--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living is already having been born, in a…" description: "\"Living is already having been born, in a condition we have not chosen, a situation in which we find ourselves, a quarter of the universe in which we ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/paul-ricoeur-16430_backgrounds_living-is-already-having-been-born-in-a_703888.jpg" --- # Living is already having been born, in a condition we have… ![“Living is already having been born, in a condition we have not chosen, a situation in which we find ourselves, a quarter of the universe in which we may feel we have been thrown and are wandering, lost. And yet it is against this background that we can begin, that is to say, give a new course to…” quote by Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/paul-ricoeur-16430_backgrounds_living-is-already-having-been-born-in-a_703888.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/paul-ricoeur-16430_backgrounds_living-is-already-having-been-born-in-a_703888.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/782/paul-ricoeur-16430_backgrounds_living-is-already-having-been-born-in-a_703888.jpg) > “Living is already having been born, in a condition we have not chosen, a situation in which we find ourselves, a quarter of the universe in which we may feel we have been thrown and are wandering, lost. And yet it is against this background that we can begin, that is to say, give a new course to things.” [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence is thrust into an unchosen circumstance, but we can still steer our lives despite feeling lost. **In simple terms:** We are born into a world we didn't choose, yet we can direct our path. Key Takeaway Recognize agency within constraints. Themes existence choice meaning orientation Mood reflective hopeful determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - personal crises - creative projects - spiritual quests Key Concepts existentialism free will narrative identity Questions to Reflect On - How can we exercise freedom when circumstances feel imposed? - What practices help reorient a sense of direction? A Different Perspective Our freedom is limited by external conditions and internal doubts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [“Being high felt as if half of me was wandering lost in the streets and half of me was calling out, hoping that I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-scholinski/being-high-felt-as-if-half-of-me-was-wandering-lost-in-the-streets/) Daphne Scholinski > [I know what it’s like to miss someone. To feel like you’re just…wandering around, lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/i-know-what-it-s-like-to-miss-someone-to-feel-like-you-re-just/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [Loaded with note cards for research papers that I was hopelessly behind on, I'd enter the Public Library only to end up wandering around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/loaded-with-note-cards-for-research-papers-that-i-was-hopelessly/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/we-re-only-here-for-a-short-while-and-i-think-it-s-such-a-lucky/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [It is true that I had wanted to die , but that is peculiarly different from regretting having been born. Overwhelmingly, I was enormously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-is-true-that-i-had-wanted-to-die-but-that-is-peculiarly-different/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [The fact of having been born is a bad augury for immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-fact-of-having-been-born-is-a-bad-augury-for-immortality/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The soul having been often born, or, as the Hindus say, ‘traveling the path of existence through thousands of births’ ... there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/the-soul-having-been-often-born-or-as-the-hindus-say-traveling-the/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/i-have-always-looked-on-disobedience-toward-the-oppressive-as-the/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [Life without God and without meaning is worse than never having been born at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-without-god-and-without-meaning-is-worse-than-never-having-been/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some men spend their lives looking for ways to punish themselves for having been born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/some-men-spend-their-lives-looking-for-ways-to-punish-themselves-for/) [Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/) > [We are His children in Very deed, having been born of Him in the spirit, and we have inherited the very attributes which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-f-richards/we-are-his-children-in-very-deed-having-been-born-of-him-in-the/) [George F. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-f-richards/) > [But here's what I've learned in this war, in this country, in this city: to love the miracle of having been born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/but-here-s-what-i-ve-learned-in-this-war-in-this-country-in-this-city/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [“She managed to thank God for having been born before she lost herself in the inconceivable pleasure of that unbearable pain, splashing in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/she-managed-to-thank-god-for-having-been-born-before-she-lost-herself/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“Having born as a human, one has to distinguish between, ‘what is of the Self’, and ‘what is of the non-Self’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/having-born-as-a-human-one-has-to-distinguish-between-what-is-of-the/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [This is what youth must figure out: Girls, love, and living. The having, the not having, The spending and giving, And the meloncholy time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-what-youth-must-figure-out-girls-love-and-living-the-having/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Paul Ricoeur > [If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it is not true that all interpretations are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/if-it-is-true-that-there-is-always-more-than-one-way-of-construing-a/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [What must be the nature of the world... if human beings are able to introduce changes into it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/what-must-be-the-nature-of-the-world-if-human-beings-are-able-to/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/although-there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny. Myth expresses in terms of the world -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of-2/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Man is this plural and collective unity in which the unity of destination and the differences of destinies are to be understood through each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/man-is-this-plural-and-collective-unity-in-which-the-unity-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There was a wise old owl who sat in a tree The less he spoke the more he heard The more he heard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-was-a-wise-old-owl-who-sat-in-a-tree-the-less-he-spoke-the-more/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Wisdom finds its literary expression in wisdom literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/wisdom-finds-its-literary-expression-in-wisdom-literature/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity because Christianity proceeds from a proclamation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity-because/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [It is always possible to argue against an interpretation, to confront interpretations, to arbitrate between them and to seek for an agreement, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/it-is-always-possible-to-argue-against-an-interpretation-to-confront/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Hope, insofar as it is hope of resurrection, is the living contradiction of what it proceeds from and what is placed under the sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/hope-insofar-as-it-is-hope-of-resurrection-is-the-living/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Testimony should be a philosophical problem and not limited to legal or historical contexts where it refers to the account of a witness who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/testimony-should-be-a-philosophical-problem-and-not-limited-to-legal/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-narrative-constructs-the-identity-of-the-character-what-can-be/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Narrative identity takes part in the story's movement, in the dialectic between order and disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/narrative-identity-takes-part-in-the-story-s-movement-in-the/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [“The dictionary contains no metaphors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-dictionary-contains-no-metaphors/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) [Explore all 39 Paul Ricoeur quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## More Backgrounds quotes > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-morasca/when-you-see-how-fragile-and-delicate-life-can-be-all-else-fades-into/) [Jenna Morasca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-morasca/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. 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