--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we call 'time' isn't chronological…" description: "\"“What we call 'time' isn't chronological but spatial; what we call 'death' is merely a transition between different kinds of matter.”\" — STEPHANE AUDEGUY" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/stephane-audeguy-56047_chronology_what-we-call-time-isn-t-chronological-bu_2791068.jpg" --- # What we call 'time' isn't chronological but spatial; what… ![“What we call 'time' isn't chronological but spatial; what we call 'death' is merely a transition between different kinds of matter.” quote by STEPHANE AUDEGUY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/stephane-audeguy-56047_chronology_what-we-call-time-isn-t-chronological-bu_2791068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/stephane-audeguy-56047_chronology_what-we-call-time-isn-t-chronological-bu_2791068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/stephane-audeguy-56047_chronology_what-we-call-time-isn-t-chronological-bu_2791068.jpg) > ““What we call 'time' isn't chronological but spatial; what we call 'death' is merely a transition between different kinds of matter.”” [STEPHANE AUDEGUY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephane-audeguy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time is spatial, and death is a material transition, not a linear end. **In simple terms:** Time and death are about change, not chronology. Key Takeaway Embrace change as natural. Themes time death spatial material Mood contemplative neutral Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - life planning - grief counseling - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy physics Questions to Reflect On - How does viewing time spatially affect your goals? - What comfort can you find in seeing death as transition? A Different Perspective Scientific perspectives may differ on time's nature. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chronological Spatial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chronological-spatial-3380095/) [Chronology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chronology/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Isn Chronological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isn-chronological-3380096/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Spatial Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spatial-death-3380094/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-isn/) [Transition Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transition-different-2446408/) ## Related quotes > [“Change is the transition from same to different. Ever present. Ever encompassing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-brescanu/change-is-the-transition-from-same-to-different-ever-present-ever/) [Tina Brescanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-brescanu/) > [“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I've always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresey. 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So that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/particularly-the-actors-to-have-analyzed-the-script-in-great-detail/) [Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/) > [“Have you noticed how just trying to impose any sort of chronology on events makes it seem as though a lot of time has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hamilton-paterson/have-you-noticed-how-just-trying-to-impose-any-sort-of-chronology-on/) [James Hamilton-Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hamilton-paterson/) > [Of course the chronology of the books is a bit back- to - front, and books usually come out before movies. But happily, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/of-course-the-chronology-of-the-books-is-a-bit-back-to-front-and/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [“On the whole I try to keep Modesty and Willie in timeless settings, which is why I avoid all the latest slang and in-words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-donnell/on-the-whole-i-try-to-keep-modesty-and-willie-in-timeless-settings/) [Peter O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-o-donnell/) > [Sometimes indirect style and varying chronology is great, but quite often I've seen it be just something that gets in the way. It turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-indirect-style-and-varying-chronology-is-great-but-quite/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [“All that we call sacred history attests that the birth of a poet is the principal event in chronology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-that-we-call-sacred-history-attests-that-the-birth-of-a-poet-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ My chronology is terrible. \[Work with William Shawn\] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. After New - when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-chronology-is-terrible-work-with-william-shawn-must-have-some-ago/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [The first sparrow of spring! The year beginning with younger hope than ever!... What at such a time are histories, chronologies, traditions, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-first-sparrow-of-spring-the-year-beginning-with-younger-hope-than/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by STEPHANE AUDEGUY > [“There is something almost insane about countries without common borders going to war, something unnatural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephane-audeguy/there-is-something-almost-insane-about-countries-without-common/) [STEPHANE AUDEGUY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephane-audeguy/) > [“One dead body required two men either to bury it or to transport it to the rear. A wounded soldier, on the other hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephane-audeguy/one-dead-body-required-two-men-either-to-bury-it-or-to-transport-it/) [STEPHANE AUDEGUY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephane-audeguy/) > [“Men are destroyed, and destroy each other, over basic things – money or hatred. 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Shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-question-is-shall-it-or-shall-it-not-be-linear-history-i-ve/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [ My chronology is terrible. \[Work with William Shawn\] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. After New - when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-chronology-is-terrible-work-with-william-shawn-must-have-some-ago/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [“All that we call sacred history attests that the birth of a poet is the principal event in chronology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-that-we-call-sacred-history-attests-that-the-birth-of-a-poet-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Sometimes indirect style and varying chronology is great, but quite often I've seen it be just something that gets in the way. It turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-indirect-style-and-varying-chronology-is-great-but-quite/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [“On the whole I try to keep Modesty and Willie in timeless settings, which is why I avoid all the latest slang and in-words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-donnell/on-the-whole-i-try-to-keep-modesty-and-willie-in-timeless-settings/) [Peter O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-o-donnell/) > [Of course the chronology of the books is a bit back- to - front, and books usually come out before movies. But happily, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/of-course-the-chronology-of-the-books-is-a-bit-back-to-front-and/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [“Have you noticed how just trying to impose any sort of chronology on events makes it seem as though a lot of time has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hamilton-paterson/have-you-noticed-how-just-trying-to-impose-any-sort-of-chronology-on/) [James Hamilton-Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hamilton-paterson/) > [Particularly, the actors, to have analyzed the script in great detail from the point of view of their specific character. So that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/particularly-the-actors-to-have-analyzed-the-script-in-great-detail/) [Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/) > [I have insane curiosity as to what happened in all these events. I will never know. I'm not a researcher. I don't possess that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-have-insane-curiosity-as-to-what-happened-in-all-these-events-i/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [History, if viewed as a repository for more than anecdote or chronology, could produce a decisive transformation in the image of science by which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-kuhn/history-if-viewed-as-a-repository-for-more-than-anecdote-or/) [Thomas Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-kuhn/) > [I am strongly of the opinion that chronology is very important. The great arc of time is what children are wired for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/i-am-strongly-of-the-opinion-that-chronology-is-very-important-the/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The idiot, the Indian, the child and unschooled farmer's boy stand nearer to the light by which nature is to be read, than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-idiot-the-indian-the-child-and-unschooled-farmer-s-boy-stand/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [History is philosophy teaching by example and also by warning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/history-is-philosophy-teaching-by-example-and-also-by-warning/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [The first sparrow of spring! The year beginning with younger hope than ever!... 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