--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do…" description: "\"“We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very long. Sometimes someone grinds ink, mixes it with water, arranges paper, takes up a brush to re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/guy-gavriel-kay-2769_another-life_we-are-not-gods-we-make-mistakes-we-do-n_1347578.png" --- # We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very… ![“We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very long. Sometimes someone grinds ink, mixes it with water, arranges paper, takes up a brush to record our time, our days, and we are given another life in those words.” quote by Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/guy-gavriel-kay-2769_another-life_we-are-not-gods-we-make-mistakes-we-do-n_1347578.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/guy-gavriel-kay-2769_another-life_we-are-not-gods-we-make-mistakes-we-do-n_1347578.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/guy-gavriel-kay-2769_another-life_we-are-not-gods-we-make-mistakes-we-do-n_1347578.png) > ““We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very long. Sometimes someone grinds ink, mixes it with water, arranges paper, takes up a brush to record our time, our days, and we are given another life in those words.”” [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art preserves memory, granting a form of immortality through stories and records. **In simple terms:** Stories let us live beyond our lifespan. Key Takeaway Value and create lasting narratives. Themes memory legacy artistic expression Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type literary reflective When to use this quote - family histories - historical documentation - personal journaling - creative writing Key Concepts immortality narrative cultural preservation Questions to Reflect On - What story defines you? - How can you ensure diverse voices are recorded? A Different Perspective Stories can be selective, shaping memory in biased ways. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Another life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-life/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Given life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-life/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-words/) [Make mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-mistakes/) [Mistakes Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistakes-live-763664/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. Boredom sets into boring minds. The more original…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/learn-from-the-mistakes-of-others-you-can-t-live-long-enough-to-make/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Mistakes live in the neighborhood of truth and therefore delude us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/mistakes-live-in-the-neighborhood-of-truth-and-therefore-delude-us/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/learn-from-the-mistakes-of-others-you-can-t-live-long-enough-to-make-2/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [You cannot become a master until you actually take the leap, do the work, make several thousand mistakes, and live to tell about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-falter-barns/you-cannot-become-a-master-until-you-actually-take-the-leap-do-the/) [Suzanne Falter-Barns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-falter-barns/) > [As a young boy, I did a lot of foolish things. I made a lot of mistakes. And you live and learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bennett/as-a-young-boy-i-did-a-lot-of-foolish-things-i-made-a-lot-of-mistakes/) [Tony Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bennett/) > [Mistakes live in the neighbourhood of truth and therefore delude us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/mistakes-live-in-the-neighbourhood-of-truth-and-therefore-delude-us/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [I can live with my own mistakes. I can't live with anybody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-beckham/i-can-live-with-my-own-mistakes-i-can-t-live-with-anybody-else-s/) [Victoria Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-beckham/) > [We all must do what Christ did. We must make our experiment. We must make mistakes. We must live out our own version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/we-all-must-do-what-christ-did-we-must-make-our-experiment-we-must/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Never push someone away over your pride or ego. People do make mistakes. You live and you learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-push-someone-away-over-your-pride-or-ego-people-do-make/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Be you. Make your own mistakes. Live your own life. That's the only way you'll learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-you-make-your-own-mistakes-live-your-own-life-that-s-the-only-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I fall, I rise, I make mistakes, I live, I learn. I've been hurt but I'm alive. I'm human and I'm not perfect, But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-fall-i-rise-i-make-mistakes-i-live-i-learn-i-ve-been-hurt-but-i-m-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I fall, I rise, I make mistakes, I live, I learn, I've been hurt but I'm alive, I'm not perfect but I'm thankful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-fall-i-rise-i-make-mistakes-i-live-i-learn-i-ve-been-hurt-but-i-m/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Learn from the mistakes of others-you can never live long enough to make them all yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/learn-from-the-mistakes-of-others-you-can-never-live-long-enough-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [During the past five years, I've learned that time flies faster than you think, and because you only live once you have to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-lohan/during-the-past-five-years-i-ve-learned-that-time-flies-faster-than/) [Lindsay Lohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-lohan/) > [Learn from the mistakes of others... you can't live long enough to make them all yourselves!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blossom/learn-from-the-mistakes-of-others-you-can-t-live-long-enough-to-make-3/) [Blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blossom/) ## More by Guy Gavriel Kay > [“For all his frustrations and his chronic sense of being overburdened. He was proud of that; he’d always felt that it was worth doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/for-all-his-frustrations-and-his-chronic-sense-of-being-overburdened/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“Branching paths. The turning of days and seasons and years. Life offered you love sometimes, sorrow often. If you were very fortunate, true friendship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/branching-paths-the-turning-of-days-and-seasons-and-years-life/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [I never talk about books in progress. I could decide to change it to a series of seafood recipes, after all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/i-never-talk-about-books-in-progress-i-could-decide-to-change-it-to-a/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“He’d stopped permitting himself to be unhappy about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/he-d-stopped-permitting-himself-to-be-unhappy-about-it/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“The privacy of pride.