--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When it happens, this is what happens: I…" description: "\"“When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself. Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/charles-yu-3807_future-self_when-it-happens-this-is-what-happens-i-s_1992252.png" --- # When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself… ![“When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself. Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.” quote by Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/charles-yu-3807_future-self_when-it-happens-this-is-what-happens-i-s_1992252.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/charles-yu-3807_future-self_when-it-happens-this-is-what-happens-i-s_1992252.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/charles-yu-3807_future-self_when-it-happens-this-is-what-happens-i-s_1992252.png) > ““When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself. Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.”” [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator confronts a paradoxical version of himself from the future, symbolizing self‑destruction and the struggle with identity. **In simple terms:** Facing a future self can feel like fighting oneself. Key Takeaway Recognize and reconcile with your future self. Themes identity self‑conflict time travel choice Mood conflicted introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career crossroads - relationship decisions - creative blocks - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts existentialism personal narrative psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront your future anxieties? - What does “killing” your future self represent? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify complex psychological trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Future self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-self/) [Happens Shoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens-shoot-3459697/) [Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill/) [Kill Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill-future-1361997/) [Supposed Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposed-kill-3459698/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-machine/) ## Related quotes > [It’s what happens when you shoot someone,” Wayne pointed out. “At least, usually someone has the good sense to get dead when you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/it-s-what-happens-when-you-shoot-someone-wayne-pointed-out-at-least/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [A lot of the time, what happens is, when you shoot in L.A., you tend to be able to do things faster, believe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greig-fraser/a-lot-of-the-time-what-happens-is-when-you-shoot-in-l-a-you-tend-to/) [Greig Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greig-fraser/) > [If you have children and want to give your future self a present, record their laughter as toddlers. When they're older and away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickerson/if-you-have-children-and-want-to-give-your-future-self-a-present/) [John Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickerson/) > [We are not supposed to go out and kill all those we suspect to have committed a crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-jagger/we-are-not-supposed-to-go-out-and-kill-all-those-we-suspect-to-have/) [Bianca Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-jagger/) > [“That’s great, Grace, but in case you’ve forgotten, we’re supposed to kill vampires, not play nice and have lunch with them. - Archer”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-a-last/that-s-great-grace-but-in-case-you-ve-forgotten-we-re-supposed-to/) [K. A. Last](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-a-last/) > [What are we supposed to do? Kill Mufasa? PRECISELY. -Banzai and Scar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-lion-king/what-are-we-supposed-to-do-kill-mufasa-precisely-banzai-and-scar/) [The Lion King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-lion-king/) > [The kind of values for which I was supposed to kill, such as democracy and national independence, were better served, I thought, through non-violent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/the-kind-of-values-for-which-i-was-supposed-to-kill-such-as-democracy/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [Life is, to some extent, an extended dialogue with your future self about how exactly you are going to let yourself down over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/life-is-to-some-extent-an-extended-dialogue-with-your-future-self/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“Every time we choose our past over our present we kill our future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temitope-ibrahim/every-time-we-choose-our-past-over-our-present-we-kill-our-future/) [TemitOpe Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temitope-ibrahim/) > [“These children are our future. We were children once. All of us were. Bad bloods are an evolution. They are a mutation, not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson-2/these-children-are-our-future-we-were-children-once-all-of-us-were/) [Shannon A Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson-2/) > [Don't let your past kill your future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-your-past-kill-your-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [From the earliest wars of men to our last heart-breaking worldwide effort, all we could do was kill ourselves. Now we are able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellhorn/from-the-earliest-wars-of-men-to-our-last-heart-breaking-worldwide/) [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) > [“We should kill the future, so the present has no choice but to retreat into the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/we-should-kill-the-future-so-the-present-has-no-choice-but-to-retreat/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Present thinking people kill the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/present-thinking-people-kill-the-future/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [Insisting on living in your past will kill your future. Let it go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/insisting-on-living-in-your-past-will-kill-your-future-let-it-go/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) ## More by Charles Yu > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. Had a one night stand with something cute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/probably-it-goes-without-saying-but-time-machine-guys-don-t-get-a-lot/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“Maybe I'd absorbed the capacity to hurt someone by listening to my parents every night, who were under the impression that turning the volume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/maybe-i-d-absorbed-the-capacity-to-hurt-someone-by-listening-to-my/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“A life is about twenty-five thousand days, and a finding occurs about once every twenty-five thousand days. In other news, once in a lifetime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/a-life-is-about-twenty-five-thousand-days-and-a-finding-occurs-about/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“We don't need the Good Life. The Pretty Good Life would be just fine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/we-don-t-need-the-good-life-the-pretty-good-life-would-be-just-fine/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [For the past several years, I have gone to sleep every night in this same little pocket, the most uneventful piece of