--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When living comes to pass, one wonders…" description: "\"“When living comes to pass, one wonders: but was that it? And the answer is: that is not only it, that is exactly it.”\" — Clarice Lispector" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/clarice-lispector-1401_life_when-living-comes-to-pass-one-wonders-bu_2378959.jpg" --- # When living comes to pass, one wonders: but was that it?… ![“When living comes to pass, one wonders: but was that it? And the answer is: that is not only it, that is exactly it.” quote by Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/clarice-lispector-1401_life_when-living-comes-to-pass-one-wonders-bu_2378959.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/clarice-lispector-1401_life_when-living-comes-to-pass-one-wonders-bu_2378959.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/clarice-lispector-1401_life_when-living-comes-to-pass-one-wonders-bu_2378959.jpg) > ““When living comes to pass, one wonders: but was that it? And the answer is: that is not only it, that is exactly it.”” [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. Living is paradoxical; the moment we think it ends, it continues in a deeper way. **In simple terms:** Life goes on beyond our expectations. Key Takeaway Embrace the ongoing mystery of existence. Themes existence paradox continuity Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief - career change - personal growth Key Concepts Existentialism literary Questions to Reflect On - What does “that is exactly it” mean to you? - Do you resist or accept life’s paradoxes? A Different Perspective Life’s meaning can be elusive, making certainty hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [The day when we plan seriously to start living either never comes or it comes too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-r-wylie/the-day-when-we-plan-seriously-to-start-living-either-never-comes-or/) I. A. R. Wylie > [You take delight not in a city's seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-take-delight-not-in-a-city-s-seven-or-seventy-wonders-but-in-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Polo: "You take delight not in a city's seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours." Khan:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/polo-you-take-delight-not-in-a-city-s-seven-or-seventy-wonders-but-in/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Cities also believe they are the work of the mind or of chance, but neither the one nor the other suffices to hold up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/cities-also-believe-they-are-the-work-of-the-mind-or-of-chance-but/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/the-mode-by-which-the-inevitable-comes-to-pass-is-effort/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [And what 's impossible can't be, And never, never comes to pass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-what-s-impossible-can-t-be-and-never-never-comes-to-pass/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What comes to pass does so not so much because a few people want it to happen, as because the mass of citizens abdicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/what-comes-to-pass-does-so-not-so-much-because-a-few-people-want-it/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [I assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/i-assert-that-nothing-ever-comes-to-pass-without-a-cause/) [Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/) > [The big play comes with the pass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sid-gillman/the-big-play-comes-with-the-pass/) [Sid Gillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sid-gillman/) > [Opportunity comes to pass-not to pause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wallace/opportunity-comes-to-pass-not-to-pause/) James Wallace > [“And so, it comes to pass in time, that the earth ceases for us to be a weltering chaos. We walk in the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/and-so-it-comes-to-pass-in-time-that-the-earth-ceases-for-us-to-be-a/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [The thing we look forward to often comes to pass, but never precisely in the way we have imagined to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-thing-we-look-forward-to-often-comes-to-pass-but-never-precisely/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Whatever one writes, comes to pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/whatever-one-writes-comes-to-pass/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [What goes around comes around so I pass my weed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-viera/what-goes-around-comes-around-so-i-pass-my-weed/) [John Viera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-viera/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) ## 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 Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When living comes to pass, one wonders: but was that it? 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