--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You simply don't get to be wise, mature…" description: "\"You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless you've been a raving cannibal for thirty years or so.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png" --- # You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless… ![“You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless you've been a raving cannibal for thirty years or so.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png) > “You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless you've been a raving cannibal for thirty years or so.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wisdom and maturity often require confronting harsh, extreme experiences. **In simple terms:** Hard experiences shape wisdom. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges. Themes growth wisdom experience Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - life crises - personal transformation - learning from adversity Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What experiences have taught you? - Can wisdom be gained without pain? A Different Perspective Not all hardship leads to growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) [Cannibal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cannibal/) [Cannibal Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cannibal-thirty-1360171/) [Etc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etc/) [Mature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mature/) [Mature Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mature-unless-1360172/) [Raving Cannibal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raving-cannibal-1360173/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Thirty years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-years/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise Mature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-mature-1360174/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“But my poor Saul, there’s no help for you, you’re heading straight for it. What about all those marvelous people we know, aged about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/but-my-poor-saul-there-s-no-help-for-you-you-re-heading-straight-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I have become worldly-wise and mature after participating in 'Bigg Boss.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shehnaaz-gill/i-have-become-worldly-wise-and-mature-after-participating-in-bigg-boss/) [Shehnaaz Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shehnaaz-gill/) > [People are just cannibals unless they leave each other alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/people-are-just-cannibals-unless-they-leave-each-other-alone/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Whenever cannibals are on the brink of starvation, Heaven, in its infinite mercy, sends them a fat missionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/whenever-cannibals-are-on-the-brink-of-starvation-heaven-in-its/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Are there any vegetarians among cannibals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/are-there-any-vegetarians-among-cannibals/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/most-of-the-people-will-have-died-and-the-rest-of-us-will-be-cannibals/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-easier-for-a-cannibal-to-enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven-through/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Cannibal: epicures who abstain from alcohol and tobacco. As moral guides, they are underutilized in the police forces of modern societies.  ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/cannibal-epicures-who-abstain-from-alcohol-and-tobacco-as-moral/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [“Don’t trust the cannibal just ’cos he’s usin’ a knife and fork!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/don-t-trust-the-cannibal-just-cos-he-s-usin-a-knife-and-fork/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/cannibals-prefer-those-who-have-no-spines/) [Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/) > [Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-it-true-that-cannibals-don-t-eat-clowns-because-they-taste-funny/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [We are on strike against martyrdom—and against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-on-strike-against-martyrdom-and-against-the-moral-code-that/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I spent years working in low-budget horror films. When you've done 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death,' you can handle anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-barbeau/i-spent-years-working-in-low-budget-horror-films-when-you-ve-done/) [Adrienne Barbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-barbeau/) > [You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid, I won't get out alive I won't sleep tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/you-re-just-a-cannibal-and-i-m-afraid-i-won-t-get-out-alive-i-won-t/) [Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/) > [When I go home my mother and I play a cannibal game; we eat each other over the years, tender morsel by morsel until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/when-i-go-home-my-mother-and-i-play-a-cannibal-game-we-eat-each-other/) [Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-remember-world-war-ii-when-there-were-very-few-books-very-little/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [They can't give a Nobel to someone who's dead so I think they were probably thinking they had better give it to me now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/they-can-t-give-a-nobel-to-someone-who-s-dead-so-i-think-they-were/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“While she strode rapidly through the ward to the door at the other end, she was able to see that every bed or cot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/while-she-strode-rapidly-through-the-ward-to-the-door-at-the-other/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think that marriage is one of my talents. I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Being wise quotes > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be smart, spend carefully. To be wise, save regularly. To be genius, give extravagantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-ingram/to-be-smart-spend-carefully-to-be-wise-save-regularly-to-be-genius/) [Chip Ingram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-ingram/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/acknowledging-foolishness-is-a-very-powerful-and-important-experience/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/deign-on-the-passing-world-to-turn-thine-eyes-and-pause-awhile-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I feel I want to be wise with white hair in a tall library in a deep chair by a fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/i-feel-i-want-to-be-wise-with-white-hair-in-a-tall-library-in-a-deep/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberley-strassel/were-anyone-wondering-how-sen-harry-reid-intended-to-manage-life-in/) [Kimberley Strassel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberley-strassel/) > [If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/if-we-are-going-to-be-wise-spiritual-people-prepared-to-meet-the/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [Literature provides us with experiences it would not be wise or possible to introduce into our own world and thus enlarges our understanding of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rosenblatt/literature-provides-us-with-experiences-it-would-not-be-wise-or/) [Louise Rosenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rosenblatt/) > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The goal of a passionate artist is to try and make a masterpiece each and every time, yet be wise enough to know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-giancola/the-goal-of-a-passionate-artist-is-to-try-and-make-a-masterpiece-each/) [Donato Giancola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donato-giancola/) > [License they mean when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/license-they-mean-when-they-cry-liberty-for-who-loves-that-must-first/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [It almost seems as though this roiling world is conspiring to test our patience at every turn. In fact, it is. With this in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-almost-seems-as-though-this-roiling-world-is-conspiring-to-test/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's always better to be wise than to be smart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/it-s-always-better-to-be-wise-than-to-be-smart/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) [Browse all 310 Being wise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless you've been a raving cannibal for thirty years or so.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-etc-unless-you-ve-been-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Being wise" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-etc-unless-you-ve-been-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a1/doris-lessing-501_being-wise_you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-e_1723482.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You simply don't get to be wise, mature, etc., unless you've been a raving cannibal for thirty years or so.” — Doris Lessing", "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": "Doris Lessing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You simply don't get to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-etc-unless-you-ve-been-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-simply-don-t-get-to-be-wise-mature-etc-unless-you-ve-been-a/#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 } } ] } ```