Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Life rushes toward death and escaping it requires focusing on distractions rather than existence.
- In plain terms
- Life moves fast to death so we distract ourselves to cope.
- What can you take from it?
- People often seek escapes to avoid facing mortality.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What helps you face difficult truths?
- Is escapism always harmful?
Another view
It generalizes all human behavior as distraction rather than engagement.
More from Jean Cocteau
Life is a horizontal fall.
Permalink to quote #50 A car can massage organs which no masseur can reach. It is the one remedy for the disorders of the great sympathetic nervous system. ... The craving for opium …
Permalink to quote #52 Victor Hugo was a madman who thought he was Victor Hugo.
Permalink to quote #49
Related quotes
All of the days go toward death and the last one arrives there.
Michel de MontaigneMichel de Montaigne quote #14 Time wounds all heels.
Jane AceJane Ace quote #1 Estas que fueron pompa y alegria despertando al albor de la manana, a la tarde seran lastima vana durmiendo en brazos de la noche fria.
Pedro Calderon de la BarcaPedro Calderon de la Barca quote #1