--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've lived my life like a serial killer…" description: "\"I've lived my life like a serial killer; finish with one part, strangle it and move on to the next. Life in neat little boxes is life in neat little co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/jeanette-winterson-166_afternoon_i-ve-lived-my-life-like-a-serial-killer_2069777.png" --- # I've lived my life like a serial killer; finish with one… ![“I've lived my life like a serial killer; finish with one part, strangle it and move on to the next. Life in neat little boxes is life in neat little coffins, the dead bodies of the past laid out side by side. I am discovering, now, in the late afternoon of the day, that the dead still speak.” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/jeanette-winterson-166_afternoon_i-ve-lived-my-life-like-a-serial-killer_2069777.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/jeanette-winterson-166_afternoon_i-ve-lived-my-life-like-a-serial-killer_2069777.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/jeanette-winterson-166_afternoon_i-ve-lived-my-life-like-a-serial-killer_2069777.png) > “I've lived my life like a serial killer; finish with one part, strangle it and move on to the next. Life in neat little boxes is life in neat little coffins, the dead bodies of the past laid out side by side. I am discovering, now, in the late afternoon of the day, that the dead still speak.” [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is compartmentalized into distinct phases, each ending before moving to the next, but past experiences still influence the present. **In simple terms:** We segment life, yet past remains alive. Key Takeaway Acknowledge past lessons before moving forward. Themes identity memory growth segmentation Mood reflective melancholic introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal transitions - career changes - grieving loss - creative projects Key Concepts psychology existentialism narrative self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor past chapters while embracing new ones? - What patterns repeat across your life phases? A Different Perspective Over‑compartmentalization can hinder integration of experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afternoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afternoon/) [Bodies Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies-past-3991236/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Boxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boxes/) [Boxes Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boxes-life-3991234/) [Coffins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffins/) [Dead Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-bodies-296554/) [Discovering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovering/) [Killers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killers/) [Late afternoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late-afternoon/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Little Coffins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-coffins-3991235/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Neat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neat/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Next life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-life/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Serial killer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serial-killer/) [Side by side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side-by-side/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [My boxes are life's experiences aesthetically expressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cornell/my-boxes-are-life-s-experiences-aesthetically-expressed/) [Joseph Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-cornell/) > [For the last ten years, I've been trying to avoid getting killed by Putin's regime, and there already exists a trail of dead bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-browder/for-the-last-ten-years-i-ve-been-trying-to-avoid-getting-killed-by/) [Bill Browder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-browder/) > [I hate heroin. It killed off a lot of my generation. It killed off a lot of my friends. Now this generation is getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy-kilmister/i-hate-heroin-it-killed-off-a-lot-of-my-generation-it-killed-off-a/) [Lemmy Kilmister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy-kilmister/) > [But huge photographs of dead bodies are slightly different. I couldn't find much humor there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pj-harvey/but-huge-photographs-of-dead-bodies-are-slightly-different-i-couldn-t/) [PJ Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pj-harvey/) > [I know well enough that there have been dogs so loving that they have thrown themselves into the same grave with the dead bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/i-know-well-enough-that-there-have-been-dogs-so-loving-that-they-have/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“There were people dying everywhere getting massacred in every town and village, there were people being picked up and thrown into dark jails in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirza-waheed/there-were-people-dying-everywhere-getting-massacred-in-every-town/) [Mirza Waheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirza-waheed/) > [“Fritz hates dead bodies in the front hall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/fritz-hates-dead-bodies-in-the-front-hall/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [“If you do not report the number of dead bodies found and missing people reported, it will eventually become known to the masses through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/if-you-do-not-report-the-number-of-dead-bodies-found-and-missing/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Dead people look very, very dead. It is difficult to grasp what that means, since it’s unlikely that any of us will stumble across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-doughty/dead-people-look-very-very-dead-it-is-difficult-to-grasp-what-that/) [Caitlin Doughty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-doughty/) > [“Great bodies die but great minds don't die! Inside the tomb of great men lay dead body's but at the library of great men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/great-bodies-die-but-great-minds-don-t-die-inside-the-tomb-of-great/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [“cradling dead bodies in its cage of burnt beams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/cradling-dead-bodies-in-its-cage-of-burnt-beams/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [Friends help you move. Real friends help you move dead bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friends-help-you-move-real-friends-help-you-move-dead-bodies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dead bodies are such trouble,” Evie said with a little sigh, and Mabel had to turn her head away so as not to laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/dead-bodies-are-such-trouble-evie-said-with-a-little-sigh-and-mabel/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/there-is-a-pile-of-dead-bodies-behind-the-mars-hill-bus-and-by-god-s/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [“Dead bodies. Dead bodies. Lots of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-field/dead-bodies-dead-bodies-lots-of-them/) [Elle Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-field/) ## More by Jeanette Winterson > [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. 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What would it have meant if things had been bright, clear, good between us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-would-it-have-meant-to-be-happy-what-would-it-have-meant-if/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“Mrs Ratlow was a widow, and she was head of English, but she still did all the cooking and cleaning for her two sons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/mrs-ratlow-was-a-widow-and-she-was-head-of-english-but-she-still-did/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“I shall have nowt to talk to now the baby is boiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-shall-have-nowt-to-talk-to-now-the-baby-is-boiled/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous. The so-called uselessness of art is a clue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-art-does-is-to-coax-us-away-from-the-mechanical-and-towards-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/happy-valentines-day-to-those-who-have-found-love-in-whatever-shape/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“It took me a long time to realise that there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-took-me-a-long-time-to-realise-that-there-are-two-kinds-of-writing/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [A curse on this game. How can you stick at a game when the rules keep on changing? I shall call myself Alice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/a-curse-on-this-game-how-can-you-stick-at-a-game-when-the-rules-keep/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“He turned away and I turned to him in vivid heat to look on the sun-dried world. The groves and towers were gone. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/he-turned-away-and-i-turned-to-him-in-vivid-heat-to-look-on-the-sun/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) [Explore all 1,016 Jeanette Winterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## More Afternoon quotes > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of Oreo cookies while waiting in the lobby. Sometimes she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/my-dental-hygienist-is-cute-every-time-i-visit-i-eat-a-whole-package/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Honestly, I'm living my fantasy. It's being with my family, preferably on a snowy afternoon with a fire going, cuddled up in blankets, playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-vieira/honestly-i-m-living-my-fantasy-it-s-being-with-my-family-preferably/) [Meredith Vieira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-vieira/) > [It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/it-was-a-very-intense-and-stressful-situation-there-was-playing-in/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Sunday afternoon is for papers and writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-haslam/sunday-afternoon-is-for-papers-and-writing/) [Nicholas Haslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-haslam/) > [I think that if most guys in America could somehow get their fave-rave poster girl in bed and have total license to do whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-think-that-if-most-guys-in-america-could-somehow-get-their-fave/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“If you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-come-at-four-in-the-afternoon-i-ll-begin-to-be-happy-by-three/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [At five in the afternoon. It was exactly five in the afternoon. A boy brought the white sheet at five in the afternoon. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-five-in-the-afternoon-it-was-exactly-five-in-the-afternoon-a-boy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The shadows in the early morning don't tell much. The shadows rest at that time. So