"One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind." —G.I. Gurdjieff – teacher of "inner work" on one's self, known as the Gurdjieff Work, intended to help people awaken and come to self-realization.

Gurdjieff asserted that people live in a state of "waking sleep" in a world of illusion. There is much truth to this. Most people prefer to ignore the Truth and choose to instead devote their time and attention to entertainment.

Life may well be "an intimate dance with death," but it is not a conscious dance, because people don't really live. They only imagine and dream that they are alive, all the while remaining unaware of what being fully alive really means.