--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: OBLIVION, n. Cold storage for high hopes…" description: "\"OBLIVION, n. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters without envy. A dormitory wi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/ambrose-bierce-140_alarm-clock_oblivion-n-cold-storage-for-high-hopes-a_2828828.jpg" --- # OBLIVION, n. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where… ![“OBLIVION, n. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters without envy. A dormitory without an alarm clock.” quote by Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/ambrose-bierce-140_alarm-clock_oblivion-n-cold-storage-for-high-hopes-a_2828828.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/ambrose-bierce-140_alarm-clock_oblivion-n-cold-storage-for-high-hopes-a_2828828.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/ambrose-bierce-140_alarm-clock_oblivion-n-cold-storage-for-high-hopes-a_2828828.jpg) > “OBLIVION, n. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters without envy. A dormitory without an alarm clock.” [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He defines “oblivion” as a cold storage for unfulfilled ambitions, where authors’ works and their rivals coexist without pride or envy, likening it to a dormitory lacking an alarm. **In simple terms:** Oblivion is a place where failed hopes are stored, free of competition. Key Takeaway Accept that some ambitions will never be realized. Themes failure humility ambition Mood melancholic reflective Type aphor commentary When to use this quote - creative projects - career setbacks - artistic rivalry Key Concepts existentialism literary criticism nihilism Questions to Reflect On - What ambitions are you willing to let go? - How do you balance pride with realistic goals? A Different Perspective It may romanticize failure, ignoring practical consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alarm clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm-clock/) [Alarm clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm-clocks/) [Alarms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarms/) [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Cold Storage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-storage-2374134/) [Dormitory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dormitory/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [High hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-hopes/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Oblivion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oblivion/) [Oblivion Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oblivion-cold-3642762/) [Place Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place-ambitious-3642763/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Storage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storage/) ## Related quotes > [HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/handkerchief-cold-storage/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [A library is thought in cold storage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-library-is-thought-in-cold-storage/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The English never abolish anything. They put it in cold storage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-english-never-abolish-anything-they-put-it-in-cold-storage/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Some friendships in life sustain themselves only at a particular life stage, products of some mutual developmental problem to be resolved together, or of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-ker-conway/some-friendships-in-life-sustain-themselves-only-at-a-particular-life/) [Jill Ker Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-ker-conway/) > [Homer and Candy passed by the empty and brightly lit dispensary; they peeked into Nurse Angela's empty office. Homer knew better than to peek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/homer-and-candy-passed-by-the-empty-and-brightly-lit-dispensary-they/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“It's sunny today, the light glowing through the white curtains. I don't know how, but the dormitory smells like sleep-like laundry and shoes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/it-s-sunny-today-the-light-glowing-through-the-white-curtains-i-don-t/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [This is the criminal left that belongs not in a dormitory, but in a penitentiary. The criminal left is not a problem to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spiro-t-agnew/this-is-the-criminal-left-that-belongs-not-in-a-dormitory-but-in-a/) [Spiro T. Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spiro-t-agnew/) > [The church is not a dormitory for sleepers, it is an institution for workers; it is not a rest camp, it is a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-sunday/the-church-is-not-a-dormitory-for-sleepers-it-is-an-institution-for/) [Billy Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-sunday/) > [The onlooker had better wipe the sympathy off his face. What he has seen is a revolution, not the home of little cogs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-whyte/the-onlooker-had-better-wipe-the-sympathy-off-his-face-what-he-has/) [William H. Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-whyte/) > [There was a time you saw me once, one afternoon, in the dormitories. There was no one else around, and I was playing this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/there-was-a-time-you-saw-me-once-one-afternoon-in-the-dormitories/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [If I were founding a university I would begin with a smoking room; next a dormitory; and then a decent reading room and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-leacock/if-i-were-founding-a-university-i-would-begin-with-a-smoking-room/) [Stephen Leacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-leacock/) > [Truths ... are too often considered as so true, that they lose all the power of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/truths-are-too-often-considered-as-so-true-that-they-lose-all-the/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“A dormitory was a hopeless idea. Whoever thought of encasing two hundred girls in a concrete box?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hill/a-dormitory-was-a-hopeless-idea-whoever-thought-of-encasing-two/) [Nathan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hill/) > [“I don’t know how, but the dormitory smells like sleep—like laundry and shoes and night sweats and morning coffee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-don-t-know-how-but-the-dormitory-smells-like-sleep-like-laundry-and/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“the long high ceilings of the children’s dormitory”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sixsmith/the-long-high-ceilings-of-the-children-s-dormitory/) [Martin Sixsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sixsmith/) ## More by Ambrose Bierce > [OBSESSED, p.p. