- English translation
What passage could take us onward if not death?
- Literal wording
If we did not die, which way would we get through?
- Meaning and lesson
Framed as a rhetorical question, the line leaves room for only one answer: no other exit exists. Dying is cast as the doorway itself, so hoping to avoid it means hoping for a route that simply is not there.
The first-person plural folds every person into the same fate and quietly shuts out denial. The saying conveys acceptance of mortality, insisting that the way onward runs through death rather than around it.
- When it is used
Fits moments of reflecting on mortality or answering someone who wishes death could be avoided. The question answers itself, so it works as a resigned, shared observation rather than a remark aimed at one listener.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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