--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am an old man and I have seen things…" description: "\"I am an old man and I have seen things get revoked. Things which looked very irrevocable.\" — Amos Oz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/amos-oz-1478_irrevocable_i-am-an-old-man-and-i-have-seen-things-g_1538104.png" --- # I am an old man and I have seen things get revoked. Things… ![“I am an old man and I have seen things get revoked. Things which looked very irrevocable.” quote by Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/amos-oz-1478_irrevocable_i-am-an-old-man-and-i-have-seen-things-g_1538104.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/amos-oz-1478_irrevocable_i-am-an-old-man-and-i-have-seen-things-g_1538104.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/amos-oz-1478_irrevocable_i-am-an-old-man-and-i-have-seen-things-g_1538104.png) > “I am an old man and I have seen things get revoked. Things which looked very irrevocable.” [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even seemingly permanent events can be reversed over time. **In simple terms:** Things thought unchangeable may change. Key Takeaway Stay open to change. Themes change impermanence hope Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - politics - personal loss - societal shifts Key Concepts historical cycles human resilience Questions to Reflect On - What seemed irrevocable have you experienced? - How do you cope with unexpected reversals? A Different Perspective Some changes are irreversible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Irrevocable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrevocable/) [Looked Irrevocable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looked-irrevocable-5722799/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Revoked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revoked-558425/) [Revoked Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revoked-things-5722798/) [Things Revoked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-revoked-5722797/) ## Related quotes > [Over 70 years after Hitler, a German chancellor, a woman, is the leader of the free world. So don't talk to me about irrevocable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/over-70-years-after-hitler-a-german-chancellor-a-woman-is-the-leader/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [The far right is saying to us: Forget about the two-state solution, it is going to be a Jewish state from the coast to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/the-far-right-is-saying-to-us-forget-about-the-two-state-solution-it/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [All statutes to the contrary are revoked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/all-statutes-to-the-contrary-are-revoked/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I remember taking my brother's car out, pushing it down the driveway in neutral in the night, and going out joyriding with friends and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-bomer/i-remember-taking-my-brother-s-car-out-pushing-it-down-the-driveway/) [Matt Bomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-bomer/) > [He was such a bad writer, they revoked his poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-berle/he-was-such-a-bad-writer-they-revoked-his-poetic-license/) [Milton Berle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-berle/) > [A license cannot be revoked because a man is red-headed or because he was divorced, except for a calling, if such there be, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-license-cannot-be-revoked-because-a-man-is-red-headed-or-because-he/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [“We’re crushed when what we were “promised” is revoked—as if that’s not allowed to happen. Instead of doing much about it, we sit at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/we-re-crushed-when-what-we-were-promised-is-revoked-as-if-that-s-not/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [Nothing can be revoked or said in vain nor unfulfilled if I should nod my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-iliad/nothing-can-be-revoked-or-said-in-vain-nor-unfulfilled-if-i-should/) [The Iliad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-iliad/) > [Days after being sworn in as the nation's top law enforcement officer, Trump's attorney general, the virulently anti-LGBTQ Jeff Sessions, revoked lifesaving guidance promoting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mcbride/days-after-being-sworn-in-as-the-nation-s-top-law-enforcement-officer/) [Sarah McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mcbride/) > [“After officials discovered tasteless memes shared among the members of a private Facebook group for recently admitted students, Harvard revoked at least ten acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-orbey/after-officials-discovered-tasteless-memes-shared-among-the-members/) [Aaron Orbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-orbey/) > [“And I know what you are. You’re a heartless, soulless waste of human life. When I’m older, I’ll make sure that your license is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marta-acosta/and-i-know-what-you-are-you-re-a-heartless-soulless-waste-of-human/) [Marta Acosta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marta-acosta/) > [Greeting to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/greeting-to-the-final-contestants-of-the-seventy-fourth-hunger-games/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [I have gotten so many tickets. I hope I don't get my license revoked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/i-have-gotten-so-many-tickets-i-hope-i-don-t-get-my-license-revoked/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) > [The NBA's been around how long? A hundred years? Fifty years? So to change it now, whoever that person is needs his college degree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/the-nba-s-been-around-how-long-a-hundred-years-fifty-years-so-to/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [You simply collapsed, sir. In layman's terms, your body revoked its permission for you to continue heaping abuse upon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-lynch/you-simply-collapsed-sir-in-layman-s-terms-your-body-revoked-its/) [Scott Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-lynch/) ## More by Amos Oz > [I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-find-the-family-the-most-mysterious-and-fascinating-institution-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“All the profits that Papa made by the sweat of his brow from his mill she extorted from him and spent the lot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/all-the-profits-that-papa-made-by-the-sweat-of-his-brow-from-his-mill/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Nobody ever predicted, a week before President Sadat came to Jerusalem in 1977, that his arrival would be the beginning of a peace process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/nobody-ever-predicted-a-week-before-president-sadat-came-to-jerusalem/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Every country in the world should follow the example of President Trump and move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But simultaneously, there