--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm more interested in the meaning of…" description: "\"I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail experience. It's an existential one.\" — Thomas Lynch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png" --- # I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the… ![“I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail experience. It's an existential one.” quote by Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png) > “I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail experience. It's an existential one.” [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Funerals are profound rituals that confront mortality, offering communal space for existential reflection rather than commercial transaction. **In simple terms:** Funerals help us face death together. Key Takeaway Honor the depth of mourning. Themes mortality community existential rituals Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - funeral planning - grief counseling - memorial design - public speaking Key Concepts thanology grief processing cultural practices Questions to Reflect On - How can we preserve authenticity in modern rites? - What role does community play in personal loss? A Different Perspective Commercialization can dilute authentic grief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Funeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funeral/) [Funerals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funerals/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Mourning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mourning/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Retail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retail/) ## Related quotes > [In fact, with Michael Jackson, I think those mourning people... They aren't even waking Michael, they're waking the Michael Jackson of '84. They never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobcat-goldthwait/in-fact-with-michael-jackson-i-think-those-mourning-people-they-aren/) [Bobcat Goldthwait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobcat-goldthwait/) > [“There are those, too, who are ethnically predisposed in favor of funerals, who recognize among the black drapes and dirges an emotionally potent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-are-those-too-who-are-ethnically-predisposed-in-favor-of/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“Perhaps because it seems so appropriate, I don't notice the rain. It falls in sheets, a blanket of silvery thread rushing to the hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-zink/perhaps-because-it-seems-so-appropriate-i-don-t-notice-the-rain-it/) [Michelle Zink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-zink/) > [I don't go to racers' funerals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-martin/i-don-t-go-to-racers-funerals/) [Guy Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-martin/) > [A thousand people will stop smoking today. Their funerals will be held sometime in the next three or four days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/a-thousand-people-will-stop-smoking-today-their-funerals-will-be-held/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [“Do you really think anyone needs some kind of notarized statement saying 'Dear Saint Peter, here's another stiff, pass him through the gates, signed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-n-elrod/do-you-really-think-anyone-needs-some-kind-of-notarized-statement/) P. N. Elrod > [“Begbie doesnae even notice; he's in his element, particularly good at funerals in the way a lot ay psychopaths tend tae be. Ah suppose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/begbie-doesnae-even-notice-he-s-in-his-element-particularly-good-at/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“A premature death does not only rob one of the countless instances where one would have experienced pleasure, it also saves one from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-premature-death-does-not-only-rob-one-of-the-countless-instances/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I don't like my parents; I never will. I didn't cry at either of their funerals. I haven't missed them for five seconds. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-small/i-don-t-like-my-parents-i-never-will-i-didn-t-cry-at-either-of-their/) [David Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-small/) > [Sometimes funerals can be good. It reunites you with your cousins you haven't seen in a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-burtka/sometimes-funerals-can-be-good-it-reunites-you-with-your-cousins-you/) [David Burtka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-burtka/) > [When someone dies then they go to their funeral. Stands there... says nothing, because they are gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-barger/when-someone-dies-then-they-go-to-their-funeral-stands-there-says/) [Anthony Barger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-barger/) > [“An expensive coffin does not decrease the deceased’s chances of going to hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/an-expensive-coffin-does-not-decrease-the-deceased-s-chances-of-going/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Funerals and weddings were commonplace, and nothing could have been so interesting to them as the coming of the end of the world ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-eggleston/funerals-and-weddings-were-commonplace-and-nothing-could-have-been-so/) [Edward Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-eggleston/) > [Growing up, there were a lot of funerals that I attended, and the adults at the funerals went out of their way to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fuller/growing-up-there-were-a-lot-of-funerals-that-i-attended-and-the/) [Bryan Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fuller/) > [“Atmosphere" is a massive song. A lot of people say it's their favorite Joy Division song, but it's not mine; it reminds me too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/atmosphere-is-a-massive-song-a-lot-of-people-say-it-s-their-favorite/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) ## More by Thomas Lynch > [“I had this theory. It was based loosely on the unremarkable observation that the old are always looking back with longing while the young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-had-this-theory-it-was-based-loosely-on-the-unremarkable/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The advance of our technology is coincidental with the loss of our appetite for ethical questions that ought to attend the implications of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-advance-of-our-technology-is-coincidental-with-the-loss-of-our/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever’s there to feel, feel it – the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The bodies of the newly dead are not debris nor remnant, nor are they entirely icon or essence. They