--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If only human beings were not masks…" description: "\"“If only human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. If only this world was a clean board of lines and intersections. If only time was a seq..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/david-mitchell-264_human-beings_if-only-human-beings-were-not-masks-behi_1624620.jpg" --- # If only human beings were not masks behind masks behind… ![“If only human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. If only this world was a clean board of lines and intersections. If only time was a sequence of considered moves and not a chaos of slippages and blunders.” quote by David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/david-mitchell-264_human-beings_if-only-human-beings-were-not-masks-behi_1624620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/david-mitchell-264_human-beings_if-only-human-beings-were-not-masks-behi_1624620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/david-mitchell-264_human-beings_if-only-human-beings-were-not-masks-behi_1624620.jpg) > ““If only human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. If only this world was a clean board of lines and intersections. If only time was a sequence of considered moves and not a chaos of slippages and blunders.”” [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments humanity’s hidden identities and wishes for a world of clear, orderly logic rather than chaotic, unpredictable events. **In simple terms:** Wishes for transparency and order over hidden complexity and chaos. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and simplicity in life. Themes identity order chaos transparency complexity Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - political analysis - creative writing - self‑reflection Key Concepts philosophy existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do masks shape our interactions? - Can order ever fully replace chaos? A Different Perspective Human nature is inherently messy; clarity may be unattainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beings Masks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings-masks-318545/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Masks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masks/) [Masks Masks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masks-masks-318547/) [Masks World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masks-world-318546/) [Shiroyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shiroyama-169357/) ## Related quotes > [If only,’ Shiroyama dreams, ‘human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. If only this world was a clean board of lines and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/if-only-shiroyama-dreams-human-beings-were-not-masks-behind-masks/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Through the ages, from the beginning of time, I'm certain man has covered woman's face with masks. They are, however, his masks, not hers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/through-the-ages-from-the-beginning-of-time-i-m-certain-man-has/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [Women have been charged with deviousness and duplicity since the dawn of civilization so they have never been able to pretend that their masks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/women-have-been-charged-with-deviousness-and-duplicity-since-the-dawn/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [During a carnival, men put masks over their masks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xavier-forneret/during-a-carnival-men-put-masks-over-their-masks/) [Xavier Forneret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xavier-forneret/) > [It is a career of make-believe, of masks. We all have masks in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/it-is-a-career-of-make-believe-of-masks-we-all-have-masks-in-life/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [“Our stubbornness is what’s gotten us this far!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryuhei-tamura/our-stubbornness-is-what-s-gotten-us-this-far/) [Ryuhei Tamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryuhei-tamura/) > [Human beings need to watch out for reasonless niceness too. It's never reasonless and its reason's not usually nice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/human-beings-need-to-watch-out-for-reasonless-niceness-too-it-s-never/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [I love sheet masks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-cyrus/i-love-sheet-masks/) [Brandi Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-cyrus/) > [Straw and the Ghost when it goes down, vest and a fo'-pound. We don't give a fuck about the law when we blast off.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-block/straw-and-the-ghost-when-it-goes-down-vest-and-a-fo-pound-we-don-t/) [D Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-block/) > [The New York Times published the guest list on the front page. The masks were a brilliant concept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-plimpton/the-new-york-times-published-the-guest-list-on-the-front-page-the/) [George Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-plimpton/) > [“Modern man has too many masks to wear. We must unmask and be ourselves, sincerely, earnestly and live truly as we are,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyomay-m-kubose/modern-man-has-too-many-masks-to-wear-we-must-unmask-and-be-ourselves/) [Gyomay M. Kubose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyomay-m-kubose/) > [Curiosity is one of the many masks of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/curiosity-is-one-of-the-many-masks-of-love/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [My sole goal in life is to look like a foetus, well not the sole one, but it's up there. I spend quite a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/my-sole-goal-in-life-is-to-look-like-a-foetus-well-not-the-sole-one/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [“Deadpool: These masks, you know, they hide more than faces, Bank. They hide feelings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-van-lente/deadpool-these-masks-you-know-they-hide-more-than-faces-bank-they/) [Fred Van Lente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-van-lente/) > [“I hid my wound under my clothes. Nobody could see it, including myself, and I completely forgot about it. Then I met someone who,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franco-santoro/i-hid-my-wound-under-my-clothes-nobody-could-see-it-including-myself/) [Franco Santoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franco-santoro/) ## More by David Mitchell > [“In the next room a freckly girl Julia's age sat in a wheelchair. One of her legs wasn't there. She'd probably love to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/in-the-next-room-a-freckly-girl-julia-s-age-sat-in-a-wheelchair-one/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I envied my uncritical, unthinking sisters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-envied-my-uncritical-unthinking-sisters/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“... Ethical cyberexplorers are responsible, yeah? We are friendly ghosts in the machine, not poltergeists or hooligans. We are a growing breed. Over sixty-five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/ethical-cyberexplorers-are-responsible-yeah-we-are-friendly-ghosts-in/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I succumbed. Late-fifteenth-century verb, Old French succomber or Latin succumbere, but a basic necessity of the human condition, especially mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-succumbed-late-fifteenth-century-verb-old-french-succomber-or-latin/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Your environment affects you wherever you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/your-environment-affects-you-wherever-you-are/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“The second tunnel’s a Ministry of Defence tunnel...dug for a nuclear bomb shelter. 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That's trombonists for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/only-the-trombonist-played-on-that-s-trombonists-for-you/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [War's an auction where whoever can pay the most in damage and still be standing wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/war-s-an-auction-where-whoever-can-pay-the-most-in-damage-and-still/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-human-world-is-made-of-stories-not-people-the-people-the-stories/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [So little is actually worthy of belief or disbelief. Better to strive to coexist than seek to disapprove . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/so-little-is-actually-worthy-of-belief-or-disbelief-better-to-strive/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [I elbowed my way into the grubby café, bought a pie that tasted of shoe polish and a pot of tea with cork crumbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-elbowed-my-way-into-the-grubby-caf-bought-a-pie-that-tasted-of-shoe/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“A classical LP was playing... ... Jealous and sweet, this music was, sobbing and gorgeous, muddy and crystal. But if the right words existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/a-classical-lp-was-playing-jealous-and-sweet-this-music-was-sobbing/) [david mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [How lazily "xperts" dismiss what they fail to understand!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/how-lazily-xperts-dismiss-what-they-fail-to-understand/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Writing poetry's,' I looked around the solarium, but Madame Crommelynck's got a tractor beam, 'sort of . . . gay.' '"Gay"? A merry activity?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/writing-poetry-s-i-looked-around-the-solarium-but-madame-crommelynck/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) [Explore all 748 David Mitchell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) [Hanns Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanns-eisler/) > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) [Cruce Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cruce-stark/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If only human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. 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