75 Immortality Quotes

In a world filled with constant change and fleeting moments, the concept of immortality has always fascinated humanity. Whether it's through literature, philosophy, or personal reflection, the idea of living forever—of leaving an indelible mark on the world—resonates deeply with our intrinsic desire for meaning and connection. In this blog post, we have curated a collection of 75 thought-provoking immortality quotes from various thinkers, writers, and visionaries. Each quote offers a unique perspective on the eternal quest to transcend the boundaries of time and explore the infinite possibilities of existence. Dive in and let these words inspire your own reflections on the timeless allure of living forever.

1. “Let me go: take back thy gift:Why should a man desire in any wayTo vary from the kindly race of men,Or pass beyond the goal of ordinanceWhere all should pause, as is most meet for all?...Why wilt thou ever scare me with thy tears,And make me tremble lest a saying learnt,In days far-off, on that dark earth, be true?‘The Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.’- Tithonus” - Alfred Lord Tennyson

2. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” - Thomas Campbell

3. “One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.” - Antonio Porchia

4. “My music will go on forever. Maybe it's a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.” - Bob Marley

5. “I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking.” - Carl Sagan

6. “Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” - Terry Pratchett

7. “Oh how wrong we were to think immortality meant never dying” - Gerard Way

8. “Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth.” - Alberto Manguel

9. “A man's immortality can be found in his children.” - Patricia Briggs

10. “Immortality is the condition of a dead man who doesn’t believe he is dead.” - H. L. Mencken

11. “The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

12. “Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.” - Mitch Albom

13. “The only true immortality lies in one's children.[Letter to his friend, Richard Heuberger]” - Johannes Brahms

14. “Hope is the last thing that dies.Maybe because hope is one of those dratted things that is truly, honestly, genuinely immortal.” - Vera Nazarian

15. “Glenn used to say the reason you can't really imagine yourself being dead was that as soon as you say, 'I'll be dead,' you've said the word I, and so you're still alive inside the sentence. And that's how people got the idea of the immortality of the soul - it was a consequence of grammar.” - Margaret Atwood

16. “It's amazing that a man who is dead can talk to people through these pages. As long as this books survives, his ideas live.” - Christopher Paolini

17. “Everything science has taught me strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. I believe in an immortal soul. Science has proved that nothing disintegrates into nothingness. Life and soul, therefore, cannot disintegrate into nothingness, and so are immortal.” - Werner Von Braun

18. “Study, along the lines which the theologies have mapped, will never lead us to discovery of the fundamental facts of our existence. That goal must be attained by means of exact science and can only be achieved by such means. The fact that man, for ages, has superstitiously believed in what he calls a God does not prove at all that his theory has been right. There have been many gods – all makeshifts, born of inability to fathom the deep fundamental truth. There must be something at the bottom of existence, and man, in ignorance, being unable to discover what it is through reason, because his reason has been so imperfect, undeveloped, has used, instead, imagination, and created figments, of one kind or another, which, according to the country he was born in, the suggestions of his environment, satisfied him for the time being. Not one of all the gods of all the various theologies has ever really been proved. We accept no ordinary scientific fact without the final proof; why should we, then, be satisfied in this most mighty of all matters, with a mere theory?Destruction of false theories will not decrease the sum of human happiness in future, any more than it has in the past... The days of miracles have passed. I do not believe, of course, that there was ever any day of actual miracles. I cannot understand that there were ever any miracles at all. My guide must be my reason, and at thought of miracles my reason is rebellious. Personally, I do not believe that Christ laid claim to doing miracles, or asserted that he had miraculous power...Our intelligence is the aggregate intelligence of the cells which make us up. There is no soul, distinct from mind, and what we speak of as the mind is just the aggregate intelligence of cells. It is fallacious to declare that we have souls apart from animal intelligence, apart from brains. It is the brain that keeps us going. There is nothing beyond that.Life goes on endlessly, but no more in human beings than in other animals, or, for that matter, than in vegetables. Life, collectively, must be immortal, human beings, individually, cannot be, as I see it, for they are not the individuals – they are mere aggregates of cells.There is no supernatural. We are continually learning new things. There are powers within us which have not yet been developed and they will develop. We shall learn things of ourselves, which will be full of wonders, but none of them will be beyond the natural.[Columbian Magazine interview]” - Thomas A. Edison

19. “Immortality goes through dead before all.” - Sorin Cerin

20. “I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself "Dijkstra would not have liked this", well, that would be enough immortality for me.” - Edsger W. Dijkstra

21. “It is wrong to bear children out of need, wrong to use a child to alleviate loneliness, wrong to provide purpose in life by reproducing another copy of oneself. It is wrong also to seek immortality by spewing one's germ into the future as though sperm contains your consciousness!” - Irvin D. Yalom

22. “Tell me, before you call us servants, who served whom? And who, I wonder, in your generations, will immortalize you?” - Peter Shaffer

