--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Were all times captives, hostages of…" description: "\"“Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity”\" — Boris Pasternak" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png" --- # Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity ![“Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity” quote by Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png) > ““Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity”” [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. All humans are bound by time, captive to eternity’s unknown. **In simple terms:** We are all time’s prisoners. Key Takeaway Recognize life’s fleeting nature. Themes existentialism time mortality Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - historical study - teaching philosophy Key Concepts Philosophy of existence literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness of eternity affect daily choices? - Can freedom be found within captivity? A Different Perspective May feel fatalistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hostages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostages/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We're all time's captives, hostages to eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/we-re-all-time-s-captives-hostages-to-eternity/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [You are eternity's hostage A captive of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/you-are-eternity-s-hostage-a-captive-of-mine/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I would have promised those terrorists a trip to Disneyland if it would have gotten the hostages released. I thank God they were satisfied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-north/i-would-have-promised-those-terrorists-a-trip-to-disneyland-if-it/) [Oliver North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-north/) > [No commandment surpasses the one concerning the liberation of hostages, for they are among the starving, the thirsting, the stripped, always in danger of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/no-commandment-surpasses-the-one-concerning-the-liberation-of/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“The goal with hostages is to gradually lower expectations; in nonhostage crises, it's to lower emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-cullen/the-goal-with-hostages-is-to-gradually-lower-expectations-in/) [Dave Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-cullen/) > [President Carter famously said the hostages were the first thing he thought about in the morning and the last thing he thought about at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/president-carter-famously-said-the-hostages-were-the-first-thing-he/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > ['Betrayed' starts off with Shane Gallagher rescuing Elena Reyes and a group of hostages from a madman with a gun. And as the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-glick/betrayed-starts-off-with-shane-gallagher-rescuing-elena-reyes-and-a/) [Ruth Glick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-glick/) > [“now ringing the superintendent at the field command post, and praying that she was in time. \* \* \* Heart beating like a jack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ellis/now-ringing-the-superintendent-at-the-field-command-post-and-praying/) [Joy Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ellis/) > [At the beginning, because the lives of the hostages were at stake, then during this silent period we have taken several measures like not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-fujimori/at-the-beginning-because-the-lives-of-the-hostages-were-at-stake-then/) [Alberto Fujimori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-fujimori/) > [I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-l-lucas/i-have-a-wife-i-have-sons-all-these-hostages-have-i-given-to-fortune/) [F. L. Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-l-lucas/) > [We should never remain hostages of our past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmerson-mnangagwa/we-should-never-remain-hostages-of-our-past/) [Emmerson Mnangagwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmerson-mnangagwa/) > [I have a wife, I have sons: all of them hostages given to fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucan/i-have-a-wife-i-have-sons-all-of-them-hostages-given-to-fate/) [Lucan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucan/) > [I stand on the side of the United States government in making sure we do everything we can to get our hostages home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-shapiro/i-stand-on-the-side-of-the-united-states-government-in-making-sure-we/) [Josh Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-shapiro/) > [“Ten years ago I saw a documentary on the siege of that Moscow theater. After just forty-eight hours of the terrorists confining the hostages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/ten-years-ago-i-saw-a-documentary-on-the-siege-of-that-moscow-theater/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [When death gives us a long lease of life, it takes as hostages all those whom we have loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/when-death-gives-us-a-long-lease-of-life-it-takes-as-hostages-all/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) ## 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 Captives quotes > [The creative writer is usually captive to his next book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-hurst/the-creative-writer-is-usually-captive-to-his-next-book/) [Fannie Hurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-hurst/) > [People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/people-without-an-internalized-symbolic-system-can-all-too-easily/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [My favorite job is being a father. I have four girls now. They're a captive audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-willis/my-favorite-job-is-being-a-father-i-have-four-girls-now-they-re-a/) [Bruce Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-willis/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Of all the jaw-droppingly beautiful women who've become genuine movie stars, none has had a longer film career (62 years), has been filmed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-osborne/of-all-the-jaw-droppingly-beautiful-women-who-ve-become-genuine-movie/) [Robert Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-osborne/) > [Make me a captive Lord, then I shall be truly free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/make-me-a-captive-lord-then-i-shall-be-truly-free/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [As long as we're dependent on those fossil fuels, we're dependent on the Middle East. If we are not victims, we're certainly captives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-m-mchugh/as-long-as-we-re-dependent-on-those-fossil-fuels-we-re-dependent-on/) [John M. McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-m-mchugh/) > [Jah come to break downpression, rule equality, wipe away transgression, set the captives free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/jah-come-to-break-downpression-rule-equality-wipe-away-transgression/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [“Though the captives' resistance was dangerous, through such acts, dignity was preserved, and through dignity, life itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/though-the-captives-resistance-was-dangerous-through-such-acts/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [The state is captive to vested interests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanusi-lamido-sanusi/the-state-is-captive-to-vested-interests/) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi > [“...you go back to liberate the captives and sadly realize, some want to remain tied down in the cave...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/you-go-back-to-liberate-the-captives-and-sadly-realize-some-want-to/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“So, very soon our captives will meet their small countrywoman again. How grateful they must be to have a pleasant ride, with us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-rodda/so-very-soon-our-captives-will-meet-their-small-countrywoman-again/) [Emily Rodda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-rodda/) > [The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-cry-for-freedom-is-a-sign-of-suppression-it-will-not-cease-to/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Words have to murder reality before they can hold it captive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/words-have-to-murder-reality-before-they-can-hold-it-captive/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It would drive the photographers crazy because I would giggle and tell jokes. I was gregarious, and looking back, I realize I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/it-would-drive-the-photographers-crazy-because-i-would-giggle-and/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 176 Captives quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Boris Pasternak" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eternity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Captives" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eternity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d20/boris-pasternak-1944_captives_were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eter_2893613.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Were all times captives, hostages of Eternity” — 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": "“Were all times captives, hostages of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eternity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/were-all-times-captives-hostages-of-eternity/#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 } } ] } ```