--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Knowing that everything comes to an end…" description: "\"Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end. Before we get i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e03/tobias-wolff-7890_coming-to-an-end_knowing-that-everything-comes-to-an-end_1478873.png" --- # Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of… ![“Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end. Before we get it we live in a continuous present, and imagine the future as more of that present. Happiness is endless happiness, innocent of its own sure…” quote by Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e03/tobias-wolff-7890_coming-to-an-end_knowing-that-everything-comes-to-an-end_1478873.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e03/tobias-wolff-7890_coming-to-an-end_knowing-that-everything-comes-to-an-end_1478873.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e03/tobias-wolff-7890_coming-to-an-end_knowing-that-everything-comes-to-an-end_1478873.png) > “Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end. Before we get it we live in a continuous present, and imagine the future as more of that present. Happiness is endless happiness, innocent of its own sure passing. Pain is endless pain.” [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing mortality gives perspective, making present moments valuable and shaping our view of happiness and pain. **In simple terms:** Knowing we end gives present meaning. Key Takeaway Embrace the present, accept impermanence. Themes mortality perspective mindfulness Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily reflection - grief counseling - philosophical discussion - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism impermanence psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness of ending affect daily choices? - What practices help balance happiness and pain? A Different Perspective Life's finite nature can cause anxiety and nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coming End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-end-408537/) [Coming to an end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-to-an-end/) [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Consolation Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation-gift-5384932/) [End Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-gift-1645481/) [Endless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Experience Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-consolation-4148106/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Innocent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocent/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing/) [Passings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passings/) ## Related quotes > [Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/knowing-that-everything-comes-to-an-end-is-a-gift-of-experience-a-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time I got 'Suits,' I thought my time in Hollywood was coming to an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-j-adams/by-the-time-i-got-suits-i-thought-my-time-in-hollywood-was-coming-to/) [Patrick J. Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-j-adams/) > [What about desserts?" I asked. "If the world comes to an end, I'm going to want cookies." "We're all going to want cookies if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-beth-pfeffer/what-about-desserts-i-asked-if-the-world-comes-to-an-end-i-m-going-to/) [Susan Beth Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-beth-pfeffer/) > [The timeline is kind of coming to an end as far as leading up to free agency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-arrieta/the-timeline-is-kind-of-coming-to-an-end-as-far-as-leading-up-to-free/) [Jake Arrieta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-arrieta/) > [I think it's time to explore our relationship to the hereafter and the now and determine whether or not there is a part mankind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-seltzer/i-think-it-s-time-to-explore-our-relationship-to-the-hereafter-and/) [David Seltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-seltzer/) > [“What is death? Either a transition or an end. I am not afraid of coming to an end, this being the same as never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-annaeus-seneca/what-is-death-either-a-transition-or-an-end-i-am-not-afraid-of-coming/) [Lucius Annaeus Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-annaeus-seneca/) > [The reality is, that no matter what you do in this life, it’s coming to an end. Once you accept there’s nothing that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-corliss/the-reality-is-that-no-matter-what-you-do-in-this-life-it-s-coming-to/) [Jeb Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-corliss/) > [“Their time is coming to an end, we have to Unify and watch our flag ascend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muse/their-time-is-coming-to-an-end-we-have-to-unify-and-watch-our-flag/) [Muse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muse/) > [Great, the worlds coming to an end and we're fixing it with Band-Aids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-beth-pfeffer/great-the-worlds-coming-to-an-end-and-we-re-fixing-it-with-band-aids/) [Susan Beth Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-beth-pfeffer/) > [Civilization is coming to an end, you understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/civilization-is-coming-to-an-end-you-understand/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“And here was the moment. The end of it all, for civilization was merely another name for friendship, and friendship was coming to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/and-here-was-the-moment-the-end-of-it-all-for-civilization-was-merely/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Something told him that something was coming to an end. Not the world, exactly. Just the summer. There would be other summers, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/something-told-him-that-something-was-coming-to-an-end-not-the-world/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [My life, between 22 yards for 24 years... It's hard to imagine that this is coming to an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachin-tendulkar/my-life-between-22-yards-for-24-years-it-s-hard-to-imagine-that-this/) [Sachin Tendulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachin-tendulkar/) > [“And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-so-for-a-time-it-looked-as-if-all-the-adventures-were-coming-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A courteous war mage. The world really was coming to an end. And then Pritkin ran back around the corner followed by half a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/a-courteous-war-mage-the-world-really-was-coming-to-an-end-and-then/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) ## More by Tobias Wolff > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [We even talked like Hemingway characters, though in travesty, as if to deny our