Live as if you’re going to die tomorrow, learn as if you’re going to live forever.
~ Gandhi
I just came across this quote on a website. As I read it I wondered why this quote is not so famous like other quotes. Well, so in this post I will talk about what is mentioned in this quote in detail.
First of all, people in today’s world (including you, me and others) are so much busy in their own lives that they just forget about other things. They think that they will do this and that tomorrow. With this kind of thinking, we don’t realize the importance of things that comfort us. I personally thought like this, but this quote really opened my eyes.
This really struck me. Seriously, how many of you think this way? May 1 or 2 out of 500? Or 5000? Or more than that? Now, to really understand the power of this quote, read it and think about it. Ok, let’s do part by part. Live as if you’re going to die tomorrow, now for this it’s kind of tricky. Think that you will surely (there is no chance you can survive) die tomorrow. Then your senses come to life. You begin to like every single thing, you start thinking of having fun today, because you’re going to die tomorrow. See, how good it feels? This is the way we all should live our lives – Having more fun in the present.
This is one of the things which I pointed out in one of my earlier posts i.e. Engineering? It’s too Common!. Those who go to IIT coaching classes or whatever think that once they will pass out of IIT or anything, they can have fun then. Now tell me one thing, how many of the people you know who passed out of IIT and are having fun? Partying, going crazy, watching TV and surfing the web 24 hours a day and 7 days a week? I guess, nobody, right?
I want all of them to stop a moment, get their heads out of their books, and look around, look at the beautiful nature and have some fun. That’s what life is meant to be! You are just wasting your time for what you call green paper. Get your mind off that little box of yours where you and your green papers are, take a look at the beautiful relationships you have, beautiful friendships you have, beautiful girls/boys around ( 
). Because these are the things that really count.
I am not denying that earning money and having a good lifestyle is bad, but please for God’s sake, take a look at other people. Please! Live life king size in the present moment. Not after you are forty or fifty. If you can’t do that, then get the heck out of this world, we have better people here.
Now the second thing which this quote says is – Learn as if you’re going to live forever. Now how can you do that, because you just assumed that you’re going to die tomorrow! Well, you can, just think both of them as two different things. As you distinguish your life with your family and with your friends. With your family you are much more formal, you talk giving respects to each other, and laughing at the jokes that are not at all funny, but you have to laugh, because it’s from somebody from your family.
Now take your life with your friends – You talk casually, using hand gestures and making fun of each other. You just chill around with them, you can talk of naughty things or about girls/boys. You are not obliged to laugh at their jokes, you can make the best jokes sound like PJs! At this point, you just forget about the other thing, right? So that’s what you gotta do with this quote as well.
You can’t learn if you think you’re going to die tomorrow (or can you?!). You have to have a different mindset at that time. That’s what Gandhiji meant by this line. Learn things, study thing as if you are going to live forever and you can make use of them in your whole (eternal) life. Try doing this, even if you don’t have anything to study, why is WikiPedia is there for? (Of course go after reading this and commenting )
So what do you think about this idea? Did you notice this quote before as well? Share with me your views via comments.
Photo credits: Happy Party People Toasting Cheers Holding Champagne Glasses free creative commons by Pink Sherbet Photography, on Flickr.
Awesome quote and a nice way to interpret the thoughtful quote! Good one Manav
Hey Mohan! Thanks a lot for your nice comment!
Congrats Manav for this beautiful write up at this age. I hope all the youngsters read this blog and learn to LIVE because life is to live. Here, it would be not out of place to mention about a beautiful Hindi movie on the same subject-”Anand”.
Hello Ayyangar! Welcome to my blog! And thank you so very much for your nice comment!
Never heard of Anand… Will google it and see if I can watch it. Thanks for sharing!
Again an impressive post Manav!
At the mid point i thought it just got out of your hand but then you pulled it back beautifully!
But i gotta this point this out !! In this trackback thing at the bottom it shows your name 4 times in a row. Manav Dhiman and Manav Dhiman, Manav Dhiman. Manav Dhiman said
it lucks funny! 
Keep Writing dude..!
Hey Naveen! I am a pro don’t you know that?
So I can handle anything!
Haha! It’s just some marketing dude… Replying to friends by giving the link!
And yeah, i gotta add this thing too. I feel i live my life king size!
But the learning part am not that sure 
Haha! Be sure… You are the wall between certainty and uncertainty, get yourself down and everything will be clear.
Oh Shit!! Why did i say that? :O I didn’t understand a thing that you told
Haha! No problem man… Just chill out!
