quote · Legacy record
Encased in an elaborate illusion of unlimited power and progress, each of us subscribes, at least until one's midlife crisis, to the belief that existence consists of an eternal, upward spiral of achievement, dependent on will alone. This comforting illusion may be shattered by some urgent irreversible experience ... None more potently confronts us with finiteness and contingency than the imminence of our own death.
Encased in an elaborate illusion of unlimited power and progress, each of us subscribes, at least until one's midlife crisis, to the belief that existence consists of an eternal, upward spiral of achievement, dependent on will alone. This comforting illusion may be shattered by some urgent irreversible experience ... None more potently confronts us with finiteness and contingency than the imminence of our own death.
Approximate author period: c. 1931 AD · modern
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- Irvin D. Yalom
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
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- Approximate author period: c. 1931 AD · modern
Approximate author-period evidence for Irvin D. Yalom: documented birth year 1931; activity date not established. Wikidata Q362721, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q362721 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 212670; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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