--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to endure life, prepare…" description: "\"If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death.\" — Sigmund Freud" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg" --- # If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death. ![“If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death.” quote by Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg) > “If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death.” [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Accepting mortality equips you to face life's challenges with resilience and purpose. **In simple terms:** Embrace death to strengthen life. Key Takeaway Mortality awareness fuels living fully. Themes mortality resilience purpose psychology existentialism Mood reflective serene determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - confronting personal loss - making long‑term decisions - overcoming fear of the unknown Key Concepts death awareness psychological coping Practical Applications - life coaching - therapeutic counseling Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging death change your daily priorities? - What habits might you adopt if you saw life as finite? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [One of the primary goals in life ... should be to prepare for death. Everything else should be secondary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/one-of-the-primary-goals-in-life-should-be-to-prepare-for-death/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [If you don’t try to create the future you want, you must endure the future you get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/if-you-don-t-try-to-create-the-future-you-want-you-must-endure-the/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [To endure life remains, when all is said, the first duty of all living being Illusion can have no value if it makes this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/to-endure-life-remains-when-all-is-said-the-first-duty-of-all-living/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I believe there is nothing we endure in life that you can't recover from. Failure is not fatal. Everyone has the capacity to fail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavis-smiley/i-believe-there-is-nothing-we-endure-in-life-that-you-can-t-recover/) [Tavis Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavis-smiley/) > [We must embrace the fact that if we don't commit to thinking and living differently than most people now, we are setting ourselves up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/we-must-embrace-the-fact-that-if-we-don-t-commit-to-thinking-and/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [Who would endure life if it were not for the hope of death?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-would-endure-life-if-it-were-not-for-the-hope-of-death/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God Grant me the strength to endure life' obstacles and not lose my composure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-grant-me-the-strength-to-endure-life-obstacles-and-not-lose-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have no control of life. I have to prepare myself for any situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyoto-machida/i-have-no-control-of-life-i-have-to-prepare-myself-for-any-situation/) [Lyoto Machida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyoto-machida/) > [To have a better Life, we must prepare to be better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-have-a-better-life-we-must-prepare-to-be-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One thing I learned in Albuquerque was how to enjoy my life and prepare for fights at the same time. That's been a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-perry/one-thing-i-learned-in-albuquerque-was-how-to-enjoy-my-life-and/) [Mike Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-perry/) > [Faith enables many of us to endure life's difficulties with an equanimity that would be scarcely conceivable in a world lit only by reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/faith-enables-many-of-us-to-endure-life-s-difficulties-with-an/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“A human being can only endure so much. This life exceeds the limit!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-mcdougall/a-human-being-can-only-endure-so-much-this-life-exceeds-the-limit/) Gary McDougall > [“I am a firm believer that the challenges we endure in life evolve us to be the peole we become. I have learned that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vickie-l-peach-wilkins/i-am-a-firm-believer-that-the-challenges-we-endure-in-life-evolve-us/) Vickie L. Peach Wilkins > [Endure what life God gives and ask no longer span; Cease to remember the delights of youth, travel-wearied aged man; Delight becomes death-longing if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/endure-what-life-god-gives-and-ask-no-longer-span-cease-to-remember/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“These days, I am very glad to be a mortal, and to only have to endure this life once. These days, I don't envy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/these-days-i-am-very-glad-to-be-a-mortal-and-to-only-have-to-endure/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) ## More by Sigmund Freud > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Ko postavlja pitanje o smislu zivota,s njegovim libidom nije nesto u redu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/ko-postavlja-pitanje-o-smislu-zivota-s-njegovim-libidom-nije-nesto-u/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“When it comes to the small matters in life one should think long and hard, but when it comes to the big ones -whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-comes-to-the-small-matters-in-life-one-should-think-long-and/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We like to forget that in fact everything in our life is chance, from our genesis out of the encounter of spermatozoon and egg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-like-to-forget-that-in-fact-everything-in-our-life-is-chance-from/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We should picture the instrument that carries our mental functioning as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-should-picture-the-instrument-that-carries-our-mental-functioning/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind. No one, needless to say, who shares a delusion ever recognizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-religions-of-mankind-must-be-classed-among-the-mass-delusions-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [It seems to be my fate to discover only the obvious: that children have sexual feelings, which every nurse maid knows; and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-seems-to-be-my-fate-to-discover-only-the-obvious-that-children/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-first-requisite-of-civilization-is-that-of-justice/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Actually, the substitution of the reality-principle for the pleasure-principle denotes no dethronement of the pleasure-principle, but only a safeguarding of it. A momentary pleasure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/actually-the-substitution-of-the-reality-principle-for-the-pleasure/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/dreams-are-often-most-profound-when-they-seem-the-most-crazy/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [There is to my mind no doubt that the concept of beautiful had its roots in sexual excitation and that its original meaning was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-to-my-mind-no-doubt-that-the-concept-of-beautiful-had-its/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The voice of the intellect is soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-voice-of-the-intellect-is-soft-one-but-it-does-not-rest-until-it/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) [Explore all 608 Sigmund Freud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## More Death 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/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [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/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [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/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sigmund Freud" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yourself-for-death/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yourself-for-death/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/sigmund-freud-360_death_if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yours_57336.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want to endure life, prepare yourself for death.” — Sigmund Freud", "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": "Sigmund Freud", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you want to endure life,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yourself-for-death/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/if-you-want-to-endure-life-prepare-yourself-for-death/#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 } } ] } ```