--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: existence is humiliation, anyway." description: "\"“existence is humiliation, anyway.”\" — Steve Toltz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png" --- # existence is humiliation, anyway. ![“existence is humiliation, anyway.” quote by Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png) > ““existence is humiliation, anyway.”” [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is portrayed as inherently degrading, suggesting existential despair and the absurdity of human condition. **In simple terms:** Life feels degrading and absurd. Key Takeaway Accept absurdity, find personal meaning. Themes existentialism absurdity humiliation Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - philosophical debate - literary analysis Key Concepts nihilism existential dread Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of life feel humiliating? - How can one find dignity amidst absurdity? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook moments of joy and resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Humiliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-humiliation-5718726/) [Humiliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliation/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) ## Related quotes > [ I guarantee you \[Hillary Clinton\] is smoking in humiliation over the idea that she needs to heal and that \[Donald\] Trump's the guy to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-guarantee-you-hillary-clinton-is-smoking-in-humiliation-over-the/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [What hurts people a lot is taking humiliation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wyatt/what-hurts-people-a-lot-is-taking-humiliation/) [Robert Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wyatt/) > [Humiliation, slavery, fear have perverted us to the bone; we no longer look like men... . Men must be granted the respect due to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-dib/humiliation-slavery-fear-have-perverted-us-to-the-bone-we-no-longer/) [Mohammed Dib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-dib/) > [The humiliation of the North is complete and overwhelming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-f-wade/the-humiliation-of-the-north-is-complete-and-overwhelming/) [Benjamin F. Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-f-wade/) > [Do not fret, for Humiliation, too, is a Station of the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lawson/do-not-fret-for-humiliation-too-is-a-station-of-the-cross/) [Robin Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lawson/) > [People didn't feel so much shame around it and that they didn't feel so much humiliation around it. And the other thing that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/people-didn-t-feel-so-much-shame-around-it-and-that-they-didn-t-feel/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [He was so excessively polite that Wallendar suspected he had endured many humiliations in his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/he-was-so-excessively-polite-that-wallendar-suspected-he-had-endured/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [But what a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/but-what-a-humiliation-for-me-when-someone-standing-next-to-me-heard/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [Take humiliation and keep trying ,earn proper respect for yourself and your soul. Pride only shows lack of confidence, arrogant dirty soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-amorelli/take-humiliation-and-keep-trying-earn-proper-respect-for-yourself-and/) [Jennifer Amorelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-amorelli/) > [ You know, we'll hardly get our feet out of time \[and\] into eternity that we'll bow our heads in shame and humiliation. We'll gaze… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/you-know-we-ll-hardly-get-our-feet-out-of-time-and-into-eternity-that/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Every acknowledgment of gratitude is a circumstance of humiliation; and some are found to submit to frequent mortifications of this kind, proclaiming what obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/every-acknowledgment-of-gratitude-is-a-circumstance-of-humiliation/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [I have been subjected to constant harassment and humiliation by Mr. Abad Ponda with his sexist remarks and insulting comments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhea-pillai/i-have-been-subjected-to-constant-harassment-and-humiliation-by-mr/) [Rhea Pillai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhea-pillai/) > [“In comparison to what I've suffered from myself, the humiliation and suffering inflicted on me by others vanishes into insignificance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-comparison-to-what-i-ve-suffered-from-myself-the-humiliation-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [it is the worst humiliation and grievance of the suffering, that they cause suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/it-is-the-worst-humiliation-and-grievance-of-the-suffering-that-they/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) ## More by Steve Toltz > [ “To my horror principles have wormed their way into \[the\] fabric of my being.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/to-my-horror-principles-have-wormed-their-way-into-the-fabric-of-my/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [I'm not sure if I always wanted to be a writer, but I was always writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-m-not-sure-if-i-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-but-i-was-always/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [“The problem is most of the time when God’s supposed to be the hero, he comes across as the villain. I mean, look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/the-problem-is-most-of-the-time-when-god-s-supposed-to-be-the-hero-he/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [ \[I'll teach you\] how not to leave the windows of your heart open when it looks like rain and how everyone has a stump… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-ll-teach-you-how-not-to-leave-the-windows-of-your-heart-open-when/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [...I thought how I hate any kind of mob - I hate mobs of sports fans, mobs of environmental demonstrators, I even hate mobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-thought-how-i-hate-any-kind-of-mob-i-hate-mobs-of-sports-fans-mobs/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [I was in the hospital and I was paralyzed and I went through all of these things. I've had all of these crazy experiences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-was-in-the-hospital-and-i-was-paralyzed-and-i-went-through-all-of/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [Let’s not mince words: the inside of the Sydney casino looks as if Vegas had an illegitimate child with Liberace’s underpants, and that child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/let-s-not-mince-words-the-inside-of-the-sydney-casino-looks-as-if/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [Optimism isn't funny unless you are laughing at the person, whereas extreme pessimism is extremely funny. It's exaggeration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/optimism-isn-t-funny-unless-you-are-laughing-at-the-person-whereas/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [There's nothing perplexing to me about a leafy shrub evolving out of the big bang, but that the post office exists because carbon exploded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/there-s-nothing-perplexing-to-me-about-a-leafy-shrub-evolving-out-of/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [The game is an analogy for life: there are not enough chairs or good times to go around, not enough food, not enough joy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/the-game-is-an-analogy-for-life-there-are-not-enough-chairs-or-good/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [“Don't touch me, you fat ghost!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/don-t-touch-me-you-fat-ghost/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [Raymond Chandler I love a lot, and the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard. I really love his voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/raymond-chandler-i-love-a-lot-and-the-austrian-writer-thomas-bernhard/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [The universe doesn't really care if you bounce back. It doesn't feel that weird to write about paralysis or being in hospital or losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/the-universe-doesn-t-really-care-if-you-bounce-back-it-doesn-t-feel/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [“The world's not falling apart imperceptibly anymore, these days it makes a loud shredding noise!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/the-world-s-not-falling-apart-imperceptibly-anymore-these-days-it/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [“Sex: the match that sets off human firework.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/sex-the-match-that-sets-off-human-firework/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) [Explore all 119 Steve Toltz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“existence is humiliation, anyway.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Steve Toltz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/existence-is-humiliation-anyway/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/existence-is-humiliation-anyway/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/steve-toltz-3783_existence_existence-is-humiliation-anyway-3161892_3161892.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“existence is humiliation, anyway.” — Steve Toltz", "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": "Steve Toltz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“existence is humiliation, anyway.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/existence-is-humiliation-anyway/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/existence-is-humiliation-anyway/#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 } } ] } ```