23. “Tell me something. Do you believe in God?'Snow darted an apprehensive glance in my direction. 'What? Who still believes nowadays?''It isn't that simple. I don't mean the traditional God of Earth religion. I'm no expert in the history of religions, and perhaps this is nothing new--do you happen to know if there was ever a belief in an...imperfect God?''What do you mean by imperfect?' Snow frowned. 'In a way all the gods of the old religions were imperfect, considered that their attributes were amplified human ones. The God of the Old Testament, for instance, required humble submission and sacrifices, and and was jealous of other gods. The Greek gods had fits of sulks and family quarrels, and they were just as imperfect as mortals...''No,' I interrupted. 'I'm not thinking of a god whose imperfection arises out of the candor of his human creators, but one whose imperfection represents his essential characteristic: a god limited in his omniscience and power, fallible, incapable of foreseeing the consequences of his acts, and creating things that lead to horror. He is a...sick god, whose ambitions exceed his powers and who does not realize it at first. A god who has created clocks, but not the time they measure. He has created systems or mechanisms that serves specific ends but have now overstepped and betrayed them. And he has created eternity, which was to have measured his power, and which measures his unending defeat.'Snow hesitated, but his attitude no longer showed any of the wary reserve of recent weeks:'There was Manicheanism...''Nothing at all to do with the principles of Good and Evil,' I broke in immediately. 'This god has no existence outside of matter. He would like to free himself from matter, but he cannot...'Snow pondered for a while:'I don't know of any religion that answers your description. That kind of religion has never been...necessary. If i understand you, and I'm afraid I do, what you have in mind is an evolving god, who develops in the course of time, grows, and keeps increasing in power while remaining aware of his powerlessness. For your god, the divine condition is a situation without a goal. And understanding that, he despairs. But isn't this despairing god of yours mankind, Kelvin? Is it man you are talking about, and that is a fallacy, not just philosophically but also mystically speaking.'I kept on:'No, it's nothing to do with man. man may correspond to my provisional definition from some point of view, but that is because the definition has a lot of gaps. Man does not create gods, in spite of appearances. The times, the age, impose them on him. Man can serve is age or rebel against it, but the target of his cooperation or rebellion comes to him from outside. If there was only a since human being in existence, he would apparently be able to attempt the experiment of creating his own goals in complete freedom--apparently, because a man not brought up among other human beings cannot become a man. And the being--the being I have in mind--cannot exist in the plural, you see? ...Perhaps he has already been born somewhere, in some corner of the galaxy, and soon he will have some childish enthusiasm that will set him putting out one star and lighting another. We will notice him after a while...''We already have,' Snow said sarcastically. 'Novas and supernovas. According to you they are candles on his altar.''If you're going to take what I say literally...'...Snow asked abruptly:'What gave you this idea of an imperfect god?''I don't know. It seems quite feasible to me. That is the only god I could imagine believing in, a god whose passion is not a redemption, who saves nothing, fulfills no purpose--a god who simply is.” - Stanisław Lem

24. “Immortality like this is about as useful as sunscreen on a submarine.” - Elizabeth Marx

25. “No one is adequate to comprehending the misery of my lot! Fate obliges me to be constantly in movement: I am not permitted to pass more than a fortnight in the same place. I have no Friend in the world, and from the restlessness of my destiny I never can acquire one. Fain would I lay down my miserable life, for I envy those who enjoy the quiet of the Grave: But Death eludes me, and flies from my embrace. In vain do I throw myself in the way of danger. I plunge into the Ocean; The Waves throw me back with abhorrence upon the shore: I rush into fire; The flames recoil at my approach: I oppose myself to the fury of Banditti; Their swords become blunted, and break against my breast: The hungry Tiger shudders at my approach, and the Alligator flies from a Monster more horrible than itself. God has set his seal upon me, and all his Creatures respect this fatal mark!” - Matthew Gregory Lewis

26. “Pride and power fall when the person falls, but discoveries of truth form legacies that can be built upon for generations.” - Criss Jami

27. “The soul exists partly in eternity and partly in time.” - Marsilio Ficino

28. “That which is alive hath known death, and that which is dead can never die, for in the Circle of the Spirit life is naught and death is naught. Yea, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten.” - H. Rider Haggard

29. “Yea, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten.” - H. Rider Haggard

30. “Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.” - Dalai Lama XIV

31. “One plays at being immortal and after a few weeks one doesn't even know whether or not one can hang on till the next day.” - Albert Camus

32. “The back door of every tomb opens on a hilltop.” - George MacDonald

33. “I am, indeed, an absolute materialist so far as actual belief goes; with not a shred of credence in any form of supernaturalism—religion, spiritualism, transcendentalism, metempsychosis, or immortality.” - H.P. Lovecraft

34. “Normally, the mortal would be emptied of his soul. His truest essence, which, if the bastard was lucky, would be released to be recycled by the cosmos. The ‘investor’ would then take hold, snuggling in tightly to his host body. At first it's kind of like when you purchase a new pair of shoes. How the hard leather around the opening digs into the flesh it surrounds. Then, after a short period of breaking them in, it begins to only feel uncomfortable when you move a certain way. Soon enough though, you forget that you even have them on. They eventually seem to fit as if you’ve always worn them. The truly unlucky, though, they are left inside. Paralyzed and powerless to do anything but watch their lives be lived by someone… something, else.” - Angel Rosa

