---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The longer I live the more I mistrust…"
description: "\"The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the false glamour cast by performance, the more I know its poverty beside the truths we are salvag..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png"
---

#  The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the…

![“The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the false glamour cast by performance, the more I know its poverty beside the truths we are salvaging from the splitting-open of our lives. -from &quot;Transcendental Etude” quote by Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png)

> “The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the false glamour cast by performance, the more I know its poverty beside the truths we are salvaging from the splitting-open of our lives. -from "Transcendental Etude”

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He grows distrustful of theatricality, seeing performance as superficial compared to the raw truths uncovered in lived experience.

**In simple terms:** Performance can mask deeper truths.

Key Takeaway

Seek authenticity over spectacle.

Themes

art truth skepticism

Mood

contemplative critical

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- theater criticism
- personal reflection
- creative writing

Key Concepts

performance authenticity existential truth

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you found performance revealing truth?
- How can art balance spectacle and authenticity?

A Different Perspective

Artistic expression can also reveal truth, not just hide it.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Casts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/) [Glamour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glamour/) [Lives Transcendental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-transcendental-774486/) [Mistrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistrust/) [Mistrust Theatricality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistrust-theatricality-774485/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Poverty Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty-truths-774488/) [Splitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/splitting/) [Theatricality False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatricality-false-774487/) [Transcendental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendental/) [Truths Salvaging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths-salvaging-774489/)

## Related quotes

> [I choose to love this time for once with all my intelligence -from "Splittings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-choose-to-love-this-time-for-once-with-all-my-intelligence-from/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [I would never be into splitting up. I don't think we should ever break up, I really don't. I think we should allow each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-coyle/i-would-never-be-into-splitting-up-i-don-t-think-we-should-ever-break/)

[Nadine Coyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-coyle/)

> [When I'm at home or in the studio, I have a 1963 Martin. It's a D-28, and I love that guitar. I write on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-worsham/when-i-m-at-home-or-in-the-studio-i-have-a-1963-martin-it-s-a-d-28/)

[Charlie Worsham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-worsham/)

> [As modern physics started with the Newtonian revolution, so modern philosophy starts with what one might call the Cartesian Catastrophe. The catastrophe consisted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/as-modern-physics-started-with-the-newtonian-revolution-so-modern/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [“I felt like two halves of me were splitting apart—one wanted so badly to be granted that second chance at loving someone and allowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-harlow/i-felt-like-two-halves-of-me-were-splitting-apart-one-wanted-so-badly/)

[Melanie Harlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-harlow/)

> [I am not interested in splitting the white vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-washington/i-am-not-interested-in-splitting-the-white-vote/)

[Harold Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-washington/)

> [Earlier this week ... scientists announced the completion of a task that once seemed unimaginable; and that is, the deciphering of the entire DNA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/earlier-this-week-scientists-announced-the-completion-of-a-task-that/)

[Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/)

> [The mistake consists in our splitting into two what is really and absolutely one. Is not life one as we live it, which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-mistake-consists-in-our-splitting-into-two-what-is-really-and/)

[D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/)

> [It's interesting. I've known quite a few good athletes that can't begin to play a beat on the drum set. Most team sport is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/it-s-interesting-i-ve-known-quite-a-few-good-athletes-that-can-t/)

[Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/)

> [What I am anxious to do is to get the best bill possible with the least amount of friction… I wish to avoid \[splitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-howard-taft/what-i-am-anxious-to-do-is-to-get-the-best-bill-possible-with-the/)

[William Howard Taft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-howard-taft/)

> [I'm Irish and always will be, but America has taught me so much. Maybe it's here in the U.S. that we find a healing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fionnula-flanagan/i-m-irish-and-always-will-be-but-america-has-taught-me-so-much-maybe/)

[Fionnula Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fionnula-flanagan/)

> [I haven't slept in days. And me and my latest girl agreed to go our separate ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/i-haven-t-slept-in-days-and-me-and-my-latest-girl-agreed-to-go-our/)

[Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/)

> [There is a certain kind of pain that can change you. Even the strongest sword, when placed in a raging fire, will soften and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gidwitz/there-is-a-certain-kind-of-pain-that-can-change-you-even-the/)

[Adam Gidwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gidwitz/)

> [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/)

[Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/)