should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/every-country-in-the-world-should-follow-the-example-of-president/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Actually, who hasn't been through the ghastly experience of sitting in front of a blank page, with its toothless mouth grinning at you: Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/actually-who-hasn-t-been-through-the-ghastly-experience-of-sitting-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I think loathing begets fanaticism, and in the end, loathing begets hatred and violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-think-loathing-begets-fanaticism-and-in-the-end-loathing-begets/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Literature is about telling stories. Now, the gift of literature is that, in some lucky cases, reading a novel or a story makes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/literature-is-about-telling-stories-now-the-gift-of-literature-is/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Very often, fanaticism begins at home. It begins inside the family. It begins with the urge to change our kin, to change our beloved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/very-often-fanaticism-begins-at-home-it-begins-inside-the-family-it/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [When I need to take a side, I write a newspaper article and I tell my government, "You should not do that, you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/when-i-need-to-take-a-side-i-write-a-newspaper-article-and-i-tell-my/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [We have to carry through to the next day and hope that we will be okay tomorrow as we are today and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/we-have-to-carry-through-to-the-next-day-and-hope-that-we-will-be/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Trump is many things. He is pampered. He is an immature man. He is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/trump-is-many-things-he-is-pampered-he-is-an-immature-man-he-is-a/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [The only way to keep a dream, any dream at all, to keep a dream perfect and rosy and intact and unsullied is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/the-only-way-to-keep-a-dream-any-dream-at-all-to-keep-a-dream-perfect/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“Judaism and Christianity, and Islam too, all drip honeyed words of love and mercy so long as they do not have access to handcuffs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/judaism-and-christianity-and-islam-too-all-drip-honeyed-words-of-love/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Never cut loose from your longings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/never-cut-loose-from-your-longings/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [If people are pro-Israel, they are pro-Israel one-hundred-and-twenty percent. If they are anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, they tend to be pro-Palestinian one-hundred-and-twenty percent. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/if-people-are-pro-israel-they-are-pro-israel-one-hundred-and-twenty/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) [Explore all 223 Amos Oz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## More Irrevocable quotes > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [The true sweetness of chess, if it ever can be sweet, is to see a victory snatched, by some happy impertinence, out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-true-sweetness-of-chess-if-it-ever-can-be-sweet-is-to-see-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Time lost is time not filled, time left empty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/time-lost-is-time-not-filled-time-left-empty/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/what-astonishing-changes-a-few-years-are-capable-of-producing-i-am/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [It is hard to have patience with people who say ''There is no death'' or ''Death doesn't matter'.' There is death. And whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-hard-to-have-patience-with-people-who-say-there-is-no-death-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In retrospect, each of the steps toward this abyss seemed irrevocable, and yet they had all been so small!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-blish/in-retrospect-each-of-the-steps-toward-this-abyss-seemed-irrevocable/) [James Blish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-blish/) > [...true love is an irrevocable act - you can only give your heart away once - after that, you give as much as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/true-love-is-an-irrevocable-act-you-can-only-give-your-heart-away/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [Avoid making irrevocable decisions while tired or hungry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/avoid-making-irrevocable-decisions-while-tired-or-hungry/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I've always thought tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/i-ve-always-thought-tests-are-a-gift-and-great-tests-are-a-great-gift/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [Certain people, in their eagerness to construct a world no external threat can penetrate build exaggeratedly high defense againts the outside world, againts new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/certain-people-in-their-eagerness-to-construct-a-world-no-external/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [When women hear those words, an old, old memory is stirred and brought back to life. The memory is of our absolute, undeniable, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/when-women-hear-those-words-an-old-old-memory-is-stirred-and-brought/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [It is as though the space between us were time: an irrevocable quality. It is as though time, no longer running straight before us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-is-as-though-the-space-between-us-were-time-an-irrevocable-quality/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Do not be afraid of the past. If people tell you that it is irrevocable, do not believe them. The past, the present and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/do-not-be-afraid-of-the-past-if-people-tell-you-that-it-is/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [ Posting a letter and getting married \[sic\] are among the few things left that are entirely romantic; for to be entirely romantic, a thing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/posting-a-letter-and-getting-married-sic-are-among-the-few-things/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“Nothing was irrevocable; everything was within reach... I could make promises to myself and to other people and there would be all the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/nothing-was-irrevocable-everything-was-within-reach-i-could-make/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Browse all 115 Irrevocable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrevocable/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am an old man and I have seen things get revoked. 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