--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't want to die - not before I'd…" description: "\"I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow.\" — Siegfried Sassoon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg" --- # I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The… ![“I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow.” quote by Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg) > “I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow.” [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in death, the desire to finish reading reflects a deep love for literature and life. **In simple terms:** He wanted to finish a book before dying. Key Takeaway Finish what you love. Themes death literature passion Mood somber reflective Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - hospital bedside - personal reflection - book clubs Key Concepts mortality humanism Questions to Reflect On - What unfinished work matters most to you? - How does literature comfort in facing mortality? A Different Perspective Illness may prevent completion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Didn Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didn-want-248723/) [Die Finished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/die-finished-2779002/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Finished Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finished-reading-1025524/) [Native](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/native/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Return Native](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return-native-3185290/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wanting to die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting-to-die/) ## Related quotes > [“Men die when they are finished living...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jones/men-die-when-they-are-finished-living/) [Ben Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jones/) > [The author should die once he has finished writing. So as not to trouble the path of the text.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-author-should-die-once-he-has-finished-writing-so-as-not-to/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [It’s a good poem if I’m a different person when I’m finished reading it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-stanton/it-s-a-good-poem-if-i-m-a-different-person-when-i-m-finished-reading/) [Brandon Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-stanton/) > [“I thought of To Kill a Mockingbird. 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Not to leave the ending too open, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-king/i-like-to-allow-young-readers-to-keep-writing-in-their-heads-after/) [Amy King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-king/) > [I'm a coward, I didn't want to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-hearst/i-m-a-coward-i-didn-t-want-to-die/) [Patty Hearst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-hearst/) > [He who does not want to die should not want to live. For life is tendered to us with the proviso of death. Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/he-who-does-not-want-to-die-should-not-want-to-live-for-life-is/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [I don't want to die without knowing who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/i-don-t-want-to-die-without-knowing-who-i-am/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [I prefer to work for my country in a free and independent way. I was born free, and I want to die free. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/i-prefer-to-work-for-my-country-in-a-free-and-independent-way-i-was/) [Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/) > [I want to live but I want to die. What do I do?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-vizzini/i-want-to-live-but-i-want-to-die-what-do-i-do/) [Ned Vizzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-vizzini/) > [I wonder how long it would take him to realize I'm right as sin - it's the rest of the world that's wrong. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/i-wonder-how-long-it-would-take-him-to-realize-i-m-right-as-sin-it-s/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [If you feel like you want to die, it's time to sit down and make a list of all the things you haven't done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/if-you-feel-like-you-want-to-die-it-s-time-to-sit-down-and-make-a/) [Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/) > [I don't know how to say it exactly. Only...I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?' he asks. I shake my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-don-t-know-how-to-say-it-exactly-only-i-want-to-die-as-myself-does/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) ## More by Siegfried Sassoon > [I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-believe-that-the-purpose-for-which-i-and-my-fellow-soldiers-entered/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [Who's this—alone with stone and sky? It's only my old dog and I— It's only him; it's only me; Alone with stone and grass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/who-s-this-alone-with-stone-and-sky-it-s-only-my-old-dog-and-i-it-s/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [And the wind upon its way whispered the boughs of May, And touched the nodding peony flowers to bid them waken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/and-the-wind-upon-its-way-whispered-the-boughs-of-may-and-touched-the/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“Suicide in the trenches: I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/suicide-in-the-trenches-i-knew-a-simple-soldier-boy-who-grinned-at/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [The visionless officialized fatuityThat once kept Europe safe for Perpetuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/the-visionless-officialized-fatuitythat-once-kept-europe-safe-for/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“I died in hell. They called it Passchendaele.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-died-in-hell-they-called-it-passchendaele/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“I am banished from the patient men who fight. They smote my heart to pity, built my pride. Shoulder to aching shoulder, side by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-am-banished-from-the-patient-men-who-fight-they-smote-my-heart-to/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [December stillness, teach me through your trees That loom along the west, one with the land, The veiled evangel of your mysteries. While nightfall,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/december-stillness-teach-me-through-your-trees-that-loom-along-the/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-am-not-protesting-against-the-conduct-of-the-war-but-against-the/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“Dim, gradual thinning of the shapeless gloom Shudders to drizzling daybreak that reveals Disconsolate men who stamp their sodden boots And turn dulled, sunken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/dim-gradual-thinning-of-the-shapeless-gloom-shudders-to-drizzling/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“In 1917 I was only beginning to learn that life, for the majority of the population, is an unlovely struggle against unfair odds, culminating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/in-1917-i-was-only-beginning-to-learn-that-life-for-the-majority-of/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“Phantoms of thought and memory thinned and fled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/phantoms-of-thought-and-memory-thinned-and-fled/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [Oh yes, I know the way to heaven was easy. We found the little kingdom of our passion that all can share who walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/oh-yes-i-know-the-way-to-heaven-was-easy-we-found-the-little-kingdom/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [“I keep such music in my brain No din this side of death can quell; Glory exulting over pain, And beauty, garlanded in hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-keep-such-music-in-my-brain-no-din-this-side-of-death-can-quell/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [And it's been proved that soldiers don't go mad Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts That drive them out to jabber among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/and-it-s-been-proved-that-soldiers-don-t-go-mad-unless-they-lose/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) [Explore all 65 Siegfried Sassoon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) ## More Dying quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Just living my life till I die...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-mixer/just-living-my-life-till-i-die/) [Willie Mixer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-mixer/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [I don't want to just die a normal death, I wanna be killed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/i-don-t-want-to-just-die-a-normal-death-i-wanna-be-killed-twice/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [Poor David Hume is dying fast, but with more real cheerfulness and good humor and with more real resignation to the necessary course of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/poor-david-hume-is-dying-fast-but-with-more-real-cheerfulness-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/got-to-say-dying-would-really-wreck-my-best-day-been-there-done-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“There is more to living than not dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-is-more-to-living-than-not-dying/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I want people to think they can't die until they see me play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-williams/i-want-people-to-think-they-can-t-die-until-they-see-me-play/) [Ricky Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-williams/) > [... there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/there-are-far-far-worse-things-in-the-living-world-than-dying/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [Life has no guarantees, though. What good is living if all you think about is dying?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-garvis-graves/life-has-no-guarantees-though-what-good-is-living-if-all-you-think/) [Tracey Garvis-Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-garvis-graves/) > [“And if you can’t say yes, answer anyway. Because I’d rather live with the answer than die with the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ellis/and-if-you-can-t-say-yes-answer-anyway-because-i-d-rather-live-with/) [Jon Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ellis/) > [If you feel like you want to die, it's time to sit down and make a list of all the things you haven't done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/if-you-feel-like-you-want-to-die-it-s-time-to-sit-down-and-make-a/) [Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) [Browse all 6,374 Dying quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siegfried Sassoon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-finished-reading-the-return-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dying" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-finished-reading-the-return-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/siegfried-sassoon-10445_native_i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-fini_1141699.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow.” — Siegfried Sassoon", "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": "Siegfried Sassoon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I didn't want to die -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-finished-reading-the-return-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/i-didn-t-want-to-die-not-before-i-d-finished-reading-the-return-of/#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 } } ] } ```