--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Birth was the death of him." description: "\"Birth was the death of him.\" — Samuel Beckett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png" --- # Birth was the death of him. ![“Birth was the death of him.” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png) > “Birth was the death of him.” [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The line suggests that birth marks the end of a prior self, a transformation into a new existence. **In simple terms:** Birth ends the old self. Key Takeaway Embrace change. Themes identity death rebirth Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal growth - philosophical reflection - life transitions Key Concepts existentialism transformation Questions to Reflect On - How do you feel your identity changed after a major life event? - What does “death” mean in personal growth? A Different Perspective The statement is metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Birth Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-death/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ## Related quotes > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I'm in that awkward stage between birth and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-bell-bundy/i-m-in-that-awkward-stage-between-birth-and-death/) [Laura Bell Bundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-bell-bundy/) > [ \[Death is\] a gimmick. It's the time-birth-death gimmick. Can't go on much longer, too many people are wising up. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/death-is-a-gimmick-it-s-the-time-birth-death-gimmick-can-t-go-on-much/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [I am old, and death inevitably approaches. But both birth and death are beyond the will of a human being. They are not my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/i-am-old-and-death-inevitably-approaches-but-both-birth-and-death-are/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [Life is like a shower curtain ring. Birth and death is the circle of life and supports the curtain of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jensen-p-thomas/life-is-like-a-shower-curtain-ring-birth-and-death-is-the-circle-of/) [Jensen P Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jensen-p-thomas/) > [Birth and death are illusions, they are part of the dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/birth-and-death-are-illusions-they-are-part-of-the-dream/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Everything in our life is a probability apart from two facts – Birth and Death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anupama-garg/everything-in-our-life-is-a-probability-apart-from-two-facts-birth/) [Anupama Garg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anupama-garg/) > [Our birth is nothing but our death begun; As tapers waste, that instant they take fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/our-birth-is-nothing-but-our-death-begun-as-tapers-waste-that-instant/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Nature ever upbuilds one thing from other, suffering naught To come to birth but through some other's death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/nature-ever-upbuilds-one-thing-from-other-suffering-naught-to-come-to/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [“What a turnout of events, at the beginning of life was the end of another, at the highest point of joy was the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/birks-kalulu/what-a-turnout-of-events-at-the-beginning-of-life-was-the-end-of/) [Birks Kalulu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/birks-kalulu/) > [“In a span of months she had present for birth and for death, the wondrous first breath and the horrible last. But wasn't it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-meadows/in-a-span-of-months-she-had-present-for-birth-and-for-death-the/) [Rae Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-meadows/) > [Gain and loss, birth and death are in the hands of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sathya-sai-baba/gain-and-loss-birth-and-death-are-in-the-hands-of-god/) [Sri Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sathya-sai-baba/) > [“So many crucial events take place behind people’s backs, when they aren’t in a position to watch: birth and death, for instance. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/so-many-crucial-events-take-place-behind-people-s-backs-when-they-2/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I grew up in a small town, in a small house, with a raspberry bush in the backyard...I think one thing that kids who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-mcadams/i-grew-up-in-a-small-town-in-a-small-house-with-a-raspberry-bush-in/) [Rachel McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-mcadams/) > [The great majority gave no signs one way or the other; like birth, their death was a sleep and a forgetting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-great-majority-gave-no-signs-one-way-or-the-other-like-birth/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) ## More by Samuel Beckett > [“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“To be always what I am - and so changed from what I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-be-always-what-i-am-and-so-changed-from-what-i-was/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [To what will love not stoop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-what-will-love-not-stoop/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [With all this darkness round me I feel less alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/with-all-this-darkness-round-me-i-feel-less-alone/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Here he stood. Here he sat. Here he knelt. Here he lay. Here he moved, to and fro, from the door to the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/here-he-stood-here-he-sat-here-he-knelt-here-he-lay-here-he-moved-to/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I lay down across her with my face in her breasts and my hand on her. We lay there without moving. But under us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-lay-down-across-her-with-my-face-in-her-breasts-and-my-hand-on-her/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“ESTRAGON: Do you think God sees me? VLADIMIR: You must close your eyes. Estragon closes his eyes, staggers worse. ESTRAGON: (stopping, brandishing his fists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/estragon-do-you-think-god-sees-me-vladimir-you-must-close-your-eyes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) [Explore all 609 Samuel Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More Birth quotes > [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) [Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/) [Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [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/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/) [Adam Imad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-imad/) > [The wailing of the newborn infant is mingled with the dirge for the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/the-wailing-of-the-newborn-infant-is-mingled-with-the-dirge-for-the/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [I gave birth to most of them MC's... So when it comes around to the month of May, Send me your royalty check for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-shante/i-gave-birth-to-most-of-them-mc-s-so-when-it-comes-around-to-the/) [Roxanne Shante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxanne-shante/) > [“A Beautiful verse takes birth when "U"n"I" VERSE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-walecha/a-beautiful-verse-takes-birth-when-u-n-i-verse/) [Rajesh Walecha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-walecha/) > [“There is no born evil, only a corruptible canvas darkened by a formidable perpetrator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yefon-isabelle/there-is-no-born-evil-only-a-corruptible-canvas-darkened-by-a/) [Yefon Isabelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yefon-isabelle/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) [Browse all 6,183 Birth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Birth was the death of him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Beckett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/birth-was-the-death-of-him/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Birth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/birth-was-the-death-of-him/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/samuel-beckett-365_birth_birth-was-the-death-of-him-894201_894201.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Birth was the death of him.” — Samuel Beckett", "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": "Samuel Beckett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Birth was the death of him.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/birth-was-the-death-of-him/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/birth-was-the-death-of-him/#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 } } ] } ```