Skip to content

Eyes looking Quote by Wendell Berry

“What gets you is the knowledge, and it sometimes can fall on you in a clap, that the dead are gone absolutely from this world. As has been said around here over and over again, you are not going to see them here anymore, ever. Whatever was done or said before is done or said for good. Any…” quote by Wendell Berry
Download Open image
““What gets you is the knowledge, and it sometimes can fall on you in a clap, that the dead are gone absolutely from this world. As has been said around here over and over again, you are not going to see them here anymore, ever. Whatever was done or said before is done or said for good. Any questions you think of that you ought to’ve asked while you had a chance are never going to be answered. The dead know, and you don’t. And yet their absence puts them with you in a way they never were before. You even maybe know them better than you did before. They stay with you, and in a way you go with them. They don’t live on in your heart, but your heart knows them. As your heart gets bigger on the inside, the world gets bigger on the outside. If the dead had been alive only in this world, you would forget them, looks like, as soon as they die. But you remember them, because they always were living in the other, bigger world while they lived in this little one, and this one and the other one are the same. You can’t see this with your eyes looking straight ahead. It’s with your side vision, so to speak, that you see it. The longer I live, and the better acquainted I am among the dead, the better I see it. I am telling what I know.””

Wendell Berry

About This Quote

Our relationship with the dead expands our inner world, allowing us to carry their influence forward and perceive life more broadly.

In simple terms: Remembering the dead enlarges our heart and perspective.

Key Takeaway

Honor past connections to grow emotionally.

Themes

mortality memory spiritual growth

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

philosophical reflective

When to use this quote

  • personal reflection
  • rituals
  • storytelling
  • artistic expression

Key Concepts

legacy grief processing psychology philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does remembering loved ones shape your identity?
  • In what ways can you integrate their lessons daily?
A Different Perspective

Some may find such introspection unsettling or overly abstract.

4.3 out of 5 (5 ratings)

More by Wendell Berry

Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes

More Eyes looking quotes

Browse all 91 Eyes looking quotes