--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But without William K, I would have…" description: "\"“But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had not been born on this journey. That I had lived before this.”\" — Dave Eggers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png" --- # But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had… ![“But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had not been born on this journey. That I had lived before this.” quote by Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png) > ““But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had not been born on this journey. That I had lived before this.”” [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing a mentor’s influence reminds us of our own continuity and purpose beyond birth. **In simple terms:** A mentor’s impact makes life feel purposeful. Key Takeaway Acknowledge mentors, honor their lessons. Themes legacy mentorship existential meaning Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career guidance - personal reflection - creative writing - teaching - counseling Key Concepts identity continuity purpose Questions to Reflect On - Who has shaped your sense of purpose? - How does remembering past influences guide your future? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on a single mentor may limit personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-journey-2386938/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Forgotten Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten-born-4372251/) [Journey Lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey-lived-1817356/) [Lost boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-boys/) [Page-178](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/page-178-139002/) [Sudan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sudan/) [William Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/william-forgotten-4372250/) ## Related quotes > [“And in a way, perhaps that means I love Xander best of all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/and-in-a-way-perhaps-that-means-i-love-xander-best-of-all/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [“You were born to journey in the direction of your purpose. Anything that halts your progress is contrary to your design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/you-were-born-to-journey-in-the-direction-of-your-purpose-anything/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [“Life is a journey, and I may not have always lived up to my ability, but I have always lived purposefully, and I guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/life-is-a-journey-and-i-may-not-have-always-lived-up-to-my-ability/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [When I look back at my journey, I have lived a life full of experiences that I am proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepti-naval/when-i-look-back-at-my-journey-i-have-lived-a-life-full-of/) [Deepti Naval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepti-naval/) > [“Yes, because it’s obviously better if you beat each other to death with rocks instead of stabbing each other like civilized human beings,” Sal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-henry/yes-because-it-s-obviously-better-if-you-beat-each-other-to-death/) [Christina Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-henry/) > [“Peter Pan has to be the book of my childhood. Come to think of it, it's the book of my adulthood too. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/peter-pan-has-to-be-the-book-of-my-childhood-come-to-think-of-it-it-s/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [This lost boy got fly without Peter Pan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/this-lost-boy-got-fly-without-peter-pan/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [“Until the end and from the start." The Lost Boys”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilian-carmine/until-the-end-and-from-the-start-the-lost-boys/) [Lilian Carmine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilian-carmine/) > [“It’s not such a wonderful thing, to be young,” I said. “It’s heartless, and selfish.” “But, oh, so free,” Nod said sadly. “So free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-henry/it-s-not-such-a-wonderful-thing-to-be-young-i-said-it-s-heartless-and/) [Christina Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-henry/) > [Youth is an amazing thing: I think back on when we did The Lost Boys, and I didn't think I could do anything wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiefer-sutherland/youth-is-an-amazing-thing-i-think-back-on-when-we-did-the-lost-boys/) [Kiefer Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiefer-sutherland/) > [“I didn’t believe him at first, about the island, though.” “I didn’t either,”I said. “I don’t know that anyone does. It sounds like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-henry/i-didn-t-believe-him-at-first-about-the-island-though-i-didn-t-either/) [Christina Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-henry/) > [“There’s nothing worse than having a fit and no one giving you the proper attention for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-henry/there-s-nothing-worse-than-having-a-fit-and-no-one-giving-you-the/) [Christina Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-henry/) > [You like him because he's a lost boy. Believe me, I've seen it happen before. But do you know what happens to girls who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-like-him-because-he-s-a-lost-boy-believe-me-i-ve-seen-it-happen/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“But do you know what happens to girls who love lost boys? They become lost themselves. Without fail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-do-you-know-what-happens-to-girls-who-love-lost-boys-they-become/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > ['Lost Boys' is one of my all-time faves. I just thought it would be great to be a vampire. I remember this movie called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-headey/lost-boys-is-one-of-my-all-time-faves-i-just-thought-it-would-be/) [Lena Headey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-headey/) ## More by Dave Eggers > [“4. THE CRUMBLING WALL (Hamburger, prepared medium well, with bacon and barbecue sauce. Courtesy of that place on Solano, where, it should be mentioned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/4-the-crumbling-wall-hamburger-prepared-medium-well-with-bacon-and/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“LOW-FLYING, QUICK-MOVING CLOUDS: I haven't long to live. TREETOPS, ROUNDED AND ROUGH: That's probably true. LOW-FLYING, QUICK-MOVING CLOUDS: I won't even make it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/low-flying-quick-moving-clouds-i-haven-t-long-to-live-treetops/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“One button for the rest of your life online.