--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Real life is all beginnings. Days, weeks…" description: "\"“Real life is all beginnings. Days, weeks, children, journeys, marriages, inventions. Even a murder is the beginning of a criminal. Perhaps even a spre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/catherynne-m-valente-375_beginning_real-life-is-all-beginnings-days-weeks-c_279666.jpg" --- # Real life is all beginnings. Days, weeks, children… ![“Real life is all beginnings. Days, weeks, children, journeys, marriages, inventions. Even a murder is the beginning of a criminal. Perhaps even a spree. Everything is prologue. Every story has a stutter. It just keeps starting and starting until you decide to shut the camera off. Half the time you…” quote by Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/catherynne-m-valente-375_beginning_real-life-is-all-beginnings-days-weeks-c_279666.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/catherynne-m-valente-375_beginning_real-life-is-all-beginnings-days-weeks-c_279666.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/catherynne-m-valente-375_beginning_real-life-is-all-beginnings-days-weeks-c_279666.jpg) > ““Real life is all beginnings. Days, weeks, children, journeys, marriages, inventions. Even a murder is the beginning of a criminal. Perhaps even a spree. Everything is prologue. Every story has a stutter. It just keeps starting and starting until you decide to shut the camera off. Half the time you don’t even realise that what you’re choosing for breakfast is the beginning of a story that won’t pan out till you’re sixty and staring at the pastry that made you a widower. No, love, in real life you can get all the way to death and never have finished one single story. Or never even get one so much as half-begun.”” [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a series of beginnings that never fully resolve, and we often miss their significance until later. **In simple terms:** Life is endless starts and unfinished stories. Key Takeaway Embrace each moment, knowing it may be a story’s start. Themes continuity impermanence storytelling existentialism Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical literary existential When to use this quote - daily routines - relationships - career decisions - creative projects - family planning Key Concepts Narrative theory temporal perception choice mortality Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize the importance of a small beginning? - What does it mean to live with unfinished narratives? A Different Perspective Not every beginning leads to a satisfying conclusion; some remain incomplete. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Beginning Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning-story-619925/) [Beginnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Beginnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-beginnings-347991/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) ## Related quotes > [“Without an ending there would be no beginning. And if I can’t imagine a life without beginnings, I can’t live without endings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/without-an-ending-there-would-be-no-beginning-and-if-i-can-t-imagine/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Life is full of beginnings, and many beginnings are difficult. They require a little extra inspiration in order to keep you going, keep you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-beginnings-and-many-beginnings-are-difficult-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Life is such that beginnings and endings are neither. For in fact, they perpetually lay the groundwork for the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/life-is-such-that-beginnings-and-endings-are-neither-for-in-fact-they/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Life is all beginnings and ends. Nothing stays the same, lad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-courtenay/life-is-all-beginnings-and-ends-nothing-stays-the-same-lad/) [Bryce Courtenay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-courtenay/) > [Every photo, every 'ONCE' in time is also the beginning of a story starting 'once upon a time...' Every photo is the first frame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-wenders/every-photo-every-once-in-time-is-also-the-beginning-of-a-story/) [Wim Wenders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-wenders/) > [“One of the attractions of moving away into te life of employment, I think, is being disconnected and free, unbothered by membership. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/one-of-the-attractions-of-moving-away-into-te-life-of-employment-i/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/life-is-not-so-much-about-beginnings-and-endings-as-it-is-about-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-secret-to-a-rich-life-is-to-have-more-beginnings-than-endings/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In those early amorphous years when memory had only just begun, when life was full of Beginnings and no Ends, and Everything was Forever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-those-early-amorphous-years-when-memory-had-only-just-begun-when/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Death is either an incredible ending to a story or, more often than not if you ask the right questions, it's the beginning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-graves/death-is-either-an-incredible-ending-to-a-story-or-more-often-than/) [Alex Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-graves/) > [“Halley believed that a kiss was the beginning of a story, the story, good or bad, short or long, of an us, and once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/halley-believed-that-a-kiss-was-the-beginning-of-a-story-the-story/) [Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-murray/) > [Do you still look at each other like you once did, back at the beginning of the story when everything was a question you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alethea-kontis/do-you-still-look-at-each-other-like-you-once-did-back-at-the/) [Alethea Kontis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alethea-kontis/) > [She is also brought to a point of zero in the beginning of the story, and I think you can say that about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bille-august/she-is-also-brought-to-a-point-of-zero-in-the-beginning-of-the-story/) [Bille August](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bille-august/) > [“Almost everyone I’ve ever met likes to hear a story from the beginning. It’s a curious prejudice, when