--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The map of our life is folded in such a…" description: "\"“The map of our life is folded in such a way that we cannot see one main road across it, but as it is opened out, we are constantly seeing new side roa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/jean-cocteau-1181_journey_the-map-of-our-life-is-folded-in-such-a_966216.jpg" --- # The map of our life is folded in such a way that we cannot… ![“The map of our life is folded in such a way that we cannot see one main road across it, but as it is opened out, we are constantly seeing new side roads. We think we are choosing, and we have no choice.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/jean-cocteau-1181_journey_the-map-of-our-life-is-folded-in-such-a_966216.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/jean-cocteau-1181_journey_the-map-of-our-life-is-folded-in-such-a_966216.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/jean-cocteau-1181_journey_the-map-of-our-life-is-folded-in-such-a_966216.jpg) > ““The map of our life is folded in such a way that we cannot see one main road across it, but as it is opened out, we are constantly seeing new side roads. We think we are choosing, and we have no choice.”” [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s path is hidden, revealing new routes as we unfold, suggesting limited control over destiny. **In simple terms:** Life reveals hidden routes as we go. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty, explore options. Themes philosophy destiny choice uncertainty Mood reflective philosophical Type inspirational thought‑provoking When to use this quote - Career planning - travel decisions - personal growth Key Concepts Determinism free will self discovery Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel your path is predetermined? - How can you navigate unseen routes? A Different Perspective Not all choices are truly free. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [New roads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-roads/) ## Related quotes > [“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lives loss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-spent-my-life-folded-between-the-pages-of-books-in-the-absence-of-3/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“I knelt in front of life, folded my hands and prayed for some more time; there couldn't be any. My heart bled and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanhita-baruah/i-knelt-in-front-of-life-folded-my-hands-and-prayed-for-some-more/) [Sanhita Baruah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanhita-baruah/) > [I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-spent-my-life-folded-between-the-pages-of-books-in-the-absence-of/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“I spend my life folded between pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived loss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-spend-my-life-folded-between-pages-of-books-in-the-absence-of-human/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-spent-my-life-folded-between-the-pages-of-books/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-spent-my-life-folded-between-the-pages-of-books-in-the-absence-of-2/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“A map is a life someone else already lived. It's more fun to make your own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack-finding-it/a-map-is-a-life-someone-else-already-lived-it-s-more-fun-to-make-your/) [Cora Carmack Finding It](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack-finding-it/) > [“There are only two directions in the map of my life: the way to you, and the way from you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-lantz/there-are-only-two-directions-in-the-map-of-my-life-the-way-to-you/) Nick Lantz > [I compare a lot of life to looking at a map through a straw. The less ability you have to see life in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-compare-a-lot-of-life-to-looking-at-a-map-through-a-straw-the-less/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [The Bible does not provide a map for life - only a compass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-bible-does-not-provide-a-map-for-life-only-a-compass/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“... "The best parts of our life are the things we can't plan. And it's a lot harder to find happiness if you're only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/the-best-parts-of-our-life-are-the-things-we-can-t-plan-and-it-s-a/) [Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/) > [I really don't map out my life. There's no big plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-hannity/i-really-don-t-map-out-my-life-there-s-no-big-plan/) [Sean Hannity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-hannity/) > [You can map your life through your favorite movies, and no two people's maps will be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-schmich/you-can-map-your-life-through-your-favorite-movies-and-no-two-people/) [Mary Schmich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-schmich/) > [“There will always be reservations, things one must leave out, events one can’t explain without handing over a full map of one’s life, unfolding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/there-will-always-be-reservations-things-one-must-leave-out-events/) [Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/) > [It's alright to do things the way you want. There is no map to life, no blueprints to survival, you can create your world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-callaghan/it-s-alright-to-do-things-the-way-you-want-there-is-no-map-to-life-no/) [John O'Callaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-callaghan/) ## More by Jean Cocteau > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I am happy to exhibit, but not to put myself on exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-am-happy-to-exhibit-but-not-to-put-myself-on-exhibition/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-have-a-piece-of-great-and-sad-news-to-tell-you-i-am-dead/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lying is the only art form that the public sanctions and instinctively prefers to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lying-is-the-only-art-form-that-the-public-sanctions-and/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Vivre est une chute horizontale”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/vivre-est-une-chute-horizontale/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I expect a black silence that is almost as violent as laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-expect-a-black-silence-that-is-almost-as-violent-as-laughter/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/my-method-is-simple-not-to-bother-about-poetry-it-must-come-of-its/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lack of manners is the sign of a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lack-of-manners-is-the-sign-of-a-hero/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-the-public-criticizes-in-you-cultivate-it-is-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/here-i-am-trying-to-live-or-rather-i-am-trying-to-teach-the-death/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) [Explore all 255 Jean Cocteau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More Journey quotes > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [What people tend to forget is the journey that I had getting to Formula One. There were plenty of years where I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hamilton/what-people-tend-to-forget-is-the-journey-that-i-had-getting-to/) [Lewis Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hamilton/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Have a Blast; Life wont last! Make the best of the journey before it is over!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-a-blast-life-wont-last-make-the-best-of-the-journey-before-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cocoon's cry to first fly, Travels thousands of miles— So much in so little life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-negi/cocoon-s-cry-to-first-fly-travels-thousands-of-miles-so-much-in-so/) [Ritu Negi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-negi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Loving yourself is a journey, not a destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-holliday/loving-yourself-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/) [Tess Holliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-holliday/) > [“Everywhere is home, let is go home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzuco-hu-nh/everywhere-is-home-let-is-go-home/) Dzuco Huỳnh > [Life is a journey, not a destination. Fall into the deep - rise to new heights. .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-basumatary/life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination-fall-into-the-deep-rise-to-new/) [Ashish Basumatary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-basumatary/) > [Be the inner journeys, be the outer travels, all trips elevate man, all voyages lift him up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/be-the-inner-journeys-be-the-outer-travels-all-trips-elevate-man-all/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The hardest roads are often empty; the darkest paths are mostly silent; toughest destinations are almost peopleless! No easy road brings you great victory!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-hardest-roads-are-often-empty-the-darkest-paths-are-mostly-silent/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“May the seas bend to your journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoraida-c-rdova/may-the-seas-bend-to-your-journey/) [Zoraida Córdova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoraida-c-rdova/) [Browse all 11,861 Journey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The map of our life is folded in such a way that we cannot see one main road across it, but as it is opened out, we are constantly seeing new side roads. 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