discipleship: That is your bed, and it is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/we-even-talked-like-hemingway-characters-though-in-travesty-as-if-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“But for now Anders can still make time. Time for the shadows to lengthen on the grass, time for the tethered dog to bark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/but-for-now-anders-can-still-make-time-time-for-the-shadows-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [One of the last courses I taught was on the Russian short story, which I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/one-of-the-last-courses-i-taught-was-on-the-russian-short-story-which/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“He did not remember when everything began to remind him of something else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/he-did-not-remember-when-everything-began-to-remind-him-of-something/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-people-s-feelings-when-i-teach/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Work for most people is really very social, and the actual thinking is often done in community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/work-for-most-people-is-really-very-social-and-the-actual-thinking-is/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Writers cannot let themselves be servants of the official mythology. They have to, whatever the cost, say what truth they have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/writers-cannot-let-themselves-be-servants-of-the-official-mythology/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [One can imagine a world without essays. It would be a little poorer, of course, like a world without chess, but one could live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/one-can-imagine-a-world-without-essays-it-would-be-a-little-poorer-of/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I was giving up--being realistic, as people liked to say, meaning the same thing. Being realistic made me feel bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-was-giving-up-being-realistic-as-people-liked-to-say-meaning-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“Lose Faith. Pray anyway. Persist. We are made to persist, to complete the whole tour. That's how we find out who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/lose-faith-pray-anyway-persist-we-are-made-to-persist-to-complete-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I believe that the short story is as different a form from the novel as poetry is, and the best stories seem to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-believe-that-the-short-story-is-as-different-a-form-from-the-novel/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/it-s-probably-why-i-m-a-short-story-writer-i-tend-to-remember-things/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/when-we-are-green-still-half-created-we-believe-that-our-dreams-are/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) [Explore all 86 Tobias Wolff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) ## More Coming to an end quotes > [“A courteous war mage. The world really was coming to an end. And then Pritkin ran back around the corner followed by half a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/a-courteous-war-mage-the-world-really-was-coming-to-an-end-and-then/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, stressing the experience of wandering in time, space and mediums. The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/) [Nicolas Bourriaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-bourriaud/) > [“And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-so-for-a-time-it-looked-as-if-all-the-adventures-were-coming-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [The one thing I was good at was winning scholarships and prizes, and that era was coming to an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-one-thing-i-was-good-at-was-winning-scholarships-and-prizes-and/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It's sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open, in a way - cracks you open to feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/it-s-sad-something-coming-to-an-end-it-cracks-you-open-in-a-way/) [Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/) > [My life, between 22 yards for 24 years... It's hard to imagine that this is coming to an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachin-tendulkar/my-life-between-22-yards-for-24-years-it-s-hard-to-imagine-that-this/) [Sachin Tendulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachin-tendulkar/) > [Something told him that something was coming to an end. Not the world, exactly. Just the summer. There would be other summers, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/something-told-him-that-something-was-coming-to-an-end-not-the-world/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“I guess it is what you do if you grow up with warnings of damnation ringing from every church door and radio station and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bragg/i-guess-it-is-what-you-do-if-you-grow-up-with-warnings-of-damnation/) [Rick Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bragg/) > [“And here was the moment. The end of it all, for civilization was merely another name for friendship, and friendship was coming to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/and-here-was-the-moment-the-end-of-it-all-for-civilization-was-merely/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Mr. Obama said that he personally told Mr. Putin to knock it off and vows to retaliate. But the Obama presidency is coming to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickerson/mr-obama-said-that-he-personally-told-mr-putin-to-knock-it-off-and/) [John Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickerson/) > [Civilization is coming to an end, you understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/civilization-is-coming-to-an-end-you-understand/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [The era during which only governments could put hardware on the Moon is coming to an end. There are 26 private teams competing for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-era-during-which-only-governments-could-put-hardware-on-the-moon/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-said-that-what-is-called-the-spirit-of-an-age-is-something-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Great, the worlds coming to an end and we're fixing it with Band-Aids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-beth-pfeffer/great-the-worlds-coming-to-an-end-and-we-re-fixing-it-with-band-aids/) [Susan Beth Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-beth-pfeffer/) [Browse all 139 Coming to an end quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-to-an-end/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end. Before we get it we live in a continuous present, and imagine the future as more of that present. Happiness is endless happiness, innocent of its own sure passing. 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