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To go on means going from here, means finding me, losing me, vanishing and beginning again, a stranger first, then little by little the same as always, in another place, where I shall say I have always been, of which I shall know nothing, being incapable of seeing, moving, thinking, speaking, but of which little by little, in spite of these handicaps, I shall begin to know something, just enough for it to turn out to be the same place as always, the same which seems made for me and does not want me, which I seem to want and do not want, take your choice, which spews me out or swallows me up, I'll never know, which is perhaps merely the inside of my distant skull where once I wandered, now am fixed, lost for tininess, or straining against the walls, with my head, my hands, my feet, my back, and ever murmuring my old stories, my old story, as if it were the first time.

Samuel Beckett#73

IdentityRepetitionChangeStoryProgress

About this quote

What does it mean?
Continuing forward means losing oneself and starting over, yet repeating old patterns.
In plain terms
Moving forward means changing but staying the same.
What can you take from it?
Progress feels like repeating old stories.

Where it applies

  • life changes
  • moving
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • self-reflection
  • trying new paths
  • breaking habits

Questions to consider

  • What story do you tell?
  • When did you start over?

Another view

It assumes change is always internal.

More from Samuel Beckett

  1. These things I say, and shall say, if I can, are no longer, or are not yet, or never were, or never will be, or if they were, if they are, if they will be, wer…

    Permalink to quote #72
  2. I, of whom I know nothing, I know my eyes are open, because of the tears that pour from them unceasingly.

    Permalink to quote #74
  3. What they were most determined for me to swallow was my fellow creatures. In this they were without mercy. I remember little or nothing of these lectures. I ca…

    Permalink to quote #71

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