--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone goes through a period of…" description: "\"“Everyone goes through a period of Traviamento - when we take, say, a different turn in life, the other via . Dante himself did. Some recover, some pre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9e/andre-aciman-459_choices-and-conseque_everyone-goes-through-a-period-of-travia_1186671.png" --- # Everyone goes through a period of Traviamento - when we… ![“Everyone goes through a period of Traviamento - when we take, say, a different turn in life, the other via . Dante himself did. Some recover, some pretend to recover, some never come back, some chicken out before even starting, and some, for fear of taking any turns, find themselves leading the…” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9e/andre-aciman-459_choices-and-conseque_everyone-goes-through-a-period-of-travia_1186671.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9e/andre-aciman-459_choices-and-conseque_everyone-goes-through-a-period-of-travia_1186671.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9e/andre-aciman-459_choices-and-conseque_everyone-goes-through-a-period-of-travia_1186671.png) > ““Everyone goes through a period of Traviamento - when we take, say, a different turn in life, the other via . Dante himself did. Some recover, some pretend to recover, some never come back, some chicken out before even starting, and some, for fear of taking any turns, find themselves leading the wrong life all life long.”” [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes life’s turning points as a journey of risk, recovery, and potential loss, using Dante’s metaphor. **In simple terms:** Life involves risky turns, some recover, some don’t. Key Takeaway Embrace change while acknowledging possible setbacks. Themes change risk growth identity Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career changes - relationships - creative endeavors - personal crises Key Concepts Existential risk personal transformation narrative arcs Practical Applications - self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What “turn” are you facing now? - How do you balance fear and opportunity? A Different Perspective May romanticize risk without practical guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices-and-consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices-and-consequences/) [Dante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dante/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love and loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-loss/) [Unrequited love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unrequited-love/) [Wrong life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-life/) ## Related quotes > [“Dante was standing near the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that crosses the Arno River in Florence. It was just before 1300… Dante saw Beatrice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/dante-was-standing-near-the-ponte-vecchio-a-bridge-that-crosses-the/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [The cards always look different when it's your turn to play them; loaded with subtly different possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/the-cards-always-look-different-when-it-s-your-turn-to-play-them/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [The path you're on looks different when you turn around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-lewis/the-path-you-re-on-looks-different-when-you-turn-around/) [Cynthia Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-lewis/) > [“Over the years I'd lodged him in the permanent past, my pluperfect lover, put him on ice, stuffed him with memories and mothballs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/over-the-years-i-d-lodged-him-in-the-permanent-past-my-pluperfect/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I look back on those days and regret none of it, not the risks, not the shame, not the total lack of foresight. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-look-back-on-those-days-and-regret-none-of-it-not-the-risks-not-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I couldn't understand how boldness and sorrow, how you're so hard and do you really care for me? could be so thoroughly bound together.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-couldn-t-understand-how-boldness-and-sorrow-how-you-re-so-hard-and/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“What I wanted to preserve was the turbulent gasp in his voice which lingered with me for days afterward and told me that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/what-i-wanted-to-preserve-was-the-turbulent-gasp-in-his-voice-which/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the truth, maybe I didn't want things to turn abstract, but I felt I should say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/maybe-it-was-the-alcohol-maybe-it-was-the-truth-maybe-i-didn-t-want/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [If loving you was wrong, I don't want to be right and if living without you is right, I would rather be wrong all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-loving-you-was-wrong-i-don-t-want-to-be-right-and-if-living/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You were right and I was wrong. When life hurts more than death, it is not worth living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fortier/you-were-right-and-i-was-wrong-when-life-hurts-more-than-death-it-is/) [Anne Fortier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fortier/) > [If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-caras/if-you-don-t-own-a-dog-at-least-one-there-is-not-necessarily-anything/) [Roger Caras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-caras/) > [His faith, perhaps, in some nice tenets might Be wrong; his life, I'm sure, was in the right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cowley/his-faith-perhaps-in-some-nice-tenets-might-be-wrong-his-life-i-m/) [Abraham Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cowley/) > [You can't tell someone they are wrong about their own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/you-can-t-tell-someone-they-are-wrong-about-their-own-life/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [“If you don’t have a dog--at least one--there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/if-you-don-t-have-a-dog-at-least-one-there-is-not-necessarily/) [Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [When you get things wrong in life, it is important to talk about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-cernovich/when-you-get-things-wrong-in-life-it-is-important-to-talk-about-them/) [Mike Cernovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-cernovich/) ## More by André Aciman > [Don't all writers have a hidden nerve, call it a secret chamber, something irreducibly theirs, which stirs their prose and makes it tick and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/don-t-all-writers-have-a-hidden-nerve-call-it-a-secret-chamber/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I wanted him to remember the morning on Monet's berm when I'd kissed him not the first but the second time and given him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wanted-him-to-remember-the-morning-on-monet-s-berm-when-i-d-kissed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Rituals are