--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the beginning there was a river. The…" description: "\"In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river it was ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/ben-okri-3640_hungry_in-the-beginning-there-was-a-river-the-r_2179509.jpg" --- # In the beginning there was a river. The river became a… ![“In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river it was always hungry.” quote by Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/ben-okri-3640_hungry_in-the-beginning-there-was-a-river-the-r_2179509.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/ben-okri-3640_hungry_in-the-beginning-there-was-a-river-the-r_2179509.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/ben-okri-3640_hungry_in-the-beginning-there-was-a-river-the-r_2179509.jpg) > “In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river it was always hungry.” [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Metaphor of a river turning into a road, symbolizing ever‑expanding desire and insatiable growth. **In simple terms:** Desire grows like a river‑turned‑road. Key Takeaway Channel ambition wisely. Themes growth desire transformation Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - urban development - personal ambition Key Concepts metaphor expansion hunger Questions to Reflect On - What drives your endless expansion? - How can you balance growth with contentment? A Different Perspective Unchecked hunger can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The river itself has no beginning or end. In its beginning, it is not yet the river; in the end it is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-river-itself-has-no-beginning-or-end-in-its-beginning-it-is-not/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [A river is a river, independent of whether there are other rivers nearby. In science, we call things what they are based on their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-stern/a-river-is-a-river-independent-of-whether-there-are-other-rivers/) [Alan Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-stern/) > [How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/how-could-drops-of-water-know-themselves-to-be-a-river-yet-the-river/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [I have not been on any river that has more of a distinctive personality than does the Missouri River. It's a river that immediately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/i-have-not-been-on-any-river-that-has-more-of-a-distinctive/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [What we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-need-as-christians-is-to-be-able-to-feed-ourselves-how-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I should have liked to get married, but over many decades I have lived essentially alone. I go to sleep when I'm tired, get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-should-have-liked-to-get-married-but-over-many-decades-i-have-lived/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [The greatest charity you can contribute to is yourself. Instead of spending a dollar to help feed hungry children, why not spend that dollar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-greatest-charity-you-can-contribute-to-is-yourself-instead-of/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [You want to remain hungry and stay in a good place as a competitor; at the same time, you want to be confident but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-odom/you-want-to-remain-hungry-and-stay-in-a-good-place-as-a-competitor-at/) [Lamar Odom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-odom/) > [“When a wolf is hungry it befriends sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-a-wolf-is-hungry-it-befriends-sheep/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Live is like a box of chocolates, we are all just waiting for a hungry hand to come down and grab us and eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunshine/live-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates-we-are-all-just-waiting-for-a-hungry/) [sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunshine/) > [Aye girl, you hungry? How bout some Dick-fil-A?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley/aye-girl-you-hungry-how-bout-some-dick-fil-a/) [Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley/) > [Get out from that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans. Well, roll my breakfast cause I'm a hungry man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-joe-turner/get-out-from-that-kitchen-and-rattle-those-pots-and-pans-well-roll-my/) [Big Joe Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-joe-turner/) ## More by Ben Okri > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“In a fractured age, when cynicism is god, here is a possible heresy: we live by stories, we also live in them. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/in-a-fractured-age-when-cynicism-is-god-here-is-a-possible-heresy-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-best-writing-is-not-about-the-writer-the-best-writing-is/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Maybe there are only three kinds of stories: those we live, those we tell, and those that help our souls fly upwards to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/maybe-there-are-only-three-kinds-of-stories-those-we-live-those-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The earliest storytellers were magi, seers, bards, griots, shamans. They were, it would seem, old as time, and as terrifying to gaze upon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-earliest-storytellers-were-magi-seers-bards-griots-shamans-they/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [An inner darkness is darker than an outer darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/an-inner-darkness-is-darker-than-an-outer-darkness/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The strange thing about Africa is how past, present and future come together in a kind of rough jazz, if you like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-strange-thing-about-africa-is-how-past-present-and-future-come/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Our time here is magic! It's the only space you have to realize whatever it is that is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/our-time-here-is-magic-it-s-the-only-space-you-have-to-realize/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Fire is one of my temperaments. It is behind all my work... Fire is a chemical presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/fire-is-one-of-my-temperaments-it-is-behind-all-my-work-fire-is-a/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends' floors, was happy, was miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-lived-rough-by-my-wits-was-homeless-lived-on-the-streets-lived-on/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [If we could be pure dancers in spirit we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/if-we-could-be-pure-dancers-in-spirit-we-would-never-be-afraid-to/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Without stories we would go mad. Life would lose its moorings or lose its orientations. even in silence we are living our stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/without-stories-we-would-go-mad-life-would-lose-its-moorings-or-lose/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Literature doesn't have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/literature-doesn-t-have-a-country-shakespeare-is-an-african-writer/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“So long as a canvas is empty its potential is infinite… The empty canvas can become a gateway into the landscape of nightmares or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/so-long-as-a-canvas-is-empty-its-potential-is-infinite-the-empty/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-went-to-london-because-for-me-it-was-the-home-of-literature-i-went/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) [Explore all 124 Ben Okri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## More Hungry quotes > [Get out from that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans. Well, roll my breakfast cause I'm a hungry man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-joe-turner/get-out-from-that-kitchen-and-rattle-those-pots-and-pans-well-roll-my/) [Big Joe Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-joe-turner/) > [Aye girl, you hungry? How bout some Dick-fil-A?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley/aye-girl-you-hungry-how-bout-some-dick-fil-a/) [Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley/) > [“Live is like a box of chocolates, we are all just waiting for a hungry hand to come down and grab us and eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunshine/live-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates-we-are-all-just-waiting-for-a-hungry/) [sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunshine/) > [“When a wolf is hungry it befriends sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-a-wolf-is-hungry-it-befriends-sheep/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [You want to remain hungry and stay in a good place as a competitor; at the same time, you want to be confident but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-odom/you-want-to-remain-hungry-and-stay-in-a-good-place-as-a-competitor-at/) [Lamar Odom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-odom/) > [The greatest charity you can contribute to is yourself. Instead of spending a dollar to help feed hungry children, why not spend that dollar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-greatest-charity-you-can-contribute-to-is-yourself-instead-of/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [I should have liked to get married, but over many decades I have lived essentially alone. I go to sleep when I'm tired, get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-should-have-liked-to-get-married-but-over-many-decades-i-have-lived/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [What we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-need-as-christians-is-to-be-able-to-feed-ourselves-how-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like acting too much and it's too, I'm just too busy doing that and I'm too hungry for it, to get behind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/i-like-acting-too-much-and-it-s-too-i-m-just-too-busy-doing-that-and/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [You get those hunger pains. 'I am so hungry. We don't have any food. What are we going to eat?' Your stomach hurts. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mclemore/you-get-those-hunger-pains-i-am-so-hungry-we-don-t-have-any-food-what/) [Ben McLemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mclemore/) > [With those who are willing to join, let us cooperate to reduce the burden of arms, to strengthen the structure of peace, to lift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/with-those-who-are-willing-to-join-let-us-cooperate-to-reduce-the/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [This guy Clubber Lang, I've been him all my life. He's mean and hungry just like me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/this-guy-clubber-lang-i-ve-been-him-all-my-life-he-s-mean-and-hungry/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) Browse all 2,537 Hungry quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. 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