Excerpt from the introduction: "Imagine you were just born. Imagine that you retain your present physical self but have a clean mind, one rid of any memories or understanding of our world, or the people and things in it. Imagine that you stumble upon a spider’s web, a couple holding hands, or a pair of shoes. What would you think?" Things to Keep the Living Alive is a collection of over two years' worth of epigrams, photographs, and quotes intended to "explore the simplest levels of the human experience."