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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker feels he has moved from the beginning of life to its end without living in between.
In plain terms
I feel like I have gone from birth to death without truly living.
What can you take from it?
Recognize the stages of life.

Where it applies

  • midlife reflection
  • aging process

Putting it to work

  • assessing life progress
  • rethinking priorities

Questions to consider

  • Are you living or surviving?
  • What does a full life look like?

Another view

The metaphor suggests a lack of agency in how life unfolds.

More from Joseph Heller

  1. When I grow up I want to be a little boy.

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  2. Women my wife's age with broken marriages take up robustly with fellows much younger than themselves, sometimes boys, and their husbands don't like that part o…

    Permalink to quote #31
  3. The years are too short, the days are too long.

    Permalink to quote #28

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