Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Life is like a series of preludes leading up to death, the final note.
In plain terms
Life events lead up to the end.
What can you take from it?
View life as preparation for the inevitable end.

Where it applies

  • reflecting on life
  • facing mortality
  • seeking meaning

Putting it to work

  • focus on the journey
  • accept the end
  • find purpose now

Questions to consider

  • What song is your life composing?
  • How does knowing the end change the journey?

Another view

It may feel overly fatalistic to view life merely as a prelude to death.

More from Alphonse de Lamartine

  1. Limited in his nature, infinite in his desires, man is a fallen god who remembers the heavens.

    Permalink to quote #5
  2. Experience is the only prophesy of wise men.

    Permalink to quote #7
  3. Love alone was left, as a great image of a dream that was erased.

    Permalink to quote #4

Related quotes

  1. I am. I was. I am not. I never am.

    Jack LondonJack London quote #2
  2. Time goes, you say? Ah, no! Alas, Time stays, we go.

    Henry Austin DobsonHenry Austin Dobson quote #2
  3. All of this is so insignificant. In the grand scale of things, there have been so many before who have been in this position. I'm just another one. Life is so …

    Heath LedgerHeath Ledger quote #3