--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I think of what I already lived…" description: "\"“When I think of what I already lived through it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths.”\" — Clarice Lispector" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/clarice-lispector-1401_body_when-i-think-of-what-i-already-lived-thr_225036.jpg" --- # When I think of what I already lived through it seems to… ![“When I think of what I already lived through it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths.” quote by Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/clarice-lispector-1401_body_when-i-think-of-what-i-already-lived-thr_225036.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/clarice-lispector-1401_body_when-i-think-of-what-i-already-lived-thr_225036.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/clarice-lispector-1401_body_when-i-think-of-what-i-already-lived-thr_225036.jpg) > ““When I think of what I already lived through it seems to me I was shedding my bodies along the paths.”” [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects on personal transformation as a series of shedding old selves while moving forward. **In simple terms:** Life changes like shedding old skins. Key Takeaway Embrace change as growth. Themes identity transformation life journey Mood reflective melancholy Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - grief - career change - spiritual growth - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - How have you shed an old identity? - What does shedding mean for your future? A Different Perspective Change can be painful and disorienting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Otherness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherness/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Renewal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renewal/) [Shedding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shedding/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [“None of my life is based on how others think I should have lived it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darnell-lamont-walker/none-of-my-life-is-based-on-how-others-think-i-should-have-lived-it/) [Darnell Lamont Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darnell-lamont-walker/) > [You who think of us: they lived only in delusion... Know that we the People of the Book, will never die!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/you-who-think-of-us-they-lived-only-in-delusion-know-that-we-the/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) > [I really don't think I have lived my life as an open book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archie-manning/i-really-don-t-think-i-have-lived-my-life-as-an-open-book/) [Archie Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archie-manning/) > [“I carry out sun rituals on the slopes of high mountains. But I am also taboo for myself, untouchable because forbidden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-carry-out-sun-rituals-on-the-slopes-of-high-mountains-but-i-am-also/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Beyond thought I reach a state. I refuse to divide it up into words - and what I cannot and do not want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/beyond-thought-i-reach-a-state-i-refuse-to-divide-it-up-into-words/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Your greatest job is shedding what you don't have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/your-greatest-job-is-shedding-what-you-don-t-have-to-do/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [I believe we are most beautiful when we are constantly shedding our old selves and moving into new light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suki-waterhouse/i-believe-we-are-most-beautiful-when-we-are-constantly-shedding-our/) [Suki Waterhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suki-waterhouse/) > [You know, in some ways, the celibacy tradition goes back to the tribe of Levi and, certainly, sacrifice and the notion of sacrifice. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-nichols/you-know-in-some-ways-the-celibacy-tradition-goes-back-to-the-tribe/) [Vincent Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-nichols/) > [“Even a spineless anthropod sheds what's no longer useful and leaves it behind them. Are you not greater than they?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/even-a-spineless-anthropod-sheds-what-s-no-longer-useful-and-leaves/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [Sure, theories of humor discern a few broad invariants: incongruity, misattribution, etc. But whereas I might find a blind date gone horribly wrong to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-di-filippo/sure-theories-of-humor-discern-a-few-broad-invariants-incongruity/) [Paul Di Filippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-di-filippo/) > [And the blood of brave men was shed like unto the shedding of rain from a black cloud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdowsi/and-the-blood-of-brave-men-was-shed-like-unto-the-shedding-of-rain/) [Ferdowsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdowsi/) > [I believe firmly in reconciliation among Vietnamese to avoid unnecessary shedding of the blood of Vietnamese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duong-van-minh/i-believe-firmly-in-reconciliation-among-vietnamese-to-avoid/) Duong Van Minh > [I purge compulsively. I'm constantly shedding things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/i-purge-compulsively-i-m-constantly-shedding-things/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [“I felt about him as I might feel about a friendly, dimwitted dog that had decided to move in with us. He could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-peters/i-felt-about-him-as-i-might-feel-about-a-friendly-dimwitted-dog-that/) [Elizabeth Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-peters/) > [We have to discard the past / and, as one builds / floor by floor, window by window, / and the building rises, /…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-have-to-discard-the-past-and-as-one-builds-floor-by-floor-window/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More by Clarice Lispector > [“I find it hard to believe that I shall die. Because I'm bubbling in cold freshness. My life will be very long because each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-find-it-hard-to-believe-that-i-shall-die-because-i-m-bubbling-in/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“We shall be inhuman - as humankind's greatest conquest. To be is to be beyond the human. To be a human being doesn't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/we-shall-be-inhuman-as-humankind-s-greatest-conquest-to-be-is-to-be/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [The only truth is that I live. Sincerely, I live. Who am I? Well, that's a bit much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/the-only-truth-is-that-i-live-sincerely-i-live-who-am-i-well-that-s-a/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Brazil is where I have to be, where I have my roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/brazil-is-where-i-have-to-be-where-i-have-my-roots/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“her short stories read like perfect songs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/her-short-stories-read-like-perfect-songs/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Between two musical notes there exists another note, between two facts there exists another fact, between two grains of sand, no matter how close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/between-two-musical-notes-there-exists-another-note-between-two-facts/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [I' is merely one of the world's instantaneous spasms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-is-merely-one-of-the-world-s-instantaneous-spasms/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“It isn't for us that cows' milk comes forth, but we drink it. Flowers weren't made for us to look at or for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/it-isn-t-for-us-that-cows-milk-comes-forth-but-we-drink-it-flowers/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [To think is an act. To feel is a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/to-think-is-an-act-to-feel-is-a-fact/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Love is now, is always. All that is missing is the coup de grâce- which is called passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/love-is-now-is-always-all-that-is-missing-is-the-coup-de-gr-ce-which/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [What I want is to live of that initial and primordial something that was what made some things reach the point of aspiring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/what-i-want-is-to-live-of-that-initial-and-primordial-something-that/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“I see that the wardrobe looks penetrable because it has a door. But when I open it, I see that penetration has been put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-see-that-the-wardrobe-looks-penetrable-because-it-has-a-door-but/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“I knew that cockroaches could go more than a month without food or water. And they could even survive on wood for food. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-knew-that-cockroaches-could-go-more-than-a-month-without-food-or/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Beatitude starts in the moment when the act of thinking has freed itself from the necessity of form. Beatitude starts at the moment when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/beatitude-starts-in-the-moment-when-the-act-of-thinking-has-freed/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Beyond thought I reach a state. I refuse to divide it up into words - and what I cannot and do not want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/beyond-thought-i-reach-a-state-i-refuse-to-divide-it-up-into-words/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) [Explore all 196 Clarice Lispector quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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