35. “We who are immortal, we are chained to this life by a chain of gold, and we dare not sever it for fear of what lies beyond the drop.” - Cassandra Clare

36. “All who live possess eternal life, and few would trade it for an immortal body, if they truly understood what it is to be alive.” - Audrey Auden

37. “Another way of remaining in intimacy with God is by remaining in His presence.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

38. “The only way to find out if you're immortal is to make it to the end of time and look around to see if you're still alive. Until you've done that, all you know is that you haven't died yet.” - John Patrick Lowrie

39. “Don't blow off another's candle for it won't make yours shine brighter.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

40. “But man by his nature is an unnatural animal. If any creature stands a chance of defeating death, it is man.” - Tom Robbins

41. “He was dazed, the soft thoughts sinking slowly in. A son. Even a daughter. His child. Immortality. A chance to make good. Pass on the hard lessons learned.” - Helen Hodgman

42. “Have you ever sensed that our soul is immortal and never dies?” - Plato

43. “When God plans to bless a man, he takes this poor time-cursed creature into His hand and says., My son, I breath into you eternity and immortality.” - A.W. Tozer

44. “Shall a mangrave his sorrows upon a stone when he hath but need to write them onthe water? Nay, oh /She/, I will live my day, and grow old with mygeneration, and die my appointed death, and be forgotten.” - H. Rider Haggard

45. “If I should die," said I to myself, "I have left no immortal work behind me - nothing to make my friends proud of my memory - but I have lov'd the principle of beauty in all things, and if I had had time I would have made myself remember'd.” - Dan Simmons

46. “Was it not worth the loss of a little immortality to have that strange mix of innocence and strength close to him?” - Nalini Singh

47. “Dreams link us to those who have already left this life.” - Doug Dillon

48. “I have never believed that God “makes” bad things happen. Death happens to everyone, not as a punishment, but because we are not meant to stay on this earth forever. As a result we are vulnerable rather than invincible, as is the earth we live on. And if our soul is immortal, we move forward knowing we can all be together again one day.” - John Pete

49. “I was at a dinner party many years ago,sitting along from Tom Stoppard, who in those days smoked not just between courses,but between mouthfuls. An American woman watched in disbelief."And you so intelligent!""Excuse me?" said tom"Knowing those things are going to kill you" she said "and still you do it.""How differently I might behave" Tom said, "if immortality were an option” - Stephen Fry

50. “Perhaps her only legacy would be that she had known something immortal, and while eternity may still belong to God alone, not all things were enslaved by time.” - D. Morgenstern

51. “We may just be specters in this world, but our stories, if they are remembered and retold, become real and solid and alive... Once you hear a story, it becomes part of you. It can't die.” - Candace Fleming

52. “You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.” - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

53. “In death - no! even in the grave all is not lost. Else there is no immortality for man. Arousing from the most profound slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream. Yet in a second afterward, (so frail may that web have been) we remember not that we have dreamed.” - Edgar Allan Poe

54. “It seems to me that there are three principal scales of time, the present moment, a human lifetime, and the eternal. The problem with modern man is not so much that he situates himself in the future of a human lifetime, since he fears death far too much to do that, but rather than he does not situate himself in any of these three scales of time. Instead, he is forever stuck somewhere in-between, this evening, tomorrow morning, next week, next Christmas, in five years’ time. As a result, he has neither the joy of the present moment, nor the satisfied accomplishments of a human lifetime, nor the perspective and immortality of the eternal.” - Neel Burton

55. “People are afraid of immortality because they believe they won’t find something to do and will get bored! What to do if we become immortal? We can just walk! It is better than dying!” - Mehmet Murat ildan

56. “Options abound world over, Options to choose from and be the best.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

57. “God takes us through life`s journey. Always nudging our Spirits to go for plus and shun the minus.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

58. “Be positive at all times! Leave out the negatives.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

59. “There is a ladder to Success! Choose to climb it.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

60. “Don`t descend to the lowest ebb.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

61. “Shout out for Joy! Don`t scream out in fear for victors shout and victims scream.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

62. “I would live forever if I could, but not like this.” - Gary Young

63. “You have been called to a life of blessing, don`t descend to that of curses.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

64. “Build up your faith while starving the fears.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

65. “Avoid conflicts, Embrace cordiality.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

66. “Relish what is good and expedient.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

67. “Eschew evil and it`s machinations.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

68. “Have the best course for all your actions.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

69. “Accept responsibilities for all your actions. Learn from your past and your mistakes.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

70. “Shun darkness and evil vices for they that embrace them wear off with time!” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

71. “Desire to give and not always receive.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

72. “The giver is the blessed! The receiver stands still.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

73. “Desire to impact lives! Change destinies and make dreams come true.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

74. “You are created with a mandate! You have all you need to fulfill it.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

75. “All unrest is but the struggle of the soul to reassure herself of her inborn immortality.” - Amos Bronson Alcott