--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his…" description: "\"We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png" --- # We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't… ![“We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. Come, let's get to work! (He advances towards the heap, stops in his stride.) In an instant all will vanish and…” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png) > “We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. Come, let's get to work! (He advances towards the heap, stops in his stride.) In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone more, in the midst of nothingness!” [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. Existence is marked by boredom and the temptation to waste time, yet action can break the void. **In simple terms:** Boredom leads to wasted time; action restores purpose. Key Takeaway Choose purposeful action over idle distraction. Themes boredom purpose action existence Mood reflective urgent Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily routine - creative projects - social gatherings - personal crises Key Concepts existentialism human condition meaninglessness Questions to Reflect On - What small action can you take now to counter boredom? - How does purpose change your perception of time? A Different Perspective Action may not fully erase existential emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bored/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Diversion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversion/) [Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) ## Related quotes > [I've been watching 'Game of Thrones,' and I can't wait for 'Bored to Death' to come back, it's one of my faves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-forbes/i-ve-been-watching-game-of-thrones-and-i-can-t-wait-for-bored-to/) [Michelle Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-forbes/) > [“The Path Of Least Resistance Is Littered With The Corpses Of The Bored To Death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-path-of-least-resistance-is-littered-with-the-corpses-of-the/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [Did you know that there is one ultimate reason why women cheat on their partners? It is due to fact that they are bored…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/did-you-know-that-there-is-one-ultimate-reason-why-women-cheat-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is me right now I'm bored to death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savannah-whalen/this-is-me-right-now-i-m-bored-to-death/) [Savannah Whalen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savannah-whalen/) > [I was bored to death and thinking more about the minibar and the after-show party than the performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/volker-bertelmann/i-was-bored-to-death-and-thinking-more-about-the-minibar-and-the/) [Volker Bertelmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/volker-bertelmann/) > [To be bored to death is a form of suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/to-be-bored-to-death-is-a-form-of-suicide/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [There's a story everywhere. Being bored to death someplace is basically a funny proposition. What you have to watch out for is you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/there-s-a-story-everywhere-being-bored-to-death-someplace-is/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [I wouldn't feel satisfied being on set every day doing a romantic comedy - I'd be bored to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-wouldn-t-feel-satisfied-being-on-set-every-day-doing-a-romantic/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [I’m bored to death. Perhaps I should pillage one of my neighbors for my own amusement. It seems to work for Drowden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/i-m-bored-to-death-perhaps-i-should-pillage-one-of-my-neighbors-for/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I wanted to be bored to death, as good a way to go as any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-wanted-to-be-bored-to-death-as-good-a-way-to-go-as-any/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [If I die prematurely at any rate I shall be saved from being bored to death by my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-at-any-rate-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Smoking can kill you, he said, and I replied: sounds better than being bored to death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-thurlow/smoking-can-kill-you-he-said-and-i-replied-sounds-better-than-being/) [Chloe Thurlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-thurlow/) > [“If you hate difference, you'll be bored to death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/if-you-hate-difference-you-ll-be-bored-to-death/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [And I am bored to death with it. Bored to death with this place, bored to death with my life, bored to death with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/and-i-am-bored-to-death-with-it-bored-to-death-with-this-place-bored/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## 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 Bored quotes > [Normal is so Boring!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/normal-is-so-boring/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you're focused, you can't get bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/if-you-re-focused-you-can-t-get-bored/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) > [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/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [Someone else who liked what I did might turn around and say, "She's reworking and rethinking everything. She could just be making blankets now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-emin/someone-else-who-liked-what-i-did-might-turn-around-and-say-she-s/) [Tracey Emin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-emin/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [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 I get bored I say fck the police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-get-bored-i-say-fck-the-police/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [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 was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [“She wouldn't pick up a fight him just because she was bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-wouldn-t-pick-up-a-fight-him-just-because-she-was-bored/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [...sometimes I get tired. Sometimes I get bored. And sometimes all I want, more than anything else in the world, is to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/sometimes-i-get-tired-sometimes-i-get-bored-and-sometimes-all-i-want/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [I was sober for five years a long time ago and was just bored out of my tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-was-sober-for-five-years-a-long-time-ago-and-was-just-bored-out-of/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) [Browse all 2,067 Bored quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bored/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. Come, let's get to work! (He advances towards the heap, stops in his stride.) In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone more, in the midst of nothingness!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Beckett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-hand-no-don-t-protest-we-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bored" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-hand-no-don-t-protest-we-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/samuel-beckett-365_bored_we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-ha_1931753.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying…” — 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": "We wait. We are bored. (He...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-hand-no-don-t-protest-we-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-wait-we-are-bored-he-throws-up-his-hand-no-don-t-protest-we-are/#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 } } ] } ```