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/the-privacy-of-pride/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“It had taken skill, tact, an ability to choose friends well, and a great deal of luck”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/it-had-taken-skill-tact-an-ability-to-choose-friends-well-and-a-great/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“The soul must bend to endure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/the-soul-must-bend-to-endure/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“He sang one whole verse directly to her, then, in fidelity to the song, he sent his vision inward to where his purest music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/he-sang-one-whole-verse-directly-to-her-then-in-fidelity-to-the-song/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“Ambitions and dreams put you at a drinking table with unexpected companions. Cups were filled and refilled, making you drunk with the illusion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/ambitions-and-dreams-put-you-at-a-drinking-table-with-unexpected/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“We regard our own memories as truths, when they are often just the stories we have told ourselves over time. They become the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/we-regard-our-own-memories-as-truths-when-they-are-often-just-the/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [ “\[We let\] the universality of fantasy, of once upon a time, allow escapist fiction to be more than just that - to also bring… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/we-let-the-universality-of-fantasy-of-once-upon-a-time-allow-escapist/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“Battles are won en route, Shalhassan of Cathal though. A worthy thought: he raised his hand in a certain way, and a moment later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/battles-are-won-en-route-shalhassan-of-cathal-though-a-worthy-thought/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [After a while, you start to realize that you should write a book you would want to read. I try to write a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/after-a-while-you-start-to-realize-that-you-should-write-a-book-you/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“Daylight was coming outside, but it was not only that: courage cast its own light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/daylight-was-coming-outside-but-it-was-not-only-that-courage-cast-its/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“But when a place has been an island the memory of water lingers, and of water magic, no matter how far away the sea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/but-when-a-place-has-been-an-island-the-memory-of-water-lingers-and/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) [Explore all 150 Guy Gavriel Kay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) ## More Another life quotes > [“Small memories of another life flutter through my head like moths — all grey images and tearstains”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-kahler/small-memories-of-another-life-flutter-through-my-head-like-moths-all/) [A.R. Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-kahler/) > [When you chopped logs with the ax and they split open they smelled beautiful, like Christmas. But when you split someone's head open it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-you-chopped-logs-with-the-ax-and-they-split-open-they-smelled/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-love-the-dark-hours-of-my-being-my-mind-deepens-into-them-there-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [In another life, I would be your girl. Capable of making promises. We would rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/in-another-life-i-would-be-your-girl-capable-of-making-promises-we/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [I couldn't even think about wanting to be something else; I wouldn't let myself visualize another life. But I wrote because I couldn't stop.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/i-couldn-t-even-think-about-wanting-to-be-something-else-i-wouldn-t/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [And whatever my life had been up to that day, it was another life after that. And that is the gospel truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/and-whatever-my-life-had-been-up-to-that-day-it-was-another-life/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/literature-duplicates-the-experience-of-living-in-a-way-that-nothing/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Whatever you have received more than others-in health, in talents, in ability, in success, in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home life-all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/whatever-you-have-received-more-than-others-in-health-in-talents-in/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“Let me give you a bit of advice.' the girl said bitterly, 'from one working girl to another; life isn't easy, no matter where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/let-me-give-you-a-bit-of-advice-the-girl-said-bitterly-from-one/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [“The vibrations he felt in his sleep had nothing to do with his soul easing out of his body as he dreamily thought; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-poet-aberjhani/the-vibrations-he-felt-in-his-sleep-had-nothing-to-do-with-his-soul/) [Author-Poet Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/author-poet-aberjhani/) > [I wasn't born with a tie or with Mark Shields stapled to my left hip. I have another life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-wasn-t-born-with-a-tie-or-with-mark-shields-stapled-to-my-left-hip/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [For many observers, a child who has known nothing but war, a child for whom the Kalashnikov is the only way to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-beah/for-many-observers-a-child-who-has-known-nothing-but-war-a-child-for/) [Ishmael Beah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-beah/) > [I mean, is there a chance for me? To have another life after this, a better one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-mean-is-there-a-chance-for-me-to-have-another-life-after-this-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [We, all who live, have A life that is lived And another life that is thought, And the only life we have It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/we-all-who-live-have-a-life-that-is-lived-and-another-life-that-is/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [The death-change comes. Death is another life. We bow our heads At going out, we think, and enter straight Another golden chamber of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-james-bailey/the-death-change-comes-death-is-another-life-we-bow-our-heads-at/) [Philip James Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-james-bailey/) [Browse all 433 Another life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very long. 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