how we step into our private field of dreams, a small Elysium all our own. Rituals are made not just for us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/rituals-are-how-we-step-into-our-private-field-of-dreams-a-small/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I desperately wanted to give him something. By contrast, taking seemed so bland, so facile, so mechanical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-desperately-wanted-to-give-him-something-by-contrast-taking-seemed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The man who'll lay the last stone here isn't even born yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-man-who-ll-lay-the-last-stone-here-isn-t-even-born-yet/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Well, since you're not going to do anything with me—can you at least read me a story? I'd settle for that. I wanted him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/well-since-you-re-not-going-to-do-anything-with-me-can-you-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“This is heaven.” And I wouldn’t hear him say another word for at least an hour. There was nothing I loved more in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/this-is-heaven-and-i-wouldn-t-hear-him-say-another-word-for-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“He loved the sticky taste. What had I done? I told him and pointed to the bruised evidence sitting on my desk. “Let me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-loved-the-sticky-taste-what-had-i-done-i-told-him-and-pointed-to/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“When had they separated us, you and me, Oliver? And why did I know it, and why didn't you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/when-had-they-separated-us-you-and-me-oliver-and-why-did-i-know-it/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“As we were swimming back, he asked as though it were an afterthought, “Are you going to hold last night against me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/as-we-were-swimming-back-he-asked-as-though-it-were-an-afterthought/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“To be with you. To be with you, Oliver. With or without my bathing suit. To be with you on my bed. In your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/to-be-with-you-to-be-with-you-oliver-with-or-without-my-bathing-suit/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I thought I could ever want another living soul, gently, softly, and, with the kindness one Jew extends to another, work his way into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-thought-i-could-ever-want-another-living-soul-gently-softly-and/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Oliver: But there's the catch: you're still twenty years younger than those gathered around you, which is why I can be twenty-four in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/oliver-but-there-s-the-catch-you-re-still-twenty-years-younger-than/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [I cannot write if there is a sense of plenitude. I have to hypothesize that there is a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-cannot-write-if-there-is-a-sense-of-plenitude-i-have-to-hypothesize/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) [Explore all 527 André Aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## More Choices-and-consequences quotes > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“Failing to meet your true destiny is a tragic act of free will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/failing-to-meet-your-true-destiny-is-a-tragic-act-of-free-will/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Everyone have the free willing to chose which kind of life he wanna live, to be remembered or forgotten”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-hachemi-sabi/everyone-have-the-free-willing-to-chose-which-kind-of-life-he-wanna/) El hachemi Sabi > [“You made a choice—a single choice. How neat to think you may have opened the door to a wondrous future without knowing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/you-made-a-choice-a-single-choice-how-neat-to-think-you-may-have/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“Having choice is nothing but a big illusion created by those who have power to make choices and make another if it goes wrong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crestless-wave/having-choice-is-nothing-but-a-big-illusion-created-by-those-who-have/) Crestless Wave > [“I choose to choose few words each day. Yes! few words that count. Few words that can make impact. Few words that talk much.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/i-choose-to-choose-few-words-each-day-yes-few-words-that-count-few/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [“Why are we asked to make the most important decisions of our lives when we are so young, and so prone to mistakes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-park/why-are-we-asked-to-make-the-most-important-decisions-of-our-lives/) [Samuel Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-park/) > [“How could he know this new dawn's light would change his life forever? Set sail to sea, but pulled off course by the light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/metallica/how-could-he-know-this-new-dawn-s-light-would-change-his-life-forever/) [Metallica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/metallica/) > [“Have no regrets in life because of the choices you make. Good or bad, they are a learning experience, to help you grow. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hauenstein/have-no-regrets-in-life-because-of-the-choices-you-make-good-or-bad/) [James Hauenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hauenstein/) > [“Your life is determined by the sum of the choices that YOU make.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/your-life-is-determined-by-the-sum-of-the-choices-that-you-make/) [Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/) > [“Because I don’t even know if this life is right for me anymore. I don’t know what I want to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-i-don-t-even-know-if-this-life-is-right-for-me-anymore-i-don/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-b-spredemann/choices-made-whether-bad-or-good-follow-you-forever-and-affect/) [J.E.B. Spredemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-b-spredemann/) > [“And so everything depends on you, Bertie. Bishop or rook. Your life or mine. Do what you believe you have to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-lix-j-palma/and-so-everything-depends-on-you-bertie-bishop-or-rook-your-life-or/) [Félix J. Palma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-lix-j-palma/) > [“I've spent all the years since full of guilt and misery, even though I didn't remember it. I've let it run my thoughts, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-hunter/i-ve-spent-all-the-years-since-full-of-guilt-and-misery-even-though-i/) [Faith Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-hunter/) [Browse all 123 Choices-and-consequences quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices-and-consequences/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Everyone goes through a period of Traviamento - when we take, say, a different turn in life, the other via . 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