> [There could be some compromise, but I think we have to stick to the provisions of the treaty, and the provisions of the treaty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-santer/there-could-be-some-compromise-but-i-think-we-have-to-stick-to-the/)

[Jacques Santer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-santer/)

## More by Adrienne Rich

> [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/responsibility-to-yourself-means-refusing-to-let-others-do-your/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [“Well, she's long about her coming, who must be more merciless to herself than history. Her mind full to the wind, I see her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/well-she-s-long-about-her-coming-who-must-be-more-merciless-to/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [I think my work comes out of both an intense desire for connection and what it means to feel isolated. There's always going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-my-work-comes-out-of-both-an-intense-desire-for-connection/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrotea letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/popular-culture-entered-my-life-as-shirley-temple-who-was-exactly-my/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/in-a-history-of-spiritual-rupture-a-social-compact-built-on-fantasy/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/it-s-as-if-in-the-mother-s-eyes-her-smile-her-stroking-touch-the/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [The women's movement appeared at a very crucial moment in my life. There was a whole political movement asking such questions and others I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-women-s-movement-appeared-at-a-very-crucial-moment-in-my-life/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [The word revolution itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the revolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-word-revolution-itself-has-become-not-only-a-dead-relic-of/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [The decision to feed the world is the real decision. No revolution has chosen it. For that choice requires that women shall be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-decision-to-feed-the-world-is-the-real-decision-no-revolution-has/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-necessity-of-poetry-has-to-be-stated-over-and-over-but-only-to/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-many-poets-including-myself-write-both-for-the-voice-and-for/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. Only she who says she did not choose, is the loser in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-i-cling-to-circumstances-i-could-feel-not-responsible-only-she-who/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

[Explore all 364 Adrienne Rich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

## More Casts quotes

> [Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/everything-comes-home-my-mother-used-to-say-every-word-spoken-every/)

[Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/)

> [Politics only makes the difficult challenge of marriage even harder, with the demands of the job and the public spotlight it casts on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mckinnon/politics-only-makes-the-difficult-challenge-of-marriage-even-harder/)

[Mark McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mckinnon/)

> [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/)

[Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/)

> [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/)

[John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/)

> [I was focused on The Hunger Games movie with my director, with the studio, and with the cast and crew. We all just focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-jacobson/i-was-focused-on-the-hunger-games-movie-with-my-director-with-the/)

[Nina Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-jacobson/)

> [All my life I've been involved with racial politics. I was a Freedom Rider in the South. I was the author of books on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/all-my-life-i-ve-been-involved-with-racial-politics-i-was-a-freedom/)

[Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/)

> [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/)

[John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/)

> [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [All progress in literary style lies in the heroic resolve to cast aside accretions and exuberances, all the conventions of a past age that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-progress-in-literary-style-lies-in-the-heroic-resolve-to-cast/)

[Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/)

> [And as regards Adam and Eve we must maintain that before the fall they were virgins in Paradise: but after they sinned, and were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/and-as-regards-adam-and-eve-we-must-maintain-that-before-the-fall/)

[St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/)

> [I think that people who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how unpopular, should be celebrated, not cast aside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-lancaster/i-think-that-people-who-stand-up-for-what-they-believe-in-no-matter/)

[Craig Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-lancaster/)

> [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/)

[Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/)

> [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/)

[Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/)

> [Sometimes you choose the wrong actor, he could be the best actor ever, but hes not cast in the right part then it doesnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-marceau/sometimes-you-choose-the-wrong-actor-he-could-be-the-best-actor-ever/)

[Sophie Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-marceau/)

> [I would always cast Meryl Streep for everything. I would do with something inspired by the work of Guy Bourdin, my favorite photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/i-would-always-cast-meryl-streep-for-everything-i-would-do-with/)

[Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/)

[Browse all 2,106 Casts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the false glamour cast by performance, the more I know its poverty beside the truths we are salvaging from the splitting-open of our lives. -from \"Transcendental Etude",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Adrienne Rich"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-theatricality-the-false-glamour/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Casts"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-theatricality-the-false-glamour/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/adrienne-rich-803_casts_the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-th_1662608.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The longer I live the more I mistrust theatricality, the false glamour cast by performance, the more I know…” — Adrienne Rich",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Adrienne Rich",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The longer I live the more...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-theatricality-the-false-glamour/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-mistrust-theatricality-the-false-glamour/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