you think about it. In life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-tobolowsky/almost-everyone-i-ve-ever-met-likes-to-hear-a-story-from-the/) [Stephen Tobolowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-tobolowsky/) > [But that was just the beginning of the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumar-anupam/but-that-was-just-the-beginning-of-the-story/) [Kumar Anupam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumar-anupam/) ## More by Catherynne M. Valente > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-just-keep-moving-september-we-keep-moving-until-we-stop/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You couldn't ever really fix a sad story. You could only make another. And another. And another, until you found the right one at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-couldn-t-ever-really-fix-a-sad-story-you-could-only-make-another/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. The algorithms wriggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/he-considers-it-for-a-moment-and-spits-out-the-seeds-which-sprout/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“Truly, Mallow yearned to know everything. Curiosity was part of her, like her short blond hair and bitten fingernails.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/truly-mallow-yearned-to-know-everything-curiosity-was-part-of-her/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“The cicada lies in the earth for seventeen years. It is warm and dark there, it is soft and wet. Its little legs curl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/the-cicada-lies-in-the-earth-for-seventeen-years-it-is-warm-and-dark/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/her-heart-was-bruised-by-the-kiss-smashed-and-surprised-and-unsettled/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“September put her hand on the grip of the Rivet Gun. She’d only just gotten it, and she’d promised to take copious notes for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/september-put-her-hand-on-the-grip-of-the-rivet-gun-she-d-only-just/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/just-tell-yourself-a-story-that-ll-satisfy-you-and-pretend-he-told-it/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You see, the future is a kind of stew, a soup, a vichyssoise of the present and the past. That's how you get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-see-the-future-is-a-kind-of-stew-a-soup-a-vichyssoise-of-the/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/there-is-a-place-september-oh-very-far-from-pandemonium-a-place-where/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“I was happy, the sun was high. I had enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-was-happy-the-sun-was-high-i-had-enough/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Who are you?" "I am Death," said the creature. "I thought that was obvious." "But you're so small!" "Only because you are small. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/who-are-you-i-am-death-said-the-creature-i-thought-that-was-obvious/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) [Explore all 621 Catherynne M. Valente quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## More Beginning quotes > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Every Finish Line is the beginning of a new race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-finish-line-is-the-beginning-of-a-new-race/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/) [Adam Imad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-imad/) > [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [The only vocal training I had was playing with a tape recorder as a kid, and you know, doing the beginning of the 'Lone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-buffer/the-only-vocal-training-i-had-was-playing-with-a-tape-recorder-as-a/) [Michael Buffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-buffer/) > [January is the beginning of a new year for us in the Western world. Let us give to God what belongs to him: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/january-is-the-beginning-of-a-new-year-for-us-in-the-western-world/) [Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/) > [In the beginning, if you look at those early label albums of the Chicks, we didn't write all that much. We had an A&R…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martie-maguire/in-the-beginning-if-you-look-at-those-early-label-albums-of-the/) [Martie Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martie-maguire/) > [You need more than a beginning if you're going to start a book. If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [When there is a mission before you, you see it from its beginning to its conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-white/when-there-is-a-mission-before-you-you-see-it-from-its-beginning-to/) [Jesse White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-white/) > [When God made the world, all things began with him. Life, death, it all began when he said so. That includes you and me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manae-poet-of-carisis/when-god-made-the-world-all-things-began-with-him-life-death-it-all/) [Manae Poet Of Carisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manae-poet-of-carisis/) > [From the beginning at Intel, we planned on being big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-noyce/from-the-beginning-at-intel-we-planned-on-being-big/) [Robert Noyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-noyce/) > [In the very beginning, Yelp started as a service where we really didn't think people would write reviews for fun. The whole concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-stoppelman/in-the-very-beginning-yelp-started-as-a-service-where-we-really-didn/) [Jeremy Stoppelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-stoppelman/) > [Some projects feel like the stars are aligning for them from the very beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-smith/some-projects-feel-like-the-stars-are-aligning-for-them-from-the-very/) [Gregory Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-smith/) > [Do not judge me by my beginning, Only by my end, Nor by the path I took, But where it led me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacklyn-h-lucas/do-not-judge-me-by-my-beginning-only-by-my-end-nor-by-the-path-i-took/) [Jacklyn H Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacklyn-h-lucas/) [Browse all 3,566 Beginning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Real life is all beginnings. 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