/) [Julie Lawson Timmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-lawson-timmer/) > [When I see a new face, something sets off an alarm bell inside me. 'slow down! Danger!' Even when the attraction is strongest, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/when-i-see-a-new-face-something-sets-off-an-alarm-bell-inside-me-slow/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It's gonna be awesome! A suspected pedophile dunks my kids head in a bucket so when she dies she can live in an invisible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/it-s-gonna-be-awesome-a-suspected-pedophile-dunks-my-kids-head-in-a/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [I am sick of the girl who cries 'wolf' all the time. Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) Browse all 360 Alarms quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms-me/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alarms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms-me/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/michel-de-montaigne-142_alarms_it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms_2298034.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.” — Michel de Montaigne", "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": "Michel de Montaigne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is not death, it is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms-me/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-not-death-it-is-dying-that-alarms-me/#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 } } ] } ```