“Get up, go and be like him as much as one alive can be like the dead—without dying. Conceive him, yet be your death, too, almost. Like him be now, but only till the shadow of his end falls on the shadow of your being.”

—  David Grossman

Source: Falling Out of Time

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Get up, go and be like him as much as one alive can be like the dead—without dying. Conceive him, yet be your death, to…" by David Grossman?
David Grossman photo
David Grossman 1
Israeli author 1954

Related quotes

Miguel de Unamuno photo

“In the most secret chamber of the spirit of him who believes himself convinced that death puts an end to his personal consciousness, his memory, for ever, and all unknown to him perhaps, there lurks a shadow, a vague shadow, a shadow of uncertainty”

Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) 19th-20th century Spanish writer and philosopher

The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), VI : In the Depths of the Abyss
Context: In the most secret chamber of the spirit of him who believes himself convinced that death puts an end to his personal consciousness, his memory, for ever, and all unknown to him perhaps, there lurks a shadow, a vague shadow, a shadow of uncertainty, and while he says within himself, "Well, let us live this life that passes away, for there is no other!" the silence of this secret chamber speaks to him and murmurs, "Who knows!... " These voices are like the humming of a mosquito when the south-west wind roars through the trees in the wood; we cannot distinguish this faint humming, yet nevertheless, merged in the clamor of the storm, it reaches the ear.

Fausto Cercignani photo

“Your identity is like your shadow: not always visible and yet always present.”

Fausto Cercignani (1941) Italian scholar, essayist and poet

Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni

James Patterson photo

“You love him so much it feels like you can't go on without him. You feel like you might die without him.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Fang

Ambrose Bierce photo

“A man is the sum of his ancestors; to reform him you must begin with a dead ape and work downward through a million graves. He is like the lower end of a suspended chain; you can sway him slightly to the right or the left, but remove your hand and he falls into line with the other links.”

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist

Source: Epigrams, p. 363

“That was the trouble with Joris. He was nice. You ended up liking him, whatever you did. Even when you wanted to shake him till his head fell off.”

Diana Wynne Jones book The Homeward Bounders

Source: The Homeward Bounders (1981), p. 131.

Chuck Jones photo

“[W]hen the coyote falls, he gets up and brushes himself off; it's preservation of dignity. He's humiliated, and it worries him when he ends up looking like an accordion. A coyote isn't much, but it's better than being an accordion.”

Chuck Jones (1912–2002) American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films

Adamson, "Witty Birds and Well-Drawn Cats", 53.

“Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is sweet.”

R.S. Thomas (1913–2000) Welsh poet

Neb [No-one] (1985)
Context: On seeing his shadow fall on such ancient rocks, he had to question himself in a different context and ask the same old question as before, "Who am I?", and the answer now came more emphatically than ever before, "No-one."
But a no-one with a crown of light about his head. He would remember a verse from Pindar: "Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is sweet."

“Now how can you like a man without wanting him?”

Theodore Sturgeon book Venus Plus X

she demands of herself aloud.
There is no answer. It is an article of faith with her. If you like a man, it has to be because you want him. Whoever heard of it any other way?
Section 32 (p. 101)
Venus Plus X (1960)

Bruce Springsteen photo

“Born down in a dead man's town,
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground.
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much,
Till you spend half your life just covering up.”

Bruce Springsteen (1949) American singer and songwriter

"Born in the U.S.A."
Song lyrics, Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

Bono photo

“Don't believe in Goldman,His type like a curse.Instant Karma's going to get him if I don't get him first”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

"God Part II
Lyrics, Rattle And Hum(1988)
Context: Don't believe in Goldman, His type like a curse. Instant Karma's going to get him if I don't get him first

Related topics