--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have a life that did not become, that…" description: "\"I have a life that did not become, that turned aside and stopped, astonished\" — A. R. Ammons" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/a-r-ammons-19072_astonished_i-have-a-life-that-did-not-become-that-t_1386085.png" --- # I have a life that did not become, that turned aside and… ![“I have a life that did not become, that turned aside and stopped, astonished” quote by A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/a-r-ammons-19072_astonished_i-have-a-life-that-did-not-become-that-t_1386085.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/a-r-ammons-19072_astonished_i-have-a-life-that-did-not-become-that-t_1386085.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/a-r-ammons-19072_astonished_i-have-a-life-that-did-not-become-that-t_1386085.png) > “I have a life that did not become, that turned aside and stopped, astonished” [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life can feel stalled and bewildered when expectations aren’t met, leading to astonishment. **In simple terms:** Life may feel stuck. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty. Themes existence disappointment astonishment Mood reflective melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - career stagnation - creative block Key Concepts philosophical reflection poetic introspection Questions to Reflect On - What does “astonished” reveal about expectations? - How can one move forward from stagnation? A Different Perspective May foster resignation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astonished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonished/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-did-341429/) [Stopped Astonished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopped-astonished-4816271/) [Turned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turned/) [Turned Aside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turned-aside-428554/) ## Related quotes > [But think that we Are but turned aside to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-think-that-we-are-but-turned-aside-to-sleep/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Be like a solid tower whose brave height remains unmoved by all the winds that blow; the man who lets his thoughts be turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/be-like-a-solid-tower-whose-brave-height-remains-unmoved-by-all-the/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-mckay/and-hungry-for-the-old-familiar-ways-i-turned-aside-and-bowed-my-head/) [Claude McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-mckay/) > [But the sages of Greece and Rome turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary occupations of life and study, appeared unconscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-sages-of-greece-and-rome-turned-aside-from-the-awful/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [My life did change from Titanic, and for the better in many ways, but I was only 21, and there were some things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/my-life-did-change-from-titanic-and-for-the-better-in-many-ways-but-i/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [Don't give up on everything in life because of what some low life did to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/don-t-give-up-on-everything-in-life-because-of-what-some-low-life-did/) [SONYA PARKER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Not until, years later, I found my true interest in life did I discover that I could master a subject, no matter how difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-ellsworth/not-until-years-later-i-found-my-true-interest-in-life-did-i-discover/) [Lincoln Ellsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lincoln-ellsworth/) > [and did you get what you wanted from this life even so? i did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/and-did-you-get-what-you-wanted-from-this-life-even-so-i-did/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-one-good-deed-in-all-my-life-i-did-i-do-repent-it-from-my-very-soul/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Sariah and Kim both nod when I say I woke up one day wondering, Whose life is this, and how did I end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-hardy/sariah-and-kim-both-nod-when-i-say-i-woke-up-one-day-wondering-whose/) [Nicole Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-hardy/) > [“Life did come with a manual.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-rachelle/life-did-come-with-a-manual/) [Joyce Rachelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-rachelle/) > [Life did not stop, and one had to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/life-did-not-stop-and-one-had-to-live/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [From an early age my mother told me that there were so many of us that if I was to get anything in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lee-chin/from-an-early-age-my-mother-told-me-that-there-were-so-many-of-us/) [Michael Lee-Chin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lee-chin/) > [I just needed to get out on my own, live my own life. And I did, and it's great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-just-needed-to-get-out-on-my-own-live-my-own-life-and-i-did-and-it/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [She didn't need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/she-didn-t-need-to-understand-the-meaning-of-life-it-was-enough-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by A. R. Ammons > [A poem generated by its own laws may be unrealized and bad in terms of so-called objective principles of taste, judgement, deduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/a-poem-generated-by-its-own-laws-may-be-unrealized-and-bad-in-terms/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [In nature there are few sharp lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/in-nature-there-are-few-sharp-lines/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [With the first step, the number of shapes the walk might take is infinite, but then the walk begins to define itself as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/with-the-first-step-the-number-of-shapes-the-walk-might-take-is/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Attend to mushrooms and all other things will answer up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/attend-to-mushrooms-and-all-other-things-will-answer-up/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/the-poet-exposes-himself-to-the-risk-all-that-has-been-said-about/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [I have reached no conclusions, have erected no boundaries, shutting out and shutting in, separating inside from outside: I have drawn no lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/i-have-reached-no-conclusions-have-erected-no-boundaries-shutting-out/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [The wonderful workings of the world: wonderful, wonderful: I'm surprised half the time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/the-wonderful-workings-of-the-world-wonderful-wonderful-i-m-surprised/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Though I have looked everywhere / I can find nothing lowly / in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/though-i-have-looked-everywhere-i-can-find-nothing-lowly-in-the/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/definition-rationality-and-structure-are-ways-of-seeing-but-they/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [You have your identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind ON, but what you can't keep your mind OFF.