--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My first breath was just...it just seemed…" description: "\"My first breath was just...it just seemed impossible that you could actually breathe underwater. I knew in my mind it was possible, but actually experi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/sylvia-earle-1756_able_my-first-breath-was-just-it-just-seemed_1461658.jpg" --- # My first breath was just...it just seemed impossible that… ![“My first breath was just...it just seemed impossible that you could actually breathe underwater. I knew in my mind it was possible, but actually experiencing it was such a gulp of joy and I feel it every time I go under the ocean. I love doing it, to be able to feel weightless, to spin on one…” quote by Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/sylvia-earle-1756_able_my-first-breath-was-just-it-just-seemed_1461658.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/sylvia-earle-1756_able_my-first-breath-was-just-it-just-seemed_1461658.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/006/sylvia-earle-1756_able_my-first-breath-was-just-it-just-seemed_1461658.jpg) > “My first breath was just...it just seemed impossible that you could actually breathe underwater. I knew in my mind it was possible, but actually experiencing it was such a gulp of joy and I feel it every time I go under the ocean. I love doing it, to be able to feel weightless, to spin on one finger, to do somersaults, to be like a graceful ballerina - even with a huge tank on your back you can do the most extraordinary things.” [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experiencing underwater breathing feels impossible yet exhilarating, offering a sense of weightlessness and freedom that inspires joy each time. **In simple terms:** Breathing underwater feels impossible and joyful. Key Takeaway Embrace the challenge of the unknown. Themes adventure freedom joy Mood inspired exhilarated Type motivational adventurous When to use this quote - scuba diving - underwater photography - training for freediving - overcoming fear of water Key Concepts marine biology psychology of flow Questions to Reflect On - What does weightlessness symbolize for you? - How does overcoming fear transform experience? A Different Perspective Physical limits and safety concerns can restrict access. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Actually Breathe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actually-breathe-3804867/) [Ballerina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballerina/) [Breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breath/) [Breathe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathe/) [Breathe Underwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathe-underwater-1829511/) [Breaths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Extraordinary things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary-things/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fingers/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Tanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tanks/) [Underwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater/) [Underwater Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater-knew-5282227/) ## Related quotes > [Being able to breathe underwater would be sweet. 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Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-s-carter/) > [Now that we have a democracy and you can go back and the airport air is not laden with evil any more, you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-suzman/now-that-we-have-a-democracy-and-you-can-go-back-and-the-airport-air/) [Janet Suzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-suzman/) > [When I was six I wanted to be a ballerina. By the time I was eight I was fairly sure this plan wasn't panning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-crook/when-i-was-six-i-wanted-to-be-a-ballerina-by-the-time-i-was-eight-i/) [Elizabeth Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-crook/) > [When I write a scientific treatise, I might reach 100 people. 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Your weight seems to disappear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/success-underwater-depends-mostly-on-how-you-conduct-yourself-diving/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [I've always said, 'Underwater or on top, men and women are compatible.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/i-ve-always-said-underwater-or-on-top-men-and-women-are-compatible/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [“Dance as the narration of a magical story; that recites on lips, illuminates imaginations and embraces the most sacred depths of souls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shah-asad-rizvi/dance-as-the-narration-of-a-magical-story-that-recites-on-lips/) [Shah Asad Rizvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shah-asad-rizvi/) > [“Burdened no more is soul for whom life flows through dance like breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shah-asad-rizvi/burdened-no-more-is-soul-for-whom-life-flows-through-dance-like-breath/) [Shah Asad Rizvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shah-asad-rizvi/) > [“If movements were a spark every dancer would desire to light up in flames.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shah-asad-rizvi/if-movements-were-a-spark-every-dancer-would-desire-to-light-up-in/) [Shah Asad Rizvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shah-asad-rizvi/) > [“O wayfarer! Yearn finds quench, not in meadows, seashores or altitude of mountain peaks; but when being and dance are one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shah-asad-rizvi/o-wayfarer-yearn-finds-quench-not-in-meadows-seashores-or-altitude-of/) [Shah Asad Rizvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shah-asad-rizvi/) > [Wouldn't it be great if we all grew up to be what we wanted to be? The world would be full of nurses, firemen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/wouldn-t-it-be-great-if-we-all-grew-up-to-be-what-we-wanted-to-be-the/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-garner/to-become-a-classical-ballerina-you-have-to-move-to-new-york-when-you/) [Jennifer Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-garner/) ## More by Sylvia Earle > [We still have 10 percent of the sharks. 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We are newcomers, really recent arrivals on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/the-observations-that-have-developed-over-the-years-have-given-us/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) [Explore all 211 Sylvia Earle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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