--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Parenthood, like death, is an event for…" description: "\"Parenthood, like death, is an event for which it is nearly impossible to be prepared. It brings you into a new relationship with the fact of your own e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/rachel-cusk-3482_be-prepared_parenthood-like-death-is-an-event-for-wh_2370076.jpg" --- # Parenthood, like death, is an event for which it is nearly… ![“Parenthood, like death, is an event for which it is nearly impossible to be prepared. It brings you into a new relationship with the fact of your own existence, a relationship in which one may be rendered helpless.” quote by Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/rachel-cusk-3482_be-prepared_parenthood-like-death-is-an-event-for-wh_2370076.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/rachel-cusk-3482_be-prepared_parenthood-like-death-is-an-event-for-wh_2370076.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d9/rachel-cusk-3482_be-prepared_parenthood-like-death-is-an-event-for-wh_2370076.jpg) > “Parenthood, like death, is an event for which it is nearly impossible to be prepared. It brings you into a new relationship with the fact of your own existence, a relationship in which one may be rendered helpless.” [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Parenthood forces confronting one's mortality and existential vulnerability, reshaping self‑identity and agency. **In simple terms:** Having a child reveals how fragile and unprepared we are for life's big changes. Key Takeaway Embrace the uncertainty and seek support. Themes existential parenthood vulnerability Mood reflective somber Type philosophical personal. When to use this quote - new parents - counseling - philosophical reflection - life planning Key Concepts identity mortality agency Questions to Reflect On - How does becoming a parent change your view of self? - What supports help when feeling helpless? A Different Perspective Preparedness is limited; expectations can cause distress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Be prepared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-prepared/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Event](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-event-1320163/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Helpless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpless/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Like Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-death/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [New relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-relationship/) [Parenthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenthood/) [Parenthood Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenthood-like-1414819/) [Prepared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prepared/) [Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship/) ## Related quotes > [“Parenthood is like that...the harder the choice, the less likely any of the options are good ones”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-frankel/parenthood-is-like-that-the-harder-the-choice-the-less-likely-any-of/) [Laurie Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-frankel/) > [Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/death-is-not-an-event-in-life-we-do-not-live-to-experience-death/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [For life in the present there is no death. 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And then one day it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-a-time-when-death-is-an-event-an-ad-venture-and-as-such/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Starting a new novel is a little like starting a new relationship - you have to be prepared to commit for at least three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobsha-learner/starting-a-new-novel-is-a-little-like-starting-a-new-relationship-you/) [Tobsha Learner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobsha-learner/) > [There is nothing like death to say what is always such an artificial thing to say: The End.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/there-is-nothing-like-death-to-say-what-is-always-such-an-artificial/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Ill send myself in irrational spirals about things I have no control over, like death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-and-the-machine/ill-send-myself-in-irrational-spirals-about-things-i-have-no-control/) [Florence And The Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-and-the-machine/) > [When you break up, your whole identity is shattered. 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But this freedom is rather like death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-am-alone-in-this-white-garden-rimmed-street-alone-and-free-but-this/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [And than suddenly he was there, charging down the hallway like death in a cowboy duster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/and-than-suddenly-he-was-there-charging-down-the-hallway-like-death/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“end of a couple is like a death, and the notion of death, of temporariness, can remind us of the value of things,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/end-of-a-couple-is-like-a-death-and-the-notion-of-death-of/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [And I have to tell you, as tough as farming is, the idea of farming when you’re losing money year after year... that’s not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-i-have-to-tell-you-as-tough-as-farming-is-the-idea-of-farming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Rachel Cusk > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“If a man had a nasty side to his character, she wanted to get to it immediately and confront it. 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Just be aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/to-me-man-means-awareness-of-death-i-am-not-saying-become-afraid-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Another mistake a director can make is not to be prepared, so you get there on the day to shoot the scene, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-macy/another-mistake-a-director-can-make-is-not-to-be-prepared-so-you-get/) [William H. Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-macy/) > [Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. 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