--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wished I was old. I was tired of being…" description: "\"“I wished I was old. I was tired of being so young, so stupidly knowing, so stupidly forgetful. I was tired of having to be anything at all. I felt lik..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/ali-smith-1801_internet_i-wished-i-was-old-i-was-tired-of-being_2340362.jpg" --- # I wished I was old. I was tired of being so young, so… ![“I wished I was old. I was tired of being so young, so stupidly knowing, so stupidly forgetful. I was tired of having to be anything at all. I felt like the Internet, full of every kind of information but none of it mattering more than any of it, and all of its little links like thin white roots on…” quote by Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/ali-smith-1801_internet_i-wished-i-was-old-i-was-tired-of-being_2340362.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/ali-smith-1801_internet_i-wished-i-was-old-i-was-tired-of-being_2340362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/ali-smith-1801_internet_i-wished-i-was-old-i-was-tired-of-being_2340362.jpg) > ““I wished I was old. I was tired of being so young, so stupidly knowing, so stupidly forgetful. I was tired of having to be anything at all. I felt like the Internet, full of every kind of information but none of it mattering more than any of it, and all of its little links like thin white roots on a broken plant dug out of the soil, lying drying on its side. And whenever I tried to access myself, whenever I'd try to click on me, try to go any deeper than a single fast-loading page on Facebook or MySpace, it was as if I knew that one morning I'd wake up and try to log on to find that not even that version of I existed any more, because the servers all over the world were all down. And that's how rootless. And that's how fragile.”” [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels overwhelmed by information overload, yearning for simplicity and stability amid digital fragmentation. **In simple terms:** Information overload creates a fragile, rootless feeling. Key Takeaway Seek simplicity and grounding. Themes digital age identity overwhelm Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - social media use - online learning - remote work - personal reflection Key Concepts information overload existential angst self‑concept Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay grounded online? - What simple practices restore your sense of self? A Different Perspective Digital detachment may limit useful connectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“I think we are all about to become rootless. It may be time. The soil has become poisonous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-goff/i-think-we-are-all-about-to-become-rootless-it-may-be-time-the-soil/) [Stan Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-goff/) > [The corrupt man is nearly always rootless, deeply aware of his rootlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-payne/the-corrupt-man-is-nearly-always-rootless-deeply-aware-of-his/) [Robert Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-payne/) > [Either I am rootless or I have my roots spread out so much that I cannot spot my primary root. 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The two are one and the same. If you're not kind on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-doyle-melton/integrity-means-there-is-not-a-real-life-you-and-an-internet-you-the/) [Glennon Doyle Melton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-doyle-melton/) > [I call my mom and talk to her about random stuff I saw on the Internet. That's kind of the only constant in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanya-asher/i-call-my-mom-and-talk-to-her-about-random-stuff-i-saw-on-the/) [Vanya Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanya-asher/) > [You know the way trees break through the canopy in the rainforest and they go from having this tiny column of light to having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/you-know-the-way-trees-break-through-the-canopy-in-the-rainforest-and/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [The internet to me is kind of like a black hole, and I never really go on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/the-internet-to-me-is-kind-of-like-a-black-hole-and-i-never-really-go/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [For a black activist, for an activist of all walks of life, the Internet has become this kind of meeting place where we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franchesca-ramsey/for-a-black-activist-for-an-activist-of-all-walks-of-life-the/) [Franchesca Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franchesca-ramsey/) ## More by Ali Smith > [As for Aliki - if you were to stand in the middle of Rome and say the name Sophia Loren, or Paris and say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/as-for-aliki-if-you-were-to-stand-in-the-middle-of-rome-and-say-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Elisabeth had been listening to the programme in the bath. She'd switched the radio off after it and wondered if she'd be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/elisabeth-had-been-listening-to-the-programme-in-the-bath-she-d/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [There is a kind of poetry, bad and good, in evrything, everywhere we look.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/there-is-a-kind-of-poetry-bad-and-good-in-evrything-everywhere-we-look/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“human beings can’t be legends, being mortal,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/human-beings-can-t-be-legends-being-mortal/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I could lick it off with my tongue, if I had a tongue again, if my tongue was wet, and I could taste it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-could-lick-it-off-with-my-tongue-if-i-had-a-tongue-again-if-my/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“How very disappointing truth is sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/how-very-disappointing-truth-is-sometimes/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“...he had simply typed the words something beautiful into the Google images box. 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I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-shop-did-this-book-come-from-she-asked-her-father-was-looking/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [What's the point of art, of any art, if it doesn't let us see with a little bit of objectivity where we are?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-s-the-point-of-art-of-any-art-if-it-doesn-t-let-us-see-with-a/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [If you can read the world as a construct, you can ask questions of the construct, and you can suggest ways to change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/if-you-can-read-the-world-as-a-construct-you-can-ask-questions-of-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I’m tired of the news. I’m tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren’t, and deals so simplistically with what’s truly appalling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-m-tired-of-the-news-i-m-tired-of-the-way-it-makes-things/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“(this is before we're living together, before we do the most faithful act of all, mix our separate books into one library)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/this-is-before-we-re-living-together-before-we-do-the-most-faithful/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Believe me. Everything is meant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/believe-me-everything-is-meant/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [ \[Property\] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) [Explore all 199 Ali Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## More Internet quotes > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [I enjoy upsetting the right people. I love poking fun at earnest censors. I want to push the bounds of what can be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-enjoy-upsetting-the-right-people-i-love-poking-fun-at-earnest/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [Though 'Fat City' was written long before cellphones or the Internet, its human apparatus is state of the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/though-fat-city-was-written-long-before-cellphones-or-the-internet/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Note to self: If you do not know how to spell a big scary spiders name, DO NOT look it up on the internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-eisele/note-to-self-if-you-do-not-know-how-to-spell-a-big-scary-spiders-name/) Becky Eisele > [I remembered reading about a disease called Leishmaniasis, which matched my symptoms. I'd always thought it was an old wives' tale - a sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-remembered-reading-about-a-disease-called-leishmaniasis-which/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I don't have faith in the Internet, I have faith in people connected through the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gilliam/i-don-t-have-faith-in-the-internet-i-have-faith-in-people-connected/) Jim Gilliam > [The internet is very democratizing in some ways, but it also has other effects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/the-internet-is-very-democratizing-in-some-ways-but-it-also-has-other/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [“Some innovations just don’t attract enough economic or social demand: just as supersonic flight and manned space flight stagnated after the 1970s, today (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-j-rees/some-innovations-just-don-t-attract-enough-economic-or-social-demand/) Martin J. Rees > [Moveon is not a one-way broadcast media. The Internet, when used best, is a two-way media. We have a forum in which people can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-blades/moveon-is-not-a-one-way-broadcast-media-the-internet-when-used-best/) [Joan Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-blades/) [Browse all 9,049 Internet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wished I was old. I was tired of being so young, so stupidly knowing, so stupidly forgetful. I was tired of having to be anything at all. I felt like the Internet, full of every kind of information but none of it mattering more than any of it, and all of its little links like thin white roots on a broken plant dug out of the soil, lying drying on its side. And whenever I tried to access myself, whenever I'd try to click on me, try to go any deeper than a single fast-loading page on Facebook or MySpace, it was as if I knew that one morning I'd wake up and try to log on to find that not even that version of I existed any more, because the servers all over the world were all down. And that's how rootless. 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