--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man lay before me. He had sunk as low…" description: "\"“A man lay before me. He had sunk as low as any I had ever known. Then he had fought his way back and back and had become worthy. A man far better than..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/glen-cook-9893_life_a-man-lay-before-me-he-had-sunk-as-low-a_1269647.jpg" --- # A man lay before me. He had sunk as low as any I had ever… ![“A man lay before me. He had sunk as low as any I had ever known. Then he had fought his way back and back and had become worthy. A man far better than I, for he had located his moral pole star and set his course by it though it had cost his life.” quote by Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/glen-cook-9893_life_a-man-lay-before-me-he-had-sunk-as-low-a_1269647.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/glen-cook-9893_life_a-man-lay-before-me-he-had-sunk-as-low-a_1269647.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/glen-cook-9893_life_a-man-lay-before-me-he-had-sunk-as-low-a_1269647.jpg) > ““A man lay before me. He had sunk as low as any I had ever known. Then he had fought his way back and back and had become worthy. A man far better than I, for he had located his moral pole star and set his course by it though it had cost his life.”” [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A man, once at his lowest, redeems himself by following a moral compass, even at the cost of his life, becoming a better person than the narrator. **In simple terms:** Redemption through steadfast moral guidance, even unto death. Key Takeaway Stay true to your moral guide. Themes redemption integrity self‑sacrifice Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical narrative When to use this quote - leadership challenges - ethical dilemmas - personal growth Key Concepts moral philosophy personal transformation Questions to Reflect On - What is your personal moral north star? - How far would you go to uphold it? A Different Perspective Such sacrifice may be unrealistic for many. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lay Sunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lay-sunk-4065240/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moral Pole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-pole-4065241/) [Sunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunk/) [Sunk Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunk-low-1543261/) [Worthy Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worthy-man-485647/) ## Related quotes > [We have sunk so low it has become the obligation of every decent, thinking individual to re-state the obvious!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/we-have-sunk-so-low-it-has-become-the-obligation-of-every-decent/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I have fallen, I have sunk so low. I have messed up, better I should know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/i-have-fallen-i-have-sunk-so-low-i-have-messed-up-better-i-should-know/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [No living person is sunk so low as not to be imitated by somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/no-living-person-is-sunk-so-low-as-not-to-be-imitated-by-somebody/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The standards have sunk so low throughout our culture that who really knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-standards-have-sunk-so-low-throughout-our-culture-that-who-really/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [My mind's sunk so low, Claudia, because of you, wrecked itself on your account so bad already, that I couldn't like you if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/my-mind-s-sunk-so-low-claudia-because-of-you-wrecked-itself-on-your/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Elegance is not an ornament worthy of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/elegance-is-not-an-ornament-worthy-of-man/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It is the same for all men. None of us can escape this shadow of the father, even if that shadow fills us with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-nerburn/it-is-the-same-for-all-men-none-of-us-can-escape-this-shadow-of-the/) [Kent Nerburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-nerburn/) > [The Master said, “What a worthy man was Yan Hui! Living in a narrow alley, subsisting upon meager bits of rice and water—other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-master-said-what-a-worthy-man-was-yan-hui-living-in-a-narrow/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Nothing is worthy of man as man unless he can pursue it with passionate devotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/nothing-is-worthy-of-man-as-man-unless-he-can-pursue-it-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [Cursed be the verse, how well so e'er it flow, That tends to make one worthy man my foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/cursed-be-the-verse-how-well-so-e-er-it-flow-that-tends-to-make-one/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Kindnesses are easily forgotten; but injuries! what worthy man does not keep those in mind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/kindnesses-are-easily-forgotten-but-injuries-what-worthy-man-does-not/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [“then it occurred to him that a worthy man dedicates himself not to one particular thing which attracts him, but to all tasks; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/then-it-occurred-to-him-that-a-worthy-man-dedicates-himself-not-to/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [If you are decisive, you are not worthy to be call a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olajide-oluwatobiloba/if-you-are-decisive-you-are-not-worthy-to-be-call-a-man/) [Olajide Oluwatobiloba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olajide-oluwatobiloba/) > [The survivorship of a worthy man in his son is a pleasure scarce inferior to the hopes of the continuance of his own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/the-survivorship-of-a-worthy-man-in-his-son-is-a-pleasure-scarce/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [I never considered myself less worthy than a man in football. Never. Never, never, never.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-hegerberg/i-never-considered-myself-less-worthy-than-a-man-in-football-never/) [Ada Hegerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-hegerberg/) ## More by Glen Cook > [“Truth is a deadly weapon, Lady said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/truth-is-a-deadly-weapon-lady-said/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“I cry for a little girl's dreams. I cry because the dreams will not die, though I am powerless to make them come true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-cry-for-a-little-girl-s-dreams-i-cry-because-the-dreams-will-not/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [No religion I ever encountered made any sense. None are consistent. Most gods are megalomaniacs and paranoid psychotics by their worshippers' description. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/no-religion-i-ever-encountered-made-any-sense-none-are-consistent/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies. We abjure labels. We fight for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-only-regiments-of-self/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Evil is relative…You can’t hang a sign on it. You can’t touch it or taste it or cut it with a sword. Evil depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/evil-is-relative-you-can-t-hang-a-sign-on-it-you-can-t-touch-it-or/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“The Lady was medicine bad enough. The Dominator, though, was the body of which her evil was but a shadow. Or so the legend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/the-lady-was-medicine-bad-enough-the-dominator-though-was-the-body-of/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“About you and me, Croaker and his gang, the Lady, Silent, Darling. About all the things we had in common but still couldn’t get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/about-you-and-me-croaker-and-his-gang-the-lady-silent-darling-about/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [The people come from everywhere, from five hundred miles, to find their fortunes. By fortune is an ugly, two-faced goddess. When you have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/the-people-come-from-everywhere-from-five-hundred-miles-to-find-their/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“Closer at hand, the wheeling gulls were as surly and lackadaisical as the day promised to make most men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/closer-at-hand-the-wheeling-gulls-were-as-surly-and-lackadaisical-as/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [A world ought to have a few genuine good guys, and not just a spectrum of people running from bad to worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/a-world-ought-to-have-a-few-genuine-good-guys-and-not-just-a-spectrum/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [I believe in our side and theirs, with the good and evil decided after the fact, by those who survive. Among men you seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-believe-in-our-side-and-theirs-with-the-good-and-evil-decided-after/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Soldiers live. He dies and not you, and you feel guilty, because you're glad he died, and not you. Soldiers live, and wonder why.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/soldiers-live-he-dies-and-not-you-and-you-feel-guilty-because-you-re/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“I am the Daughter of Night. I am the Child of Darkness Forthcoming. Come to my mother or become prey for the beasts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-am-the-daughter-of-night-i-am-the-child-of-darkness-forthcoming/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“In the night, when the wind dies and silence rules the place of glittering stone, I remember. And they all live again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/in-the-night-when-the-wind-dies-and-silence-rules-the-place-of/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Consistency is the sign of a narrow mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/consistency-is-the-sign-of-a-narrow-mind/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) [Explore all 69 Glen Cook quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A man lay before me. 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