are, rather, changelings, incubates, hatchlings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-bodies-of-the-newly-dead-are-not-debris-nor-remnant-nor-are-they/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The living have to live with it. You don’t. Theirs is the grief or the gladness of your death, theirs is the loss or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-living-have-to-live-with-it-you-don-t-theirs-is-the-grief-or-the/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-past-the-past-we-imagine/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever's there to feel, feel it—the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your own mortality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright-2/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [... by doing you shall know What it is you have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/by-doing-you-shall-know-what-it-is-you-have-to-do/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Usually a poem takes shape accoustically - a line or a pair of lines will repeat itself in my ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/usually-a-poem-takes-shape-accoustically-a-line-or-a-pair-of-lines/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [If I were assigned poems I suppose I'd write more of them but it is entirely voluntary and for the most part ignored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/if-i-were-assigned-poems-i-suppose-i-d-write-more-of-them-but-it-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“There are those, too, who are ethnically predisposed in favor of funerals, who recognize among the black drapes and dirges an emotionally potent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-are-those-too-who-are-ethnically-predisposed-in-favor-of/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [I'm lazy but generally task oriented so having a hoop to jump through means eventually I'll make the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-lazy-but-generally-task-oriented-so-having-a-hoop-to-jump-through/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [There's no easy way to do this. So do it right: weep, laugh, watch, pray, love, live, give thanks and praise; comfort, mend, honor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-s-no-easy-way-to-do-this-so-do-it-right-weep-laugh-watch-pray/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Grief is the price we pay for being close to one another. If we want to avoid our grief, we simply avoid each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-being-close-to-one-another-if-we-want/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“I will, I do, Amen, Here Here, Let's eat, drink and be merry. Marriage is the public spectacle of private parts: cheque-books and genitals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-will-i-do-amen-here-here-let-s-eat-drink-and-be-merry-marriage-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) [Explore all 35 Thomas Lynch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## More Existential quotes > [When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/when-we-watch-a-play-under-the-standard-circumstances-we-ve-lost/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-we-should-be-very-careful-about-artificial-intelligence-if-i/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The argument that won the Brexit campaign is the one that said take back control... which is another way of saying we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-timmermans/the-argument-that-won-the-brexit-campaign-is-the-one-that-said-take/) [Frans Timmermans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-timmermans/) > [“When it has finished saying it, it no longer is. The longer it is in saying it, the more it can say it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-ponge/when-it-has-finished-saying-it-it-no-longer-is-the-longer-it-is-in/) Francis Ponge > [We have an existential crisis, which is the climate crisis. Canada is one of the laggards in the industrialized world. Our record is terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/we-have-an-existential-crisis-which-is-the-climate-crisis-canada-is/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [Did television execs have souls? Now, that was an existential question and a half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/did-television-execs-have-souls-now-that-was-an-existential-question/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [“So am I dead? How many kinds of living and dead and living dead and dead living had I been in just these few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-frances-turner/so-am-i-dead-how-many-kinds-of-living-and-dead-and-living-dead-and/) [Joan Frances Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-frances-turner/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I write very rarely. Only, in fact, when the sheet of paper suffers an existential crisis and threatens, if I don't surrender to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-dimoula/i-write-very-rarely-only-in-fact-when-the-sheet-of-paper-suffers-an/) [Kiki Dimoula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-dimoula/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [If I had to choose between the two ways of approaching the deity, I should prefer the existential relational way, to the abstract philosophical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-cross/if-i-had-to-choose-between-the-two-ways-of-approaching-the-deity-i/) [Frank Moore Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-cross/) > [Huge public spending and borrowing in the face of an existential crisis is clearly the right thing to do, as is putting people's health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/huge-public-spending-and-borrowing-in-the-face-of-an-existential/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) > [The ability to forget the past enables people to free themselves gradually from the pain they once suffered; but it also often makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-ability-to-forget-the-past-enables-people-to-free-themselves/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) [Browse all 616 Existential quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail experience. It's an existential one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Lynch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-funerals-and-the-mourning-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existential" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-funerals-and-the-mourning-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/thomas-lynch-18339_existential_i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-fu_3065161.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail…” — Thomas Lynch", "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": "Thomas Lynch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm more interested in the meaning...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-funerals-and-the-mourning-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-more-interested-in-the-meaning-of-funerals-and-the-mourning-that/#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 } } ] } ```