--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether…" description: "\"Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, age, and then the only end of age...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg" --- # Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use… ![“Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, age, and then the only end of age.” quote by Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg) > “Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, age, and then the only end of age.” [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life begins with ennui, then anxiety, and ultimately reveals hidden desires and the inevitability of aging. **In simple terms:** Boredom, fear, hidden desire, age Key Takeaway Existence unfolds from emptiness to self‑realization Themes existentialism time fear boredom age self‑discovery Mood melancholic contemplative pensive Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - reflecting on early adulthood - confronting mid‑life crisis - writing about mortality - examining personal growth - exploring creative block Key Concepts life boredom fear hidden age end Practical Applications - psychological counseling - philosophical essays Questions to Reflect On - What does boredom reveal about purpose? - How does fear shape our choices? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [Life is first boredom, then fear,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [There is only one thing worse than boredom, and that is the fear of boredom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/there-is-only-one-thing-worse-than-boredom-and-that-is-the-fear-of/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [What annoys a person who suicides? The life itself. Boredom. Tiredness that descends on every morning when you look at yourself at the mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/what-annoys-a-person-who-suicides-the-life-itself-boredom-tiredness/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [“Boredom is the fear of self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-josephine-suin-de-beausacq/boredom-is-the-fear-of-self/) Marie Josephine Suin De Beausacq > [Boredom and fear keep us working and obeying the laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/boredom-and-fear-keep-us-working-and-obeying-the-laws/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Boredom is fear's patience. Fear doesn't want to exaggerate. Only on occasion--and fear considers this very important--does it want to know how things stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/boredom-is-fear-s-patience-fear-doesn-t-want-to-exaggerate-only-on/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“By the way, I'm not usually attracted to danger," I said. "Up until now I've led a pretty boring life." "Boredom is good!" Dr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-schumacher/by-the-way-i-m-not-usually-attracted-to-danger-i-said-up-until-now-i/) [Julie Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-schumacher/) > [Without a job all there is to life is boredom and insecurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/without-a-job-all-there-is-to-life-is-boredom-and-insecurity/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Good digestions, the gray monotony of provincial life, and the boredom-ah the soul-destroying boredom-of long days of mild content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/good-digestions-the-gray-monotony-of-provincial-life-and-the-boredom/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredom/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The worst thing in life is boredom. When people don't know what to do with themselves, they are very, very poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-herz-sommer/the-worst-thing-in-life-is-boredom-when-people-don-t-know-what-to-do/) [Alice Herz-Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-herz-sommer/) > [The two real problems in life are boredom and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-two-real-problems-in-life-are-boredom-and-death/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-anderson/the-joy-of-life-comes-from-our-encounters-with-new-experiences-and/) Kate Anderson > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) ## More by Philip Larkin > [Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/deprivation-is-for-me-what-daffodils-were-for-wordsworth/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [Only one ship is seeking us, a black-Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her backA huge and birdless silence. In her wakeNo waters breed or break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/only-one-ship-is-seeking-us-a-black-sailed-unfamiliar-towing-at-her/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [And immediately Rather than words comes the thought of high windows: The sun-comprehending glass, And beyond it, the deep blue air, that shows Nothing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/and-immediately-rather-than-words-comes-the-thought-of-high-windows/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“Living toys are something novel, But it soon wears off somehow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/living-toys-are-something-novel-but-it-soon-wears-off-somehow/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“Once I am sure there's nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut. Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/once-i-am-sure-there-s-nothing-going-on-i-step-inside-letting-the/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“It never worked for me. Something to do with violence A long way back, and wrong rewards, And arrogant eternity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/it-never-worked-for-me-something-to-do-with-violence-a-long-way-back/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [Seriously, I think it is a grave fault in life that so much time is wasted in social matters, because it not only takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/seriously-i-think-it-is-a-grave-fault-in-life-that-so-much-time-is/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [So many things I had thought forgotten Return to my mind with stranger pain: Like letters that arrive addressed to someone Who left the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/so-many-things-i-had-thought-forgotten-return-to-my-mind-with/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“One of the quainter quirks of life is that we shall never know who dies on the same day as we do ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/one-of-the-quainter-quirks-of-life-is-that-we-shall-never-know-who/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“I sit in my room like Miss Havisham, about whom I have been reading this week. Better the Dickens you know than the Dickens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/i-sit-in-my-room-like-miss-havisham-about-whom-i-have-been-reading/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“When I throw back my head and howl People (women mostly) say But you've always done what you want, You always get your way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/when-i-throw-back-my-head-and-howl-people-women-mostly-say-but-you-ve/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [I think a young poet, or an old poet, for that matter, should try to produce something that pleases himself personally, not only when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/i-think-a-young-poet-or-an-old-poet-for-that-matter-should-try-to/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [But superstition, like belief, must die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/but-superstition-like-belief-must-die/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“Side by side, their faces blurred, The earl and countess lie in stone, Their proper habits vaguely shown As jointed armour, stiffened pleat, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/side-by-side-their-faces-blurred-the-earl-and-countess-lie-in-stone/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“Life is slow dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-slow-dying/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) [Explore all 206 Philip Larkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, age, and then the only end of age.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Larkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether-or-not-we-use-it-it-goes-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boredom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether-or-not-we-use-it-it-goes-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/philip-larkin-1822_boredom_life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether_88448.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from…” — Philip Larkin", "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": "Philip Larkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life is first boredom, then fear....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether-or-not-we-use-it-it-goes-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether-or-not-we-use-it-it-goes-and/#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 } } ] } ```