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/one-button-for-the-rest-of-your-life-online/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [We feel that to reveal embarrassing or private things, we have given someone something, that, like a primitive person fearing that a photographer will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/we-feel-that-to-reveal-embarrassing-or-private-things-we-have-given/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [I think I'm far too hopeful and trusting. That's something I got from my mum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/i-think-i-m-far-too-hopeful-and-trusting-that-s-something-i-got-from/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“Overnight, all comment boards became civil, all posters held accountable. The trolls, who had more or less overtaken the internet, were driven back into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/overnight-all-comment-boards-became-civil-all-posters-held/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“Have we wasted precious space dust on you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/have-we-wasted-precious-space-dust-on-you/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“What can one do with one's hands when the camera is interested in other things?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/what-can-one-do-with-one-s-hands-when-the-camera-is-interested-in/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“The money that could have saved the Shuttle, and the money we send to random countries, that we use to remake unchangeable countries ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-money-that-could-have-saved-the-shuttle-and-the-money-we-send-to/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Write your goddamned book now. The world awaits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/write-your-goddamned-book-now-the-world-awaits/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [The only infallible truth of our lives is that everything we love in life will be taken from us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-only-infallible-truth-of-our-lives-is-that-everything-we-love-in/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“First of all: I am tired. I am true of heart! And Also: You are tired. You are true of heart!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/first-of-all-i-am-tired-i-am-true-of-heart-and-also-you-are-tired-you/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [And what we were trying to offer every day was one-on-one attention. The goal was to have a one-to-one ratio with every one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/and-what-we-were-trying-to-offer-every-day-was-one-on-one-attention/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Suffering is only suffering if it’s done in silence, in solitude. Pain experienced in public, in view of loving millions, was no longer pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/suffering-is-only-suffering-if-it-s-done-in-silence-in-solitude-pain/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) [Explore all 428 Dave Eggers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) ## More Forgotten quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogden-stiers/family-means-no-one-gets-left-behind-or-forgotten/) [David Ogden Stiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogden-stiers/) > [I was just going to say something, but I forgot when I started looking at you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-just-going-to-say-something-but-i-forgot-when-i-started-looking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Black women's intersectional experiences of racism and sexism have been a central but forgotten dynamic in the unfolding of feminist and antiracist agendas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/black-women-s-intersectional-experiences-of-racism-and-sexism-have/) [Kimberle Williams Crenshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/) > [I mean, sitcoms shouldn't be doing 'Saturday Night Live.' You can't just do bit after bit after bit. You have to string it together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-dewitt/i-mean-sitcoms-shouldn-t-be-doing-saturday-night-live-you-can-t-just/) [Joyce DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-dewitt/) > [People paid money for tickets to see us and be entertained by us, and we've never forgotten that. Anything after that was a bonus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-young/people-paid-money-for-tickets-to-see-us-and-be-entertained-by-us-and/) [Malcolm Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-young/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It's the frames which make some things important and some things forgotten. It's all only frames from which the content rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/it-s-the-frames-which-make-some-things-important-and-some-things/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) > [Our public officials have forgotten that they are ultimately accountable to the people who put them in office, that the information they keep in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/our-public-officials-have-forgotten-that-they-are-ultimately/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [I have never forgotten a picture that I ever made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-bourke-white/i-have-never-forgotten-a-picture-that-i-ever-made/) [Margaret Bourke-White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-bourke-white/) > [I had forgotten that talking to you is like trying to pet a cactus." Saiman said dryly. "Thank you for reminding me." "Always happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-had-forgotten-that-talking-to-you-is-like-trying-to-pet-a-cactus/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [A lover asked his beloved, Do you love yourself more than you love me? Beloved replied, I have died to myself and I live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-lover-asked-his-beloved-do-you-love-yourself-more-than-you-love-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I had forgotten how wonderful it is to stand on a bridge and catch the scent of rain in the air. I had forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-steinbach/i-had-forgotten-how-wonderful-it-is-to-stand-on-a-bridge-and-catch/) [Alice Steinbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-steinbach/) [Browse all 2,870 Forgotten quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had not been born on this journey. That I had lived before this.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dave Eggers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgotten-that-i-had-not-been-born/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Forgotten" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgotten-that-i-had-not-been-born/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/dave-eggers-638_forgotten_but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgo_2127800.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But without William K, I would have forgotten that I had not been born on this journey. That I had lived…” — Dave Eggers", "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": "Dave Eggers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But without William K, I would...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgotten-that-i-had-not-been-born/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-without-william-k-i-would-have-forgotten-that-i-had-not-been-born/#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 } } ] } ```