--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam?…" description: "\"“Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam? You will see. It is difficult even for brothers to travel together on such a voyage. The road has its own rea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/cormac-mccarthy-181_journey_long-voyages-often-lose-themselves-mam-y_1400572.jpg" --- # Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam? You will see. It… ![“Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam? You will see. It is difficult even for brothers to travel together on such a voyage. The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an understanding of them at all. Listen to the…” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/cormac-mccarthy-181_journey_long-voyages-often-lose-themselves-mam-y_1400572.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/cormac-mccarthy-181_journey_long-voyages-often-lose-themselves-mam-y_1400572.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/cormac-mccarthy-181_journey_long-voyages-often-lose-themselves-mam-y_1400572.jpg) > ““Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam? You will see. It is difficult even for brothers to travel together on such a voyage. The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an understanding of them at all. Listen to the corridos of the country. They will tell you. Then you will see in your own life what is the cost of things. Perhaps it is true that nothing is hidden. Yet many do not wish to see what lies before them in plain sight. You will see. The shape of the road is the road. There is not some other road that wears the shape but only the one. And every voyage begun upon it will be completed. Whether horses are found or not.”” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Travel reveals personal truths; each journey is unique and shaped by the road itself, demanding acceptance of hidden costs. **In simple terms:** Travel teaches personal truth and hidden costs. Key Takeaway Accept the road’s lessons. Themes journey truth acceptance Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical narrative When to use this quote - long trips - family travel - pilgrimages - life decisions Key Concepts existentialism personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What hidden costs have you ignored? - How does the road shape your choices? A Different Perspective Understanding may be elusive; not all travelers reach clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Long Voyages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-voyages-3259302/) [Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road/) [Road Reasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-reasons-323206/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Travel Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel-together/) [Travelers Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travelers-understanding-323205/) [Voyage Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyage-road-4906260/) ## Related quotes > [The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-road-has-its-own-reasons-and-no-two-travelers-will-have-the-same/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“merchants who financed this expedition viewed it as a reconnaissance mission rather than a trading venture and little cargo was loaded on board the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-milton/merchants-who-financed-this-expedition-viewed-it-as-a-reconnaissance/) [Giles Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-milton/) > [On the eve of long voyages or an absence of many years, friends who are tenderly attached will seperate with the usual look, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/on-the-eve-of-long-voyages-or-an-absence-of-many-years-friends-who/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I'm not a person who flies away with a hot guy and is away from my husband for 3 months. We travel together. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wayne-callies/i-m-not-a-person-who-flies-away-with-a-hot-guy-and-is-away-from-my/) [Sarah Wayne Callies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wayne-callies/) > [You see, though we travel together, we travel alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/you-see-though-we-travel-together-we-travel-alone/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [The balance and peace we seek for ourselves and our society won't be achieved through mental effort alone. Mind and spirit are meant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-l-taylor/the-balance-and-peace-we-seek-for-ourselves-and-our-society-won-t-be/) [Susan L. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-l-taylor/) > [Not only is he my broadcast partner, but we travel together so much, he's become like my best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-mathews/not-only-is-he-my-broadcast-partner-but-we-travel-together-so-much-he/) [Josh Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-mathews/) > [“A couple who travel together, grow together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-fuadi/a-couple-who-travel-together-grow-together/) [Ahmad Fuadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmad-fuadi/) > [“The Marquis de V... - whose falsetto voice and little watery eyes I have always detested - was saying to me with a wicked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-lorrain/the-marquis-de-v-whose-falsetto-voice-and-little-watery-eyes-i-have/) [Jean Lorrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-lorrain/) > [“I am not mad here, but clear and calm. I am not transformed, but allowed to be wholly myself.I am isolated, but have never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-katz/i-am-not-mad-here-but-clear-and-calm-i-am-not-transformed-but-allowed/) [Jon Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-katz/) > [“The E and H waves always travel together: neither can exist alone. They vibrate at right angles to each other and are always in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-mahon/the-e-and-h-waves-always-travel-together-neither-can-exist-alone-they/) [Basil Mahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-mahon/) > [“Three chums would find themselves at a loose end for whatever reason and would agree to travel together to foreign lands for the purposes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/three-chums-would-find-themselves-at-a-loose-end-for-whatever-reason/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it's vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/we-travel-together-passengers-on-a-little-spaceship-dependent-on-it-s/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Himanshu and I travel together whenever possible, but there are times when I like to travel with my mother and maasi. It is really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amruta-khanvilkar/himanshu-and-i-travel-together-whenever-possible-but-there-are-times/) [Amruta Khanvilkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amruta-khanvilkar/) > [“He thinks it's dangerous for us to leave each other so much freedom and make these vague plans to travel together in the future,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/he-thinks-it-s-dangerous-for-us-to-leave-each-other-so-much-freedom/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Journey quotes > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [What people tend to forget is the journey that I had getting to Formula One. There were plenty of years where I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hamilton/what-people-tend-to-forget-is-the-journey-that-i-had-getting-to/) [Lewis Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hamilton/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Have a Blast; Life wont last! Make the best of the journey before it is over!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-a-blast-life-wont-last-make-the-best-of-the-journey-before-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cocoon's cry to first fly, Travels thousands of miles— So much in so little life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-negi/cocoon-s-cry-to-first-fly-travels-thousands-of-miles-so-much-in-so/) [Ritu Negi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-negi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Loving yourself is a journey, not a destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-holliday/loving-yourself-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/) [Tess Holliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-holliday/) > [“Everywhere is home, let is go home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzuco-hu-nh/everywhere-is-home-let-is-go-home/) [Dzuco Huỳnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzuco-hu-nh/) > [Life is a journey, not a destination. Fall into the deep - rise to new heights. .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-basumatary/life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination-fall-into-the-deep-rise-to-new/) [Ashish Basumatary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-basumatary/) > [Be the inner journeys, be the outer travels, all trips elevate man, all voyages lift him up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/be-the-inner-journeys-be-the-outer-travels-all-trips-elevate-man-all/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The hardest roads are often empty; the darkest paths are mostly silent; toughest destinations are almost peopleless! No easy road brings you great victory!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-hardest-roads-are-often-empty-the-darkest-paths-are-mostly-silent/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“May the seas bend to your journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoraida-c-rdova/may-the-seas-bend-to-your-journey/) [Zoraida Córdova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoraida-c-rdova/) [Browse all 11,861 Journey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Long voyages often lose themselves. Mam? You will see. It is difficult even for brothers to travel together on such a voyage. The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an understanding of them at all. Listen to the corridos of the country. They will tell you. Then you will see in your own life what is the cost of things. Perhaps it is true that nothing is hidden. Yet many do not wish to see what lies before them in plain sight. You will see. The shape of the road is the road. There is not some other road that wears the shape but only the one. And every voyage begun upon it will be completed. 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