--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine…" description: "\"It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and realize that in the midst of your failure, you were slowly building the life that you wanted an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg" --- # It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and… ![“It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and realize that in the midst of your failure, you were slowly building the life that you wanted anyway.” quote by Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg) > “It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and realize that in the midst of your failure, you were slowly building the life that you wanted anyway.” [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success can arrive unexpectedly, and even during periods of perceived failure you may be unintentionally creating the future you desire. **In simple terms:** Unexpected success can follow hidden progress. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden growth during setbacks. Themes resilience self‑discovery growth Mood reflective hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - career transitions - personal setbacks - creative projects - life planning Key Concepts Narrative identity emergent purpose Questions to Reflect On - How have you missed hidden progress? - What signs indicate unseen growth? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook that not all failures lead to desired outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-slowly-5040233/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Midst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midst/) [Nine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine/) [Nine years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine-years/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Succeed Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed-thirty-5040231/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Thirty years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-years/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Weird Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weird-succeed-5040232/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“In the midst of your failure, you were slowly building the life that you wanted anyway”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/in-the-midst-of-your-failure-you-were-slowly-building-the-life-that/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [The old guys like me started in the theatre. I was in the theatre for nine years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caine/the-old-guys-like-me-started-in-the-theatre-i-was-in-the-theatre-for/) [Michael Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caine/) > [It has been nine years since the Supreme Court decision outlawing segregated schools, yet less than ten per cent of the Negro students in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/it-has-been-nine-years-since-the-supreme-court-decision-outlawing/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I started publishing stories in small magazines early on, but after seven or eight or nine years you feel like you need a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/i-started-publishing-stories-in-small-magazines-early-on-but-after/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [I have been doing this since I was nine years old. 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Complications generally begin long before the fated soul carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-birth-of-a-true-poet-is-neither-an-insignificant-event-nor-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I've learned anything in twenty-nine years, it's that every human being you see in the course of a day has a problem that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/if-i-ve-learned-anything-in-twenty-nine-years-it-s-that-every-human/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Since I spent eighteen years of my life as a child, and nine years of that life as a pretty sexually active gay child,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/since-i-spent-eighteen-years-of-my-life-as-a-child-and-nine-years-of/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I was called a bookish child. Mother sent me to a ballet teacher in Cincinnati when I was nine years old. I guess I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-ellen/i-was-called-a-bookish-child-mother-sent-me-to-a-ballet-teacher-in/) [Vera-Ellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-ellen/) > [You go ahead. I'd rather not be shot out of a tube into a pool filled with a bunch of nine-year-olds' urine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-halpern/you-go-ahead-i-d-rather-not-be-shot-out-of-a-tube-into-a-pool-filled/) [Justin Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-halpern/) > [My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five I read and wrote well enough to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/my-mom-taught-me-to-read-when-i-was-two-or-three-when-i-was-five-i/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [Because nine years ago, I walked up to the most beautiful girl in the bar, and tonight she's still the only person I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-james/because-nine-years-ago-i-walked-up-to-the-most-beautiful-girl-in-the/) [Julie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-james/) > [I wanted to be an actor since I was nine years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-wanted-to-be-an-actor-since-i-was-nine-years-old/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [I intend to be, the richest man in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-hughes/i-intend-to-be-the-richest-man-in-the-world/) [Howard Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-hughes/) > [You know what I was thinking about on my way home? How different my life would be if you’d made that gash a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/you-know-what-i-was-thinking-about-on-my-way-home-how-different-my/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) ## More by Alice Sebold > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I left my mark on that man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-left-my-mark-on-that-man/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [These things, she felt, were not to be passed around like disingenuous party favors. She kept an honor code with her journals and her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/these-things-she-felt-were-not-to-be-passed-around-like-disingenuous/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I don't think ignorance is a way that you gain distance on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-don-t-think-ignorance-is-a-way-that-you-gain-distance-on-something/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I was like I was in science class: I was curious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-was-like-i-was-in-science-class-i-was-curious/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“There are secret rooms inside us,” I had said to my therapist. “A relatively benign construct,” he said, and so I did not bother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/there-are-secret-rooms-inside-us-i-had-said-to-my-therapist-a/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“This is just a temporary hell, not a permanent one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/this-is-just-a-temporary-hell-not-a-permanent-one/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“And a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek, and continue on its way to heaven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/and-a-soul-would-run-by-a-living-being-touch-them-softly-on-the/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [As if in the other side of his kiss there could ve a new life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/as-if-in-the-other-side-of-his-kiss-there-could-ve-a-new-life/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“My little brother's greatest fear was that the one person who meant so much to him would go away. He loved Lindsey and Grandma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/my-little-brother-s-greatest-fear-was-that-the-one-person-who-meant/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“She listened for the pain in my words, not to the narrative itself. She was intuiting what it meant to me, what was most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/she-listened-for-the-pain-in-my-words-not-to-the-narrative-itself-she/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [The relationship with the words someone uses is more intimate and integrated than just a quick read and a blurb can ever be. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/the-relationship-with-the-words-someone-uses-is-more-intimate-and/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Ruth hadn't talked to my sister since before my death, and then it was only to excuse herself in the hallway at school. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/ruth-hadn-t-talked-to-my-sister-since-before-my-death-and-then-it-was/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Since then I've always thought that under rape in the dictionary it should tell the truth. It is not just forcible intercourse; rape means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/since-then-i-ve-always-thought-that-under-rape-in-the-dictionary-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I live in a world where two truths coexist: where both hell and hope lie in the palm of my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-live-in-a-world-where-two-truths-coexist-where-both-hell-and-hope/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) [Explore all 302 Alice Sebold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## More Building quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/one-of-the-things-the-united-states-does-well-is-building-coalitions/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [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/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'd like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I'd need building up, though he's very frail now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/i-d-like-to-play-ian-paisley-actually-i-d-need-building-up-though-he/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. 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I need to act and keep building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillian-whyte/i-m-30-i-m-about-to-hit-my-prime-now-i-need-to-act-and-keep-building/) [Dillian Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillian-whyte/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) [Browse all 5,974 Building quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and realize that in the midst of your failure, you were slowly building the life that you wanted anyway.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Sebold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nine-years-old-and-realize-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Building" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nine-years-old-and-realize-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/alice-sebold-999_building_it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nin_623554.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's very weird to succeed at thirty-nine years old and realize that in the midst of your failure, you were…” — Alice Sebold", "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": "Alice Sebold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's very weird to succeed at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nine-years-old-and-realize-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/it-s-very-weird-to-succeed-at-thirty-nine-years-old-and-realize-that/#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 } } ] } ```