“If life was a dream, then dying must be the moment when you woke up. It was so simple it must be true. You died, the dream was over, you woke up. That's what people meant when they talked about going to heaven. It was like waking up.”

— Ian McEwan , book The Daydreamer

Source: The Daydreamer

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ian McEwan 80

British author 1948

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: On the Edge

“It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare, you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare."
"And what is that nightmare, Craig?"
"Life.”

Ned Vizzini book It's Kind of a Funny Story

Variant: I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare.
Source: It's Kind of a Funny Story

“If I woke up tomorrow morning and it was just a dream, it would be the best dream I've ever had, and I would be ― I would not be happy to be waking up!”

Leona Lewis (1985) British singer-songwriter

laughter
The Xtra Factor: Winner's Story 2006
Upon winning The X-Factor

“Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in someone else's dream.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus Blues

“That’s one of those songs that kind of happened in one moment. I just picked up a guitar and started playing it, and those lines just came out. I had a dream when I was in Seattle with my wife. I woke up from this dream, and as I woke up it was like I was sort of flying away above us. I remember feeling like our whole life is wrapped up in moments, but we have to be really aware because it’s so short. That was kind of what the song was about to me. We have to be really aware of every moment together. All we really know is that we have this life. Who knows what else is gonna happen? Let’s not let it suddenly be over and we didn’t appreciate it from day to day, from hour to hour, ’cause life’s gonna fly by.”

Chris Cornell (1964–2017) American singer-songwriter, musician

On the song "Before We Disappear" from his 2015 solo album Higher Truth ** Chris Cornell Flashback Q&A: 'We Have to Be Aware That Life Is So Short', Yahoo!, May 19, 2017 https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/chris-cornell-flashback-qa-aware-life-short-023857577.html,
On songwriting