--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After a thousand years pass, it builds…" description: "\"“After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia. Climbing to a rest on the very top, it examine..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg" --- # After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral… ![“After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia. Climbing to a rest on the very top, it examines the world all throughout the night with the ability to see true good and evil. When the sun rises the next morning, with great sorrow for all that…” quote by Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg) > ““After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia. Climbing to a rest on the very top, it examines the world all throughout the night with the ability to see true good and evil. When the sun rises the next morning, with great sorrow for all that it sees, it sings a haunting song. As it sings, the heat of the sun ignites the expensive spices and the Phoenix dies in the flames. But the Phoenix is not remarkable for its feathers or flames. It is most revered for its ability to climb from its own funeral pyre, from the very ashes of its old charred body, as a brand new life ready to live again once more. Life after life, it goes through this cycle. It absorbs human sorrow, only to rise from death to do it all again. It never wearies, it never tires. It never questions its fate. Some say that the Phoenix is real, that it exists somewhere out there in the mountains of Arabia, elusive and mysterious. Others say that the Phoenix is only a wish made by desperate humans to believe in the continuance of life. But I know a secret. We are the Phoenix.”” [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Phoenix symbolizes rebirth: rising from its own ashes after death, embodying resilience and endless renewal. **In simple terms:** The Phoenix represents renewal after destruction. Key Takeaway Embrace cycles of loss and renewal. Themes resilience renewal transformation hope life cycles Mood inspirational hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - grief recovery - career setbacks - personal growth - creative projects Key Concepts mythology symbolism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What personal "ashes" have you turned into new beginnings? - How can you cultivate resilience in daily life? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Good and evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-and-evil/) [Heat of the sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat-of-the-sun/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [New life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-life/) [Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phoenix/) [Rebirth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebirth/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [“I've recently noticed how often I find my characters on a tropical beach during some part of many of my stories. There’s something very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-broadrick/i-ve-recently-noticed-how-often-i-find-my-characters-on-a-tropical/) Annette Broadrick > [The Soul rules over matter. Matter may pass away like a mote in the sunbeam, may be absorbed into the immensity of God, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-soul-rules-over-matter-matter-may-pass-away-like-a-mote-in-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Fear no more the heat o' th' sun Nor the furious winters' rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/fear-no-more-the-heat-o-th-sun-nor-the-furious-winters-rages-thou-thy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I sit on the steps in the heat of the sun and listen as one by one these car alarms extinguish themselves until once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-sit-on-the-steps-in-the-heat-of-the-sun-and-listen-as-one-by-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“I really love this city. It’s so very beautiful. It’s so multidimensional.People say it has a darkness and a decadence, which it tries to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-naeem/i-really-love-this-city-it-s-so-very-beautiful-it-s-so/) [Umair Naeem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-naeem/) > [“A preaching bush woke up Aloysius. It was a bush that claimed to have taken a correspondence course from an American seminary, that sat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-c-winkler/a-preaching-bush-woke-up-aloysius-it-was-a-bush-that-claimed-to-have/) Anthony C. Winkler > [“It was good to emerge from this silent semi-darkness into a bright glade. Suddenly everything was different: the earth was warm; the air was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/it-was-good-to-emerge-from-this-silent-semi-darkness-into-a-bright/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [The hard surface of the stone is impervious to nothing in the end. The heat of the sun leaves evidence of daylight. Each drop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/the-hard-surface-of-the-stone-is-impervious-to-nothing-in-the-end-the/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“Love seeks out that desperate, lonely, frightened place inside each of us and coaxes it out into the daylight, so that it can eviscerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassondra-windwalker/love-seeks-out-that-desperate-lonely-frightened-place-inside-each-of/) Cassondra Windwalker > [“In prehistoric times, early man was bowled over by natural events: rain, thunder, lightning, the violent shaking and moving of the ground, mountains spewing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/signe-pike/in-prehistoric-times-early-man-was-bowled-over-by-natural-events-rain/) Signe Pike > [“I am the goal at the end of all paths. I am the landlord of all creation. I am the inner witness in every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-bhagavad-gita/i-am-the-goal-at-the-end-of-all-paths-i-am-the-landlord-of-all/) [The Bhagavad Gita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-bhagavad-gita/) > [Evolution is as much a fact as the heat of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/evolution-is-as-much-a-fact-as-the-heat-of-the-sun/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [If we use our fuel to get our power, we are living on our capital and exhausting it rapidly. This method is barbarous and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/if-we-use-our-fuel-to-get-our-power-we-are-living-on-our-capital-and/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [“Said the lion to the lioness - "when you are amber dust - No more a raging fire like the heat of the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/said-the-lion-to-the-lioness-when-you-are-amber-dust-no-more-a-raging/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, two, three, she did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-young-man-had-killed-himself-but-she-did-not-pity-him-with-the/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Courtney Cole > [“I couldn't remember if I thanked you for what you did," I tell her. "And I can't get you out of my head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/i-couldn-t-remember-if-i-thanked-you-for-what-you-did-i-tell-her-and/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“Perfect. I would have an unbalanced psychopath on my hands armed with immortal supernatural power. This night kept getting better and better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/perfect-i-would-have-an-unbalanced-psychopath-on-my-hands-armed-with/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“You