--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I feel more and more as if time did not…" description: "\"I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all... only various spaces interlocking according to the rules of a higher form of stereometry[the geo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/w-g-sebald-10441_alive_i-feel-more-and-more-as-if-time-did-not_1930608.jpg" --- # I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all… ![“I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all... only various spaces interlocking according to the rules of a higher form of stereometry[the geometric measurement of solid bodies], between which the living and the dead can move back and forth as they like, and the longer I think about it…” quote by W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/w-g-sebald-10441_alive_i-feel-more-and-more-as-if-time-did-not_1930608.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/w-g-sebald-10441_alive_i-feel-more-and-more-as-if-time-did-not_1930608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/w-g-sebald-10441_alive_i-feel-more-and-more-as-if-time-did-not_1930608.jpg) > “I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all... only various spaces interlocking according to the rules of a higher form of stereometry\[the geometric measurement of solid bodies\], between which the living and the dead can move back and forth as they like, and the longer I think about it the more it seems to me that we who are still alive are unreal in the eyes of the dead.” [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that time is an illusion, with spaces interlocking like a higher geometry, allowing the dead and living to intersect, making the living feel unreal to the dead. **In simple terms:** Time feels like an illusion where living and dead intersect. Key Takeaway Consider existence as fluid across dimensions. Themes philosophy existentialism perception time life after death Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - contemplating mortality - artistic writing - philosophical discourse - personal meditation Key Concepts metaphysics ontological relativity dimensional theory Questions to Reflect On - How does perceiving time as non-linear affect your daily choices? - Do you feel more connected to past generations? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex physics and consciousness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Peace is possible for dead bodies, living bodies can not expect peace on the way to the victory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/peace-is-possible-for-dead-bodies-living-bodies-can-not-expect-peace/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“While we live our bodies are moving particles of the earth, joined inextricably both to the soil and to the bodies of other living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/while-we-live-our-bodies-are-moving-particles-of-the-earth-joined/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“You may study the bodies of the living and the dead for clues about the mechanism of the muscles, the bones, and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-paul/you-may-study-the-bodies-of-the-living-and-the-dead-for-clues-about/) [Fiona Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-paul/) > [Everything takes longer than you think it should, except for some things that don't take as long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/everything-takes-longer-than-you-think-it-should-except-for-some/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Everything in this life takes longer than you think, except life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-in-this-life-takes-longer-than-you-think-except-life-itself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Growing up takes longer than you think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-bacall/growing-up-takes-longer-than-you-think/) [Lauren Bacall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-bacall/) > [I thought that I was an artist. I no longer think about it, I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-desalvo/i-thought-that-i-was-an-artist-i-no-longer-think-about-it-i-am/) Louise DeSalvo > [“If I stay much longer, I think I will have fallen in love with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-chamberlin/if-i-stay-much-longer-i-think-i-will-have-fallen-in-love-with-you/) [Lindsay Chamberlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-chamberlin/) > [You know very well that I no longer think. I am far too intelligent for that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/you-know-very-well-that-i-no-longer-think-i-am-far-too-intelligent/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“…the longer I think about it the more it seems to me that we who are still alive are unreal in the eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-longer-i-think-about-it-the-more-it-seems-to-me-that-we-who-are/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [We all find ourselves involved in projects or activities that confound us-when or why did I say I would do this? What was I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/we-all-find-ourselves-involved-in-projects-or-activities-that/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“How much longer do you think you'll be able to keep doing this?" "Keep doing what?" "Chatting someone up for a week, fucking her,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gracia-williams/how-much-longer-do-you-think-you-ll-be-able-to-keep-doing-this-keep/) [Whitney Gracia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-gracia-williams/) > [I still understand a few words in life, but I no longer think they make a sentence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/i-still-understand-a-few-words-in-life-but-i-no-longer-think-they/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [Remember that anything worth doing is going to take longer than you think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-that-anything-worth-doing-is-going-to-take-longer-than-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing seems to matter quite as much. I no longer think about death in the concentrated way I once did. I don't know? you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/nothing-seems-to-matter-quite-as-much-i-no-longer-think-about-death/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More by W. G. Sebald > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“In the warmer months of the year one or other of those nocturnal insects quite often strays indoors from the small garden behind my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/in-the-warmer-months-of-the-year-one-or-other-of-those-nocturnal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“It is a sore point, because you do have advantages if you have access to more than one language. You also have problems, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-is-a-sore-point-because-you-do-have-advantages-if-you-have-access/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [When I was a boy, I'd hide under the kitchen table and wind string around the chairs. I have a sense now that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/when-i-was-a-boy-i-d-hide-under-the-kitchen-table-and-wind-string/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I've always felt that the traditional novel doesn't give you enough information about the narrator, and I think it's important to know the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-felt-that-the-traditional-novel-doesn-t-give-you-enough/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I came from anonymity, and I will continue to write as a private pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-came-from-anonymity-and-i-will-continue-to-write-as-a-private/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [The longer I carry on, the more difficult writing seems to get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/the-longer-i-carry-on-the-more-difficult-writing-seems-to-get/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I don't want to talk about my trials and tribulations. Once you reveal even part of what your real problems might be in life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-don-t-want-to-talk-about-my-trials-and-tribulations-once-you-reveal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Mine is a European imagination, shaped largely by my very promiscuous reading in German, French, English and, with greater difficulty, Italian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/mine-is-a-european-imagination-shaped-largely-by-my-very-promiscuous/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I was brought up largely by my grandfather because my father only returned from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1947 and worked in the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-was-brought-up-largely-by-my-grandfather-because-my-father-only/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Places seem to me to have some kind of memory, in that they activate memory in those who look at them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/places-seem-to-me-to-have-some-kind-of-memory-in-that-they-activate/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Men and animals regard each other across a gulf of mutual incomprehension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/men-and-animals-regard-each-other-across-a-gulf-of-mutual/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [It must be extremely uncomfortable to live with a writer - all that preoccupation and brooding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-must-be-extremely-uncomfortable-to-live-with-a-writer-all-that/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“This, I thought, will be what is left after the earth has ground itself down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/this-i-thought-will-be-what-is-left-after-the-earth-has-ground-itself/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I cannot get over the fact that I was born in 1944. I want to find out as much as I can about that year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-cannot-get-over-the-fact-that-i-was-born-in-1944-i-want-to-find-out/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) [Explore all 65 W. G. Sebald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## 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 > [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": "I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all... only various spaces interlocking according to the rules of a higher form of stereometry[the geometric measurement of solid bodies], between which the living and the dead can move back and forth as they like, and the longer I think about it the more it seems to me that we who are still alive are unreal in the eyes of the dead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. G. 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