--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But who are we, where do we come from…" description: "\"But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere in the world?\" = MEETING =\" — Boris Pasternak" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png" --- # But who are we, where do we come from When all those years… ![“But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere in the world?" = MEETING =” quote by Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png) > “But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere in the world?" = MEETING =” [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questions existential origins and the emptiness of idle talk, reflecting on humanity’s place in the world. **In simple terms:** We wonder about existence and purpose. Key Takeaway Contemplate life’s meaning. Themes existence meaning identity Mood pensive curious Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - personal reflection - philosophical discourse - literature - spiritual search Key Concepts philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life purpose? - How do you find meaning daily? A Different Perspective It may be too abstract for practical use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Meetings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meetings/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [And he who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one day is better if a man has attained firm strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/and-he-who-lives-a-hundred-years-idle-and-weak-a-life-of-one-day-is/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The slothful are always ready to engage in idle talk of what will be done tomorrow, and every day after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lyly/the-slothful-are-always-ready-to-engage-in-idle-talk-of-what-will-be/) [John Lyly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lyly/) > [“Well, science and religion are not competitors, they’re two different languages trying to tell the same story. There’s room in this world for both.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/well-science-and-religion-are-not-competitors-they-re-two-different-2/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [Unless man has the wit and the grit to build his civilization on something better than material power, it is surely idle to talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bowes-sayre-sr/unless-man-has-the-wit-and-the-grit-to-build-his-civilization-on/) Francis Bowes Sayre, Sr > [“I have spoken to no one, not even my mother or Ray. I don't have the capacity for idle talk now. No, I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james/i-have-spoken-to-no-one-not-even-my-mother-or-ray-i-don-t-have-the/) [E.L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james/) > [“Curiosity, for which nothing is closed off, and idle talk, for which everything is supposedly understood, provide persons with the guarantee of a 'life'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-foulds/curiosity-for-which-nothing-is-closed-off-and-idle-talk-for-which/) Steven Foulds > [“...Saya tidak mahu tergolong sebagai jenis sasterawan yang terperangkap dengan idle talk (meminjam kata-kata Mohd Affandi Hassan).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faisal-tehrani/saya-tidak-mahu-tergolong-sebagai-jenis-sasterawan-yang-terperangkap/) [Faisal Tehrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faisal-tehrani/) > [“Gossip is an idle talk that makes you look worse than the person you are talking about, and people tend to have more confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzoma-nnadi/gossip-is-an-idle-talk-that-makes-you-look-worse-than-the-person-you/) [Uzoma Nnadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzoma-nnadi/) > [As long as this deliberate refusal to understand things from above, even where such understanding is possible, continues, it is idle to talk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-long-as-this-deliberate-refusal-to-understand-things-from-above/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't relax. My main relaxation is meeting illustrators and publishers in restaurants and bars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-ross/i-don-t-relax-my-main-relaxation-is-meeting-illustrators-and/) Tony Ross > [“Be a pro at what you do. No one shows-up to meetings of the Unsuccessful Skydivers Club.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/be-a-pro-at-what-you-do-no-one-shows-up-to-meetings-of-the/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [I like chance meetings - life is full of them. Every day, without realising it, I pass people whom I should know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krzysztof-kieslowski/i-like-chance-meetings-life-is-full-of-them-every-day-without/) [Krzysztof Kieslowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krzysztof-kieslowski/) > [Club: An assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/club-an-assembly-of-good-fellows-meeting-under-certain-conditions/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Are your people uncomfortable during meetings and tired at the end? If not, they're probably not mixing it up enough and getting to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/are-your-people-uncomfortable-during-meetings-and-tired-at-the-end-if/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) > [I could spend my life having meetings, a meeting to have another meeting, a hundred meetings to have another thousand meetings. It's not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-green/i-could-spend-my-life-having-meetings-a-meeting-to-have-another/) [Philip Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-green/) ## More by Boris Pasternak > [“Happy are the downtrodden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/happy-are-the-downtrodden/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“The saddest thing of all was that their party represented a deviation from the conditions of the time. It was impossible to imagine that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/the-saddest-thing-of-all-was-that-their-party-represented-a-deviation/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with compassion. The more we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/no-deep-and-strong-feeling-such-as-we-may-come-across-here-and-there/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [She was here on earth to make sense of its wild enchantments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/she-was-here-on-earth-to-make-sense-of-its-wild-enchantments/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Art