time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/for-the-past-several-years-i-have-gone-to-sleep-every-night-in-this/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [Whatever the reason, first place was always Solo, always, always, always, and second place was usually Chewbacca, because if you weren't the one saving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/whatever-the-reason-first-place-was-always-solo-always-always-always/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“I hate everything about her except for the fact that I love everything about her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/i-hate-everything-about-her-except-for-the-fact-that-i-love/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“My thoughts, normally bunched together, wrapped in gauze, insistent, urgent, impatient, one moment to the next, living in what I now realize is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/my-thoughts-normally-bunched-together-wrapped-in-gauze-insistent/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“How many times before I finally convince myself, how many private, erasable deaths will I need to die, how many self-murders is it going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/how-many-times-before-i-finally-convince-myself-how-many-private/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“I know none of this seems very believable. It probably doesn't even make sense. But for once in your life, please, I am asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/i-know-none-of-this-seems-very-believable-it-probably-doesn-t-even/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“My father makes to-do lists, makes plans, makes business plans. This is how he starts, always with a blank sheet of graph paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/my-father-makes-to-do-lists-makes-plans-makes-business-plans-this-is/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“It’s hard to have a relationship in this world. Other people are not the same from day to day. I might wake up next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/it-s-hard-to-have-a-relationship-in-this-world-other-people-are-not/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [Everyone has a time machine. Everyone \*is\* a time machine. It's just that most people's time machines are broken. The strangest and hardest kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/everyone-has-a-time-machine-everyone-is-a-time-machine-it-s-just-that/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“There are objects you may desire but cannot explain. There are objects that are not nouns, there are actions that are not verbs. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/there-are-objects-you-may-desire-but-cannot-explain-there-are-objects/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [“The sneaky heftiness of the book being the aggregate cumulative effect of hundreds of thousands of individually insubstantial little markings, letters and numbers, commas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/the-sneaky-heftiness-of-the-book-being-the-aggregate-cumulative/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) [Explore all 121 Charles Yu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) ## More Future self quotes > [We must be optimistic about the future because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we are creative and ambitious, intelligent machines will liberate us and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/we-must-be-optimistic-about-the-future-because-it-s-a-self-fulfilling/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [We might neglect our future selves because of some failure of belief or imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-parfit/we-might-neglect-our-future-selves-because-of-some-failure-of-belief/) [Derek Parfit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-parfit/) > [Every day is a day you can be a better person than you were yesterday. So do something today that your future self will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/every-day-is-a-day-you-can-be-a-better-person-than-you-were-yesterday/) [Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/) > [“What ever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy. Do something today, that your future self will thank you for. Always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c/what-ever-you-decide-to-do-make-sure-it-makes-you-happy-do-something/) [c](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c/) > [“You're holding your future self responsible for something your past self didn't know anything about. You can't judge your past behavior because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-k-blair/you-re-holding-your-future-self-responsible-for-something-your-past/) [E.K. Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-k-blair/) > [Back before 'Brick,' I wrote a short film that I never ended up shooting: hit men in the present who work for a mob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rian-johnson/back-before-brick-i-wrote-a-short-film-that-i-never-ended-up-shooting/) [Rian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rian-johnson/) > [The key to making healthy decisions is to respect your future self. Honor him or her. Treat him or her like you would treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-key-to-making-healthy-decisions-is-to-respect-your-future-self/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We're all just memories of our future selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/we-re-all-just-memories-of-our-future-selves/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [“A more productive mindset is to compare your current version of yourself with your ideal future self and to set goals to help you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-frey/a-more-productive-mindset-is-to-compare-your-current-version-of/) [Chuck Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-frey/) > [“Write your future self a letter and tell him how you are today I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-brooks/write-your-future-self-a-letter-and-tell-him-how-you-are-today-i/) [Penn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-brooks/) > [Do something today that your future self will thank you for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-something-today-that-your-future-self-will-thank-you-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do somthing today that your future self will thank you for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience/do-somthing-today-that-your-future-self-will-thank-you-for/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience/) > [“BE KIND to your future self. Leave things as you would wish to find them tomorrow. You never wake up and say, "I'm glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-k-matthews/be-kind-to-your-future-self-leave-things-as-you-would-wish-to-find/) [Marcia K. Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-k-matthews/) > [In young adult novels and children's books, you stay in moment. The story goes through a school year or a weekend. You never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/in-young-adult-novels-and-children-s-books-you-stay-in-moment-the/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [Never forget when posting something on Instagram that it lasts forever. Instagram is embarrassing enough as is, so be careful. A post might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cazzie-david/never-forget-when-posting-something-on-instagram-that-it-lasts/) [Cazzie David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cazzie-david/) [Browse all 64 Future self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-self/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself. Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. 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