can have all the time that you need, Mila. I'll wait forever if I have to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/you-can-have-all-the-time-that-you-need-mila-i-ll-wait-forever-if-i/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“Give me another chance," I ask urgently. "I will do anything that you want me to do if you just tell me that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/give-me-another-chance-i-ask-urgently-i-will-do-anything-that-you/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“Because I'm a monster, like my father before me and his father before him, and so on. There is no help for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/because-i-m-a-monster-like-my-father-before-me-and-his-father-before/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“You’ve seen me at my worst. Maybe you should see me at my best.” My words hang between us, heavy and charged, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/you-ve-seen-me-at-my-worst-maybe-you-should-see-me-at-my-best-my/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“I focus on my favorite daydream, the one where I return from London at the end of the summer and am all glamorous and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/i-focus-on-my-favorite-daydream-the-one-where-i-return-from-london-at/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“After tonight, I don’t want you to come around me, Jacey. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I have already. Tonight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/after-tonight-i-don-t-want-you-to-come-around-me-jacey-i-don-t-want/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“And women don't usually like to be looked at. They feel vulnerable, exposed. They are self-conscious about their perceived flaws. What they don't understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/and-women-don-t-usually-like-to-be-looked-at-they-feel-vulnerable/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“I love you, too, Pax. I hope you know that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/i-love-you-too-pax-i-hope-you-know-that/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“She's the reason I came to your house, remember? She called me or I wouldn't have known that things were so bad. She loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/she-s-the-reason-i-came-to-your-house-remember-she-called-me-or-i/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“Mila, I've said this before, but you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You are beautiful inside and out. I don't deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/mila-i-ve-said-this-before-but-you-are-the-most-beautiful-thing-i-ve/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“If it were me, I’d be flying off the handle and freaking out. But he’s not. He’s as calm as can be. We’re like yin and yang. Perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/if-it-were-me-i-d-be-flying-off-the-handle-and-freaking-out-but-he-s/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“Jacey,” I continue, trying to make my voice steady, “I don’t know what I can offer you. But I’ll try to offer you something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/jacey-i-continue-trying-to-make-my-voice-steady-i-don-t-know-what-i/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“I crumple onto the lounger and cry again even though I didn’t think I had any tears left. And then Dante is next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/i-crumple-onto-the-lounger-and-cry-again-even-though-i-didn-t-think-i/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) [Explore all 112 Courtney Cole quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) ## More Fate quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [When you have counted eighty years and more, Time and Fate will batter at your door; But if you should survive to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/when-you-have-counted-eighty-years-and-more-time-and-fate-will-batter/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [ Man blindly works the will of fate. \[Ger., Blindlings that er blos den Willen des Geschickes.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-martin-wieland/man-blindly-works-the-will-of-fate-ger-blindlings-that-er-blos-den/) [Christoph Martin Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-martin-wieland/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Real chessplayers think about chess more or less 24 hours a day. It is a passion and a fate that one has to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simen-agdestein/real-chessplayers-think-about-chess-more-or-less-24-hours-a-day-it-is/) Simen Agdestein > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Fate and future both are servant to the determined, for they are nothing but creation of human determination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fate-and-future-both-are-servant-to-the-determined-for-they-are/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What would have been the fate of sages if there were no fools?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/what-would-have-been-the-fate-of-sages-if-there-were-no-fools/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) > [“God has a way of picking a “nobody” and turning their world upside down, in order to create a “somebody” that will remove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-has-a-way-of-picking-a-nobody-and-turning-their-world-upside-down/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) [Browse all 5,152 Fate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia. Climbing to a rest on the very top, it examines the world all throughout the night with the ability to see true good and evil. When the sun rises the next morning, with great sorrow for all that it sees, it sings a haunting song. As it sings, the heat of the sun ignites the expensive spices and the Phoenix dies in the flames. But the Phoenix is not remarkable for its feathers or flames. It is most revered for its ability to climb from its own funeral pyre, from the very ashes of its old charred body, as a brand new life ready to live again once more. Life after life, it goes through this cycle. It absorbs human sorrow, only to rise from death to do it all again. It never wearies, it never tires. It never questions its fate. Some say that the Phoenix is real, that it exists somewhere out there in the mountains of Arabia, elusive and mysterious. Others say that the Phoenix is only a wish made by desperate humans to believe in the continuance of life. But I know a secret. We are the Phoenix.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Courtney Cole" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-its-own-funeral-pyre-lining-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-its-own-funeral-pyre-lining-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/679/courtney-cole-4223_fate_after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-it_610277.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After a thousand years pass, it builds its own funeral pyre, lining it with cinnamon, myrrh and cassia…” — Courtney Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Courtney Cole", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“After a thousand years pass, it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-its-own-funeral-pyre-lining-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/after-a-thousand-years-pass-it-builds-its-own-funeral-pyre-lining-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```