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/you-have-your-identity-when-you-find-out-not-what-you-can-keep-your/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Questions structure and, so, to some extent predetermine answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/questions-structure-and-so-to-some-extent-predetermine-answers/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/everything-is-discursive-opinion-instead-of-direct-experience/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Even if you walk exactly the same route each time - as with a sonnet - the events along the route cannot be imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/even-if-you-walk-exactly-the-same-route-each-time-as-with-a-sonnet/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited, and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/for-though-we-often-need-to-be-restored-to-the-small-concrete-limited/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [the walk liberating, I was released from forms, from the perpendiculars, straight lines, blocks, boxes, binds of thought into the hues, shadings, rises, flowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/the-walk-liberating-i-was-released-from-forms-from-the-perpendiculars/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) [Explore all 33 A. R. Ammons quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) ## More Astonished quotes > [There are times when phrases such as 'totally astonished' just don't do the job. I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-times-when-phrases-such-as-totally-astonished-just-don-t-do/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I am distressed, depressed, rapturous. I am all these things at once and cannot add up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/i-am-astonished-disappointed-pleased-with-myself-i-am-distressed/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Young people have the advantage because they have their whole lives open to be astonished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/young-people-have-the-advantage-because-they-have-their-whole-lives/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [“The orb sat, exhausted and astonished.  In a thousand years and more—it had never been thanked for failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debora-geary/the-orb-sat-exhausted-and-astonished-in-a-thousand-years-and-more-it/) [Debora Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debora-geary/) > [Her professors were astonished by her leaps of thought, by the finesse and elegance of her insights. She arrived at hypotheses by sheer intuition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-eisenberg/her-professors-were-astonished-by-her-leaps-of-thought-by-the-finesse/) [Deborah Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-eisenberg/) > [In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-tasmania-an-island-the-size-of-ireland-whose-primeval-forests/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Only a fool is astonished by the foolishness of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/only-a-fool-is-astonished-by-the-foolishness-of-mankind/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Her thoughts rambled, but she wasn’t daydreaming. Her senses were sharp. She caught the fall of every leaf in the garden, the rustle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/her-thoughts-rambled-but-she-wasn-t-daydreaming-her-senses-were-sharp/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I was so astonished that another had penetrated so deeply into the secrets of my soul, and that he knew what I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-muller/i-was-so-astonished-that-another-had-penetrated-so-deeply-into-the/) [Max Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-muller/) > [When I saw the plane, I was absolutely astonished! Two emotions crashed over me: surging joy and crazy fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-sunderland/when-i-saw-the-plane-i-was-absolutely-astonished-two-emotions-crashed/) [Abby Sunderland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-sunderland/) > [“To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidonie-gabrielle-colette-2/to-be-astonished-is-one-of-the-surest-ways-of-not-growing-old-too/) [Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidonie-gabrielle-colette-2/) > [I'm astonished at how readily a great many people I know, young people, have accepted a reduced economic prospect and limited freedoms in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/i-m-astonished-at-how-readily-a-great-many-people-i-know-young-people/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-maurois/in-literature-as-in-love-we-are-astonished-at-what-is-chosen-by-others/) [Andre Maurois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-maurois/) > [Do you know what astonished me the most in this world? The inability of force to create anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/do-you-know-what-astonished-me-the-most-in-this-world-the-inability/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The amazing heroic women in labor, they are the truest inspiration, and when they push their babies into the light... I am astonished every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/the-amazing-heroic-women-in-labor-they-are-the-truest-inspiration-and/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) [Browse all 104 Astonished quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonished/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have a life that did not become, that turned aside and stopped, astonished", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A. R. 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