--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was built on air and ghosts…it was…" description: "\"“It was built on air and ghosts…it was truly beautiful but it died…because it tried to get real and it was never real.”\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/026/anne-sexton-645_beauty_it-was-built-on-air-and-ghosts-it-was-tr_2120490.png" --- # It was built on air and ghosts…it was truly beautiful but… ![“It was built on air and ghosts…it was truly beautiful but it died…because it tried to get real and it was never real.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/026/anne-sexton-645_beauty_it-was-built-on-air-and-ghosts-it-was-tr_2120490.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/026/anne-sexton-645_beauty_it-was-built-on-air-and-ghosts-it-was-tr_2120490.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/026/anne-sexton-645_beauty_it-was-built-on-air-and-ghosts-it-was-tr_2120490.png) > ““It was built on air and ghosts…it was truly beautiful but it died…because it tried to get real and it was never real.”” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The creation was fragile, built on illusion, beautiful yet doomed when it attempted authenticity. **In simple terms:** Fragile creation fails when chasing false realism. Key Takeaway Accept limits of illusion. Themes illusion fragility beauty authenticity Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal relationships - mental health - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Can you distinguish between healthy imagination and harmful delusion? - What boundaries protect creative integrity? A Different Perspective Realism may destroy delicate dreams. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) ## Related quotes > [“Is it ghosts that truly haunt us, or the memory of our own mistakes that we wish we could undo?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-lam/is-it-ghosts-that-truly-haunt-us-or-the-memory-of-our-own-mistakes/) [Laura Lam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-lam/) > [When my first husband died, what I tried to do is to sort of, you know, try to bring some rationale to the circumstance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-snowe/when-my-first-husband-died-what-i-tried-to-do-is-to-sort-of-you-know/) [Olympia Snowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-snowe/) > [I tried to be perfect, I tried to be real, I tried to be myself but I end up being someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khat-leen/i-tried-to-be-perfect-i-tried-to-be-real-i-tried-to-be-myself-but-i/) [Khat Leen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khat-leen/) > [I tried to find something real in essentially something thats science fiction or something-for me, anyways-not having an experience like this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-gosling/i-tried-to-find-something-real-in-essentially-something-thats-science/) [Ryan Gosling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-gosling/) > [How often have I tried just hard enough so that I can then say to myself that I tried with the real purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-fagg/how-often-have-i-tried-just-hard-enough-so-that-i-can-then-say-to/) [Lawrence Fagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-fagg/) > [“I have tried to put the real at the service of the unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/i-have-tried-to-put-the-real-at-the-service-of-the-unreal/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Many memories were long forgotten, and many became ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blackmore-s-night/many-memories-were-long-forgotten-and-many-became-ghosts/) Blackmore's Night > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) Bella James > [“A memory that costs you something," he said aloud, almost to himself. "One that hurts to remember. That makes you regret what you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daria-lavelle/a-memory-that-costs-you-something-he-said-aloud-almost-to-himself-one/) Daria Lavelle > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“One person's strange is another person's normal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-harper/one-person-s-strange-is-another-person-s-normal/) [Dani Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-harper/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. 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