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was once more common than it is now. Arasthus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/obsessed-p-p-vexed-by-an-evil-spirit-like-the-gadarene-swine-and/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [DECIDE, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/decide-v-i-to-succumb-to-the-preponderance-of-one-set-of-influences/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [IMMORAL, adj. Inexpedient. Whatever in the long run and with regard to the greater number of instances men find to be generally inexpedient comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/immoral-adj-inexpedient-whatever-in-the-long-run-and-with-regard-to/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/review-v-t-to-set-your-wisdom-holding-not-a-doubt-of-it-although-in/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/clock-n-a-machine-of-great-moral-value-to-man-allaying-his-concern/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [RUBBISH, n. Worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying due south from Boreaplas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/rubbish-n-worthless-matter-such-as-the-religions-philosophies/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There was never a genius who was not thought a fool until he disclosed himself; whereas he is a fool then only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/there-was-never-a-genius-who-was-not-thought-a-fool-until-he/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/telephone-n-an-invention-of-the-devil-which-abrogates-some-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Jealous, adj. Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/jealous-adj-unduly-concerned-about-the-preservation-of-that-which-can/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [RIDICULE, n. Words designed to show that the person of whom they are uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/ridicule-n-words-designed-to-show-that-the-person-of-whom-they-are/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Think twice before you speak to a friend in need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/think-twice-before-you-speak-to-a-friend-in-need/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [TARIFF, n. A scale of taxes on imports, designed to protect the domestic producer against the greed of his consumer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/tariff-n-a-scale-of-taxes-on-imports-designed-to-protect-the-domestic/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [A bad marriage is like an electrical thrilling machine: it makes you dance, but you can't let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/a-bad-marriage-is-like-an-electrical-thrilling-machine-it-makes-you/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) [Explore all 1,157 Ambrose Bierce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) ## More Alarm clock quotes > [“answer. Donald’s dysfunctional belief was related to Janine’s, but he’d held on to it for much longer—a life of responsible and successful work should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burnett/answer-donald-s-dysfunctional-belief-was-related-to-janine-s-but-he-d/) [Bill Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burnett/) > [My phone is an alarm clock, a flashlight, a music player and a digital camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-phone-is-an-alarm-clock-a-flashlight-a-music-player-and-a-digital/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Something, which the police called a bomb, had exploded in his shed. Investigations were begun, and the efforts of the authorities were soon to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-von-salomon/something-which-the-police-called-a-bomb-had-exploded-in-his-shed/) [Ernst von Salomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-von-salomon/) > [Here in the UK the audience immediately reacts and they get the fact that: "What would be the most annoying thing in the world?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/here-in-the-uk-the-audience-immediately-reacts-and-they-get-the-fact/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [We've already seen digital picture frames pre-loaded with viruses; I'm not eager to have my refrigerator hacked or my alarm clock turned against me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/we-ve-already-seen-digital-picture-frames-pre-loaded-with-viruses-i-m/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“I have a dream. And in this dream I’m under the covers in bed, just a few scant inches away from Carter’s body. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-sivec/i-have-a-dream-and-in-this-dream-i-m-under-the-covers-in-bed-just-a/) [Tara Sivec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-sivec/) > [“Men know what they want. Men make concrete plans. Men own alarm clocks. Men sleep on a mattress that isn’t on the floor. Men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindy-kaling/men-know-what-they-want-men-make-concrete-plans-men-own-alarm-clocks/) [Mindy Kaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindy-kaling/) > [Sleeping is my drug, my bed is the dealer, and my alarm clock is the police..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-sakundiak/sleeping-is-my-drug-my-bed-is-the-dealer-and-my-alarm-clock-is-the/) [Mitchell Sakundiak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-sakundiak/) > [“Tip #2: No more alarm clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-conroy/tip-2-no-more-alarm-clocks/) [Mary Helen Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-conroy/) > [“(On differences between men and boys) Men know what they want. Men make concrete plans. Men own alarm clocks. Men sleep on a mattress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindy-kaling/on-differences-between-men-and-boys-men-know-what-they-want-men-make/) [Mindy Kaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindy-kaling/) > [As a performer, I wanted to be the loudest, most persistent alarm clock I could be, because there didn’t seem like any other way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/as-a-performer-i-wanted-to-be-the-loudest-most-persistent-alarm-clock/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you're attached to something not true for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/stress-is-an-alarm-clock-that-lets-you-know-you-re-attached-to/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [“You know the horrible life of the alarm clock – it’s a monster that has always appalled me because of the number of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-vache/you-know-the-horrible-life-of-the-alarm-clock-it-s-a-monster-that-has/) [Jacques Vache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-vache/) > [I could barely function as an adult; I slept through alarm clocks and lost train tickets mid-journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-pascoe/i-could-barely-function-as-an-adult-i-slept-through-alarm-clocks-and/) [Sara Pascoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-pascoe/) [Browse all 255 Alarm clock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm-clock/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "OBLIVION, n. 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