"For me, the first fact of human existence is the human body. But if you embrace the reality of the human body, you embrace mortality, and that is a very difficult thing for anything to do because the self-conscious mind cannot imagine non-existence. It's impossible to do"
About this Quote
The quote’s pressure point is the collision between biology and narration. “Embrace the reality of the human body” sounds like a wellness slogan until he follows it with the real invoice: mortality. Cronenberg isn’t romanticizing death; he’s describing a cognitive limitation. The self-conscious mind can picture pain, loss, even apocalypse, but it can’t stage its own absence without smuggling in a spectator. The imagination keeps a little camera running. That’s the subtext: our deepest denial isn’t moral, it’s structural.
Context matters: Cronenberg’s work (from The Fly to Crash to A History of Violence) repeatedly shows modernity’s attempt to outsmart flesh through technology, desire, or violence, only to discover that “transcendence” is just another bodily event with side effects. His intent isn’t to preach nihilism; it’s to expose why we reach for fantasies of control. If non-existence is literally unrenderable, then anxiety isn’t a personal failing. It’s the price of being a mind trapped in a body that will end.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mortality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Cronenberg, David. (2026, January 17). For me, the first fact of human existence is the human body. But if you embrace the reality of the human body, you embrace mortality, and that is a very difficult thing for anything to do because the self-conscious mind cannot imagine non-existence. It's impossible to do. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-me-the-first-fact-of-human-existence-is-the-42690/
Chicago Style
Cronenberg, David. "For me, the first fact of human existence is the human body. But if you embrace the reality of the human body, you embrace mortality, and that is a very difficult thing for anything to do because the self-conscious mind cannot imagine non-existence. It's impossible to do." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-me-the-first-fact-of-human-existence-is-the-42690/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"For me, the first fact of human existence is the human body. But if you embrace the reality of the human body, you embrace mortality, and that is a very difficult thing for anything to do because the self-conscious mind cannot imagine non-existence. It's impossible to do." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/for-me-the-first-fact-of-human-existence-is-the-42690/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
