Quote by Mark Twain
We never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead -- and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead and then they would be honest so much earlier.
Summary
This quote suggests that true self-awareness and honesty only emerge after death, and even then, only after a significant amount of time has passed. The speaker suggests that if people could start their lives with a sense of their own mortality, they would be more inclined to live authentically and honestly from an earlier age. The notion is that death forces individuals to confront their true selves, free from the constraints of societal expectations and masks they may have worn during their lifetime.
Topics
Death
By Mark Twain