"To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake."
-Henry David Thoreau
I first heard this quote last year in American Literature. I also think it might be hanging in our Creative Writing classroom as well! This quote has always caught my eye and stuck out in my mind because of the way it is phrased. It seems to be quite a simple quote but it has such a deep and important meaning. I think that everyone can interpret this quote in their own way. My interpretation is that the quote is saying that you have to live life to the fullest, doing things that make you feel alive. If you don't spend your life doing what makes you happy then the only reason your living is just to be awake. I think about this quote often. It really inspires me to be "quite awake" and do the things that I want to do. You enter this world with nothing and leave with nothing, so you might as well take in all the happiness that you can while you have the chance. As cheesy as it sounds, it really does mean something.
I agree with everything you say here. I know that I find myself stressing a lot about not fully living, like that I won't do enough and Ill regret it when I am old and dying. It is nice to see quotes like this as it is a reminder that everyone has this feeling, but as long as you are consciously trying to live your life to the fullest, it will be okay.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you say here. I know that I find myself stressing a lot about not fully living, like that I won't do enough and Ill regret it when I am old and dying. It is nice to see quotes like this as it is a reminder that everyone has this feeling, but as long as you are consciously trying to live your life to the fullest, it will be okay.
ReplyDeleteI love this quote! But it also really pisses me off... mostly because I like to think that I am "alive" and that my friends are "alive" and life is not just passing us by. Whenever I see this quote I think of more ways to be "alive".
ReplyDeleteI also really like what you say here "You enter this world with nothing and leave with nothing, so you might as well take in all the happiness that you can while you have the chance."
I think "awake" in this context means that you are aware of your actions and doing them because you think they're right rather than because of habit or for other reasons. With that in mind, I like this quote because it says how none of us is perfect. Thoreau implies that even himself is guilty of making decisions without thinking about them sometimes.
ReplyDelete