--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Although none of the rules for becoming…" description: "\"Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is valid, it is healthy to keep on formulating them.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg" --- # Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is… ![“Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is valid, it is healthy to keep on formulating them.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg) > “Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is valid, it is healthy to keep on formulating them.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even if rules for vitality lack validity, continually creating them is beneficial. **In simple terms:** Making rules about liveliness is healthy. Key Takeaway Keep exploring ways to feel alive. Themes self‑development philosophy well‑being Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - journaling - exercise - creative projects - social interaction Key Concepts personal growth existential inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What new "rules" will you try? - How do you measure aliveness? A Different Perspective Over‑systematizing can stifle authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Alive Valid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive-valid-3610851/) [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Formulating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formulating-255799/) [Healthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healthy/) [Healthy Formulating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healthy-formulating-3610853/) [Rules Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-alive-3610852/) [Valid Healthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/valid-healthy-3209277/) ## Related quotes > [Morbid humor is very valid, even healthy, as long as you don't do it gratuitously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-larson/morbid-humor-is-very-valid-even-healthy-as-long-as-you-don-t-do-it/) [Gary Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-larson/) > [“That was the trouble with formulating a system: what could you do but repeat it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-washington/that-was-the-trouble-with-formulating-a-system-what-could-you-do-but/) [Peter Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-washington/) > [Form is all we have to help us cope with fundamentally chaotic facts and assaults. Formulating something is a great start. I trust form,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/form-is-all-we-have-to-help-us-cope-with-fundamentally-chaotic-facts/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [“The river of life divides into two branches: being and formulating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-river-of-life-divides-into-two-branches-being-and-formulating/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Formulating the proposal is about 80% of the actual time of the process. In the end, the time spent filming, editing and postproduction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-alys/formulating-the-proposal-is-about-80-of-the-actual-time-of-the/) [Francis Alys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-alys/) > [Words, yes, formulating things, creating something from your heart, it is something very necessary, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-marceau/words-yes-formulating-things-creating-something-from-your-heart-it-is/) [Sophie Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-marceau/) > [We have the duty of formulating, of summarizing, and of communicating our conclusions, in intelligible form, in recognition of the right of other free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/we-have-the-duty-of-formulating-of-summarizing-and-of-communicating/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [I was also interested in formulating the path of chemical reactions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenichi-fukui/i-was-also-interested-in-formulating-the-path-of-chemical-reactions/) [Kenichi Fukui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenichi-fukui/) > [“You are right to demand that an author be conscious of what he is doing, but you are confusing two concepts: solving the problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/you-are-right-to-demand-that-an-author-be-conscious-of-what-he-is/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-johnson/the-human-body-has-been-designed-to-resist-an-infinite-number-of/) [Harry Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-johnson/) > [Across the globe, regardless of nationality or financial status, there is a common dream every mother has for her children - for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-mathews-burwell/across-the-globe-regardless-of-nationality-or-financial-status-there/) [Sylvia Mathews Burwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-mathews-burwell/) > [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) > [If you’re a person struggling to eat and stay healthy you might have heard about Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali, but you’ll never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-you-re-a-person-struggling-to-eat-and-stay-healthy-you-might-have/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is valid, it is healthy to keep on formulating them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming-more-alive-is-valid-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming-more-alive-is-valid-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/susan-sontag-332_alive_although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming_1202319.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although none of the rules for becoming more alive is valid, it is healthy to keep on formulating them.” — Susan Sontag", "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": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Although none of the rules for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming-more-alive-is-valid-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/although-none-of-the-rules-for-becoming-more-alive-is-valid-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```