--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some stories last many centuries, others…" description: "\"“Some stories last many centuries, others only a moment. All alter over that lifetime like beach-glass, grow distant and more beautiful with salt. Yet ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jane-hirshfield-2649_palm-trees_some-stories-last-many-centuries-others_915444.jpg" --- # Some stories last many centuries, others only a moment… ![“Some stories last many centuries, others only a moment. All alter over that lifetime like beach-glass, grow distant and more beautiful with salt. Yet even today, to look at a tree and ask the story Who are you? is to be transformed. There is a stage in us where each being, each thing, is a mirror…” quote by Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jane-hirshfield-2649_palm-trees_some-stories-last-many-centuries-others_915444.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jane-hirshfield-2649_palm-trees_some-stories-last-many-centuries-others_915444.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jane-hirshfield-2649_palm-trees_some-stories-last-many-centuries-others_915444.jpg) > ““Some stories last many centuries, others only a moment. All alter over that lifetime like beach-glass, grow distant and more beautiful with salt. Yet even today, to look at a tree and ask the story Who are you? is to be transformed. There is a stage in us where each being, each thing, is a mirror. Then the bees of self pour from the hive-door, ravenous to enter the sweetness of flowering nettles and thistle. Next comes the ringing a stone or violin or empty bucket gives off -- the immeasurable's continuous singing, before it goes back into story and feeling. In Borneo, there are palm trees that walk on their high roots. Slowly, with effort, they lift one leg then another. I would like to join that stilted transmigration, to feel my own skin vertical as theirs: an ant-road, a highway for beetles. I would like not minding, whatever travels my heart. To follow it all the way into leaf-form, bark-furl, root-touch, and then keep walking, unimaginably further.”” [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories and natural forms evolve, reflecting selves and inviting transformation; we become part of larger cycles. **In simple terms:** Stories and nature change and reflect us, urging growth. Key Takeaway Embrace change and see yourself in the world. Themes storytelling nature transformation identity reflection growth Mood reflective hopeful poetic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - writing - environmental activism - mindfulness - education - artistic expression Key Concepts philosophy ecology metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What personal stories shape your identity? - How can you embody nature’s continual change? A Different Perspective Interpretation can be overly abstract, limiting practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Palm trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palm-trees/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [What I find fascinating about Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights we celebrate at this time of the year, is the way its story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/what-i-find-fascinating-about-hanukkah-the-jewish-festival-of-lights/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [I would love to do a period piece - in the 18th or 17th century. 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Palm trees outside the garden walls, with deep roots, stand a thousand years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/hyacinth-bean-and-papayas-long-vines-deep-roots-palm-trees-outside/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [“There were some hours to spare before his ship sailed, and having deposited his luggage, including a locked leather despatch-case, on board, he lunched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-benson/there-were-some-hours-to-spare-before-his-ship-sailed-and-having/) [E.F. 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One palm tree appears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dvorah-telushkin-master-of-dreams-a-memoir-of-isaac-bashevis-singer-1997-2004/they-are-strange-trees-palm-trees-they-are-so-individualistic-so/) Dvorah Telushkin Master of Dreams A Memoir of Isaac Bashevis Singer 1997 2004 ## More by Jane Hirshfield > [I don't have a cell phone (though for years I've kept saying, "soon").](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-don-t-have-a-cell-phone-though-for-years-i-ve-kept-saying-soon/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. 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The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/metaphors-think-with-the-imagination-and-the-senses-the-hot-chili/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Your fate is to be yourself, both punishment and crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/your-fate-is-to-be-yourself-both-punishment-and-crime/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Near even a candle, the visible heat. So it is with a person in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/near-even-a-candle-the-visible-heat-so-it-is-with-a-person-in-love/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [At some point I realized that you don't get a full human life if you try to cut off one end of it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/at-some-point-i-realized-that-you-don-t-get-a-full-human-life-if-you/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Immensity is always there, but we so often become numb to it, or deceive ourselves into thinking our own lives and selves are what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/immensity-is-always-there-but-we-so-often-become-numb-to-it-or/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) [Explore all 156 Jane Hirshfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## More Palm trees quotes > [“They are strange trees, palm trees, they are so individualistic, so unique, so full of capriciousness, just as Jews are. 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Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-benson/) > [“Hyacinth bean and papayas, long vines, deep roots. Palm trees outside the garden walls, with deep roots, stand a thousand years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/hyacinth-bean-and-papayas-long-vines-deep-roots-palm-trees-outside/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [I see a girl caught in the remains of a holiday gone bad, with her flesh picked off day after day as the carcass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/i-see-a-girl-caught-in-the-remains-of-a-holiday-gone-bad-with-her/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [The time came around where the label was like, "Well, if you want something to come out in early 2017, it's going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-demarco/the-time-came-around-where-the-label-was-like-well-if-you-want/) [Mac DeMarco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-demarco/) > [“In the landscape of my native land, a stranger in my own fields, --I had a homeland where the Duero flows between gray cliffs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-machado/in-the-landscape-of-my-native-land-a-stranger-in-my-own-fields-i-had/) [Antonio Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-machado/) > [Genius in the poet, like the nomad of Arabia, ever a wanderer, still ever makes a home where the well or the palm-tree invites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/genius-in-the-poet-like-the-nomad-of-arabia-ever-a-wanderer-still/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [“Christy dug her hand deeper into her shoulder bag. 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I picture myself there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-beach-somewhere-theres-a-big-umbrella-casting-shade-over-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 159 Palm trees quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palm-trees/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Some stories last many centuries, others only a moment. All alter over that lifetime like beach-glass, grow distant and more beautiful with salt. Yet even today, to look at a tree and ask the story Who are you? is to be transformed. There is a stage in us where each being, each thing, is a mirror. Then the bees of self pour from the hive-door, ravenous to enter the sweetness of flowering nettles and thistle. Next comes the ringing a stone or violin or empty bucket gives off -- the immeasurable's continuous singing, before it goes back into story and feeling. In Borneo, there are palm trees that walk on their high roots. Slowly, with effort, they lift one leg then another. I would like to join that stilted transmigration, to feel my own skin vertical as theirs: an ant-road, a highway for beetles. I would like not minding, whatever travels my heart. 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