has two constant, two unending concerns: It always meditates on death and thus always creates life. All great, genuine art resembles and continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/art-has-two-constant-two-unending-concerns-it-always-meditates-on/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I think that if the beast who sleeps in man could be held down by threats of any kind, whether of jail or retribution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-think-that-if-the-beast-who-sleeps-in-man-could-be-held-down-by/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/and-so-it-turned-out-that-only-a-life-similar-to-the-life-of-those/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I come here to speak poetry. It will always be in the grass. It will also be necessary to bend down to hear it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-come-here-to-speak-poetry-it-will-always-be-in-the-grass-it-will/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“I'll stay with you a little, my unforgettable delight, for as long as my arms and my hands and my lips remember you. I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-ll-stay-with-you-a-little-my-unforgettable-delight-for-as-long-as/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [If it's so painful to love and absorb electricity, how much more painful it is to be a woman, to be the electricity, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/if-it-s-so-painful-to-love-and-absorb-electricity-how-much-more/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-don-t-like-purely-philosophical-works-i-think-a-little-philosophy/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“But sometimes, to enable her to bear her life, she needed the accompaniment of an inward music and she could not always compose it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-sometimes-to-enable-her-to-bear-her-life-she-needed-the/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“We’ve been lucky. The autumn happened to be dry and warm. We managed to dig the potatoes before the rain and cold set in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/we-ve-been-lucky-the-autumn-happened-to-be-dry-and-warm-we-managed-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Departure beyond the borders of my country is for me equivalent to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/departure-beyond-the-borders-of-my-country-is-for-me-equivalent-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“As he scribbled his odds and ends, he made a note reaffirming his belief that art always serves beauty, and beauty is delight in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/as-he-scribbled-his-odds-and-ends-he-made-a-note-reaffirming-his/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) [Explore all 189 Boris Pasternak quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## More Idle quotes > [Nature, being a wise and provident lady, governs her parts very wisely, methodically, and orderly: Also, she is very industrious and hates to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cavendish/nature-being-a-wise-and-provident-lady-governs-her-parts-very-wisely/) [Margaret Cavendish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cavendish/) > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [I'm homosexual. How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/i-m-homosexual-how-and-why-are-idle-questions-it-s-a-little-like/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Why, just a couple of economic seasons ago, was idle cash considered an indication of bad management or lazy management? Because it meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/why-just-a-couple-of-economic-seasons-ago-was-idle-cash-considered-an/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-do-not-know-today-whether-we-are-busy-or-idle-in-times-when-we/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/life-is-not-long-and-too-much-of-it-must-not-pass-in-idle/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is clear that the future of freedom and peace depend on the actions of America. This nation is freedom's home, and freedom's defender.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/it-is-clear-that-the-future-of-freedom-and-peace-depend-on-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I think my parents recognised that I'd always wanted to be a writer, and so they didn't think that this was some idle, faddish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-think-my-parents-recognised-that-i-d-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Spring comes with flowers, autumn with the moon, summer with the breeze, winter with snow. When idle concerns don't fill your thoughts, that's your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/spring-comes-with-flowers-autumn-with-the-moon-summer-with-the-breeze/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/old-flossie-settle-down-on-the-other-side-of-what-the-dickens-and/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [To be idle requires a strong sense of personal identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/to-be-idle-requires-a-strong-sense-of-personal-identity/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [An idle life and a holy heart is a contradiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/an-idle-life-and-a-holy-heart-is-a-contradiction/) [Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/) Browse all 727 Idle quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere in the world?\" = MEETING =", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Boris Pasternak" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-when-all-those-years-nothing-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Idle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-when-all-those-years-nothing-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/661/boris-pasternak-1944_idle_but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-whe_2719407.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But who are we, where do we come from When all those years Nothing but idle talk is left And we are nowhere…” — Boris Pasternak", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Boris Pasternak", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But who are we, where do...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-when-all-those-years-nothing-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-when-all-those-years-nothing-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```