When I was in high school i exactly followed this : and got poor grades in the plus two exams
and then now am learning forever from the mistakes made 
- just kidding . Good quotes and good thoughts
Thanks Lakshmi. Hope to see you around more often!
Nicely Written buddy!!! Plz if ur writin some more of these types inform me!!!!
Thanks man! And I do tell everyone via Facebook… You try checking your timeline?
Anyways, thanks again!
A good take on Gandhi”s quote
Hey Abha, thanks for your words!
You are way too mature for your age, but its a good thing..great post!
Hey Keerthana! Well, I am not that mature as people think. I just put my thoughts here, so that the whole world can read and learn from them. And I think, I am doing good at that job!
Thanks for commenting hope to see you around!
You are more at 16 than I am at 50+. I love to read all I can from Gandhi. He had wisdom from beyond his time. And love for all even those that thought little of him. I hope the rest of my days will reflect such love from God all while I continue to learn. Thanks for the good reading.
Let’s just say that there has to be a balance between enjoying life and working hard. There is a time for everything in life. When you got to study, you got to tudy. When you got to work, you got to work and when you got to party you ot to party.
You cannot keep having fun and enjoying. And yes, those who keep working only need to understand this too. Like I said, there has to be a balance.
I cannot agree more, Sush! Thanks for the comment!
Not after you are forty or fifty. If you can’t do that, then get the heck out of this world, we have better people here.
Ehhh what?? this comment seems to be a bit out of place
I meant was people usually make a lot of money then and can’t find how to spend it. But teens and other students think the other – We will study now, and will enjoy after we have a lot of money. But it is too late.
Thanks for pointing out!
A wonderful and impactful read, Manav! I’ve come across that quote earlier, but never such an interesting interpretation of it. Good job, buddy!
Thanks a lot Parth!
One of my friend posted the following video on facebook and as a response I was trying to find these words of Gandhiji as I couldn’t recall it; that’s when I stumbled upon your site. God writeup, especially for your age.
Hey Alfie!
Thanks for the awesome share. Looking forward on reading this…
I’m glad that I was helpful for you. Hope to see you around.
“Live as if you’re going to die tomorrow, learn as if you’re going to live forever.”
A very good quote that we should paste on our mirrors so that we read it every day.
Maybe I can add something to your good thoughts, Manav.
To live as if we’re going to die tomorrow means that we should value all the things that are present in our lives. Too often we take things for granted especially our family. We do not take the time to appreciate them and talk with them on the assumption that they will be always with us. However time runs out on us very fast and then we are left wishing if only we had been different in the past. As Mark Twain has said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
Learn as if you’re going to live forever means that learning should be an endless process. Far too often, especially the older generation feels that once the schooling and college is complete, there is no need to learn and grow. We feel that once we become adults, knowledge is our right and there is no need to learn anything. But the truth is that we should be learning new things every day, reading good books everyday and trying to be more useful with our learnings.
Wow! I’m really amazed Kevin! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Yea, we do need to make our lives better by acknowledging the things we have rather than just dreaming about the things we ‘want’. I’m not saying that dreaming is bad, but by acknowledging things we have brings more of them.
I agree that learning is a continuous process. Anyone can learn from anywhere, no one really need to go to school or colleges. But today’s world would not pay heed to you without that “degree” or that “certificate”. But yea, we should learn to ignore them.
Thanks again for this comment, I really appreciate this. Hope to see you around on my blog more often!
Enjoyed reading… for this is one motto we should all live with.
You know, somehow i was never impressed by this one. You can never live like you’re gonna die tomorrow. What will happen to discipline, planning, working toward a goal. And it can be self-destructive- if i were gonna die tomorrow, i’d probably eat 15 pizzas today!
I know I’m being very literal and there is an emotional-life truth message here, but even if you start valuing every moment, every day, over time all those moments would lose value-isnt the world relative? and its just not possible to follow the other part-learn like you have forever. today, we dont have forever-harsh, but true
nice quote and wonderful blog.
Thanks, Emmy!
Well said mate.. i am going to enjoy some today
Just stumbled upon your blog man, really impressed with this post
I’m 19 and in college. For the past few years I was living like everyone else, a zombie, for want of a better word. But I have changed my attitude dramatically over the past year, and subsequently – my life.
There are no guarantees in life, we could drop dead tomorrow, the day after, who knows. But while we are here, we have to seize every moment, every day. I think as we grow older we are conditioned by society to do what everyone else does, have a job, be ‘comfortable’ and quietly fade away into the night as an old woman/man on his/her deathbed.
That’s not how it is, or should be. Life is gonna be what I want it to be, and realizing that is the most incredibly liberating and empowering feeling one can have.
I have a question….how do I create or start my own blog?