--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He saw that no one owned anything really…" description: "\"He saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented, or borrowed. Our possessions will outlast us, we'll desert them in the end.\" — Ian Mcewan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/ian-mcewan-494_desert_he-saw-that-no-one-owned-anything-really_325900.png" --- # He saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented… ![“He saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented, or borrowed. Our possessions will outlast us, we'll desert them in the end.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/ian-mcewan-494_desert_he-saw-that-no-one-owned-anything-really_325900.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/ian-mcewan-494_desert_he-saw-that-no-one-owned-anything-really_325900.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/ian-mcewan-494_desert_he-saw-that-no-one-owned-anything-really_325900.png) > “He saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented, or borrowed. Our possessions will outlast us, we'll desert them in the end.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Material possessions are temporary; they outlast us, but we will ultimately leave them behind. **In simple terms:** Things are fleeting; we will depart them. Key Takeaway Focus on lasting values. Themes impermanence materialism legacy Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - estate planning - family heirlooms - environmental impact Key Concepts philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What truly matters beyond ownership? - How can you let go of excess? A Different Perspective Attachment can cause suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borrowed Possessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowed-possessions-3061408/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Possessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessions/) [Possessions Outlast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessions-outlast-3061409/) [Rented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rented/) [Rented Borrowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rented-borrowed-3061410/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) ## Related quotes > [“It took a day to dismantle Lily's existence . . .striking the set of a play, humble, one-handed domestic drama, without permission from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewen/it-took-a-day-to-dismantle-lily-s-existence-striking-the-set-of-a/) [Ian McEwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewen/) > [No one knows anything, really. It's all rented, or borrowed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/no-one-knows-anything-really-it-s-all-rented-or-borrowed/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I can't even drive a car. I don't have a driver's license. I have a rented apartment in New York. That's it. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-can-t-even-drive-a-car-i-don-t-have-a-driver-s-license-i-have-a/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [Novels without female characters were a lifeless desert.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/novels-without-female-characters-were-a-lifeless-desert/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Never build your content ship on rented land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-baer/never-build-your-content-ship-on-rented-land/) [Jay Baer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-baer/) > [My children will never know what its like, not being able to see a movie because they are all rented out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-children-will-never-know-what-its-like-not-being-able-to-see-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I rented a car. I didn't really need one, I just wanted to make one less available. I wanted one businessman on the bus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-rented-a-car-i-didn-t-really-need-one-i-just-wanted-to-make-one/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [“Nothing belongs to us. Everything is something that is rented out. Our very heads are filled with rented ideas passed on from one generation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/nothing-belongs-to-us-everything-is-something-that-is-rented-out-our/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [I don't get to go home as much as I used to, which is a shame. But I don't mind because my mum moved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-horan/i-don-t-get-to-go-home-as-much-as-i-used-to-which-is-a-shame-but-i/) [Niall Horan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-horan/) > [When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/when-i-was-kidnapped-my-parents-snapped-into-action-they-rented-out/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“life isn’t always the video tape I thought I rented.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-isn-t-always-the-video-tape-i-thought-i-rented/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You rented the apartment with a dead guy in the corner?” I shrugged. “I wanted the apartment, and I figured I could cover him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/you-rented-the-apartment-with-a-dead-guy-in-the-corner-i-shrugged-i/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [I walked away from everybody I knew. I locked myself in a loft that I rented, like I told you, where I was rolling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-bunting/i-walked-away-from-everybody-i-knew-i-locked-myself-in-a-loft-that-i/) [Shane Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-bunting/) > [I'm in a 911, this shit is rented though but how I'm whippin' this muthafucka you never know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/i-m-in-a-911-this-shit-is-rented-though-but-how-i-m-whippin-this/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) > [In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/in-the-history-of-the-world-no-one-has-ever-washed-a-rented-car/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian Mcewan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Desert quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“And now you will ask me about the musicians that played for the jackalope wives. Well, if you can find a place where they’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-vernon/and-now-you-will-ask-me-about-the-musicians-that-played-for-the/) [Ursula Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-vernon/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [I do spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have to pace myself. It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-sinise/i-do-spend-a-lot-of-weekends-on-the-road-i-have-to-pace-myself-it-can/) [Gary Sinise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-sinise/) > [I did not support Operation Desert Fox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-did-not-support-operation-desert-fox/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/there-is-nothing-in-the-desert-and-no-man-needs-nothing/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [Who’s to say that it takes something like a drug to mess with your perception of reality? How did Hitler deceive a nation? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/who-s-to-say-that-it-takes-something-like-a-drug-to-mess-with-your/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“If you build a road in the desert and then leave it to its fate, the desert sands will swallow that road! 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-waters/the-earth-itself-assures-us-it-is-a-living-entity-deep-below-surface/) [Frank Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-waters/) [Browse all 1,675 Desert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented, or borrowed. 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