--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is perishing. That may be, and if it…" description: "\"Man is perishing. That may be, and if it is nothingness that awaits us let us so act that it will be an unjust fate.\" — Miguel de Unamuno" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/miguel-de-unamuno-2211_fate_man-is-perishing-that-may-be-and-if-it-i_1521550.png" --- # Man is perishing. That may be, and if it is nothingness… ![“Man is perishing. That may be, and if it is nothingness that awaits us let us so act that it will be an unjust fate.” quote by Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/miguel-de-unamuno-2211_fate_man-is-perishing-that-may-be-and-if-it-i_1521550.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/miguel-de-unamuno-2211_fate_man-is-perishing-that-may-be-and-if-it-i_1521550.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/miguel-de-unamuno-2211_fate_man-is-perishing-that-may-be-and-if-it-i_1521550.png) > “Man is perishing. That may be, and if it is nothingness that awaits us let us so act that it will be an unjust fate.” [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even if existence ends in nothingness, we must act to avoid an unjust fate. **In simple terms:** Act meaningfully despite life's emptiness. Key Takeaway Choose purposeful action. Themes existence meaning ethics Mood reflective serious Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - life decisions - artistic creation - political activism - personal crisis Key Concepts existentialism philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What gives life meaning in the face of mortality? - Can we create justice without belief in afterlife? A Different Perspective If nothingness is inevitable, effort may seem futile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/) ## Related quotes > [“A man's perishing here, a man's vanishing from his own sight here, and can't control himself--what sort of wedding can there be!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/a-man-s-perishing-here-a-man-s-vanishing-from-his-own-sight-here-and/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it, let us fight against destiny, even without hope of victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/if-it-is-nothingness-that-awaits-us-let-us-make-an-injustice-of-it-2/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it; let us fight against destiny, even though without hope of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/if-it-is-nothingness-that-awaits-us-let-us-make-an-injustice-of-it/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Go back to the abyss! Fall into nothingness that awaits you and your master!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/go-back-to-the-abyss-fall-into-nothingness-that-awaits-you-and-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/go-back-fall-into-the-nothingness-that-awaits-you-and-your-master/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [“If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it; let us fight against destiny, even without hope of victory.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-shirvington/if-it-is-nothingness-that-awaits-us-let-us-make-an-injustice-of-it-3/) [Jessica Shirvington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-shirvington/) > [Letting go all else, cling to the following few truths. Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/letting-go-all-else-cling-to-the-following-few-truths-remember-that/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [I do now most heartily desire to live but to exalt Jesus; to live preaching and to die preaching; to preach to perishing sinners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-grattan-guinness/i-do-now-most-heartily-desire-to-live-but-to-exalt-jesus-to-live/) Henry Grattan Guinness > [In revolt against this new and very evil thing came the republicanism of the eighteenth century, inspired and directed in large measure by members…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-adams-cram/in-revolt-against-this-new-and-very-evil-thing-came-the-republicanism/) [Ralph Adams Cram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-adams-cram/) > [Who shall blame him? Who will not secretly rejoice when the hero puts his armour off, and halts by the window and gazes at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/who-shall-blame-him-who-will-not-secretly-rejoice-when-the-hero-puts/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [When the Gauls laid waste Rome, they found the senators clothed in their robes, and seated in stern tranquillity in their curule chairs; in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/when-the-gauls-laid-waste-rome-they-found-the-senators-clothed-in/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Loving and perishing: it's been a rhyme all these eternities. The will to love: that is, also being willing to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/loving-and-perishing-it-s-been-a-rhyme-all-these-eternities-the-will/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-world-is-perishing-from-an-orgy-of-self-sacrificing/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [In the coming days and weeks, Laila would scramble frantically to commit it all to memory, what happened next. Like an art lover running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/in-the-coming-days-and-weeks-laila-would-scramble-frantically-to/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [That which is apprehended by intelligence and reason is always in the same state; but that which is conceived by opinion with the help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/that-which-is-apprehended-by-intelligence-and-reason-is-always-in-the/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) ## More by Miguel de Unamuno > [The pessimism that protests and defends itself cannot be truly said to be pessimism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/the-pessimism-that-protests-and-defends-itself-cannot-be-truly-said/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [We should try to be the parents of our future rather than the offspring of our past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/we-should-try-to-be-the-parents-of-our-future-rather-than-the/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [We never know, believe me, when we have succeeded best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/we-never-know-believe-me-when-we-have-succeeded-best/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/a-lot-of-good-arguments-are-spoiled-by-some-fool-who-knows-what-he-is/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Philosophy fulfills the need to create for ourselves a single and complete concept of the world and of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/philosophy-fulfills-the-need-to-create-for-ourselves-a-single-and/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [None are so likely to believe too little as those who have begun by believing too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/none-are-so-likely-to-believe-too-little-as-those-who-have-begun-by/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [The devil is an angel too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/the-devil-is-an-angel-too/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [My work...is to shatter the faith of men here, there, and everywhere, faith in affirmation, faith in negation, and faith in abstention from faith,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/my-work-is-to-shatter-the-faith-of-men-here-there-and-everywhere/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [“I must not throw away my village to win my soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/i-must-not-throw-away-my-village-to-win-my-soul/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Everything that exalts and expands consciousness is good, while that which depresses and diminishes it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/everything-that-exalts-and-expands-consciousness-is-good-while-that/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Was man made for science, or was science made for man?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/was-man-made-for-science-or-was-science-made-for-man/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [We need God, not in order to understand the why, but in order to feel and sustain the ultimate wherefore, to give a meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/we-need-god-not-in-order-to-understand-the-why-but-in-order-to-feel/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Science says: 'We must live,' and seeks the means of prolonging, increasing, facilitating and amplifying life, of making it tolerable and acceptable, wisdom says:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/science-says-we-must-live-and-seeks-the-means-of-prolonging/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [To love with the spirit is to pity, and he who pities most loves most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/to-love-with-the-spirit-is-to-pity-and-he-who-pities-most-loves-most/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [These terrible sociologists, who are the astrologers and alchemists of our twentieth century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/these-terrible-sociologists-who-are-the-astrologers-and-alchemists-of/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) [Explore all 153 Miguel de Unamuno quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) ## More Fate quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [When you have counted eighty years and more, Time and Fate will batter at your door; But if you should survive to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/when-you-have-counted-eighty-years-and-more-time-and-fate-will-batter/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [ Man blindly works the will of fate. \[Ger., Blindlings that er blos den Willen des Geschickes.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-martin-wieland/man-blindly-works-the-will-of-fate-ger-blindlings-that-er-blos-den/) [Christoph Martin Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-martin-wieland/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Real chessplayers think about chess more or less 24 hours a day. It is a passion and a fate that one has to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simen-agdestein/real-chessplayers-think-about-chess-more-or-less-24-hours-a-day-it-is/) Simen Agdestein > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Fate and future both are servant to the determined, for they are nothing but creation of human determination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fate-and-future-both-are-servant-to-the-determined-for-they-are/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What would have been the fate of sages if there were no fools?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/what-would-have-been-the-fate-of-sages-if-there-were-no-fools/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) > [“God has a way of picking a “nobody” and turning their world upside down, in order to create a “somebody” that will remove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-has-a-way-of-picking-a-nobody-and-turning-their-world-upside-down/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) [Browse all 5,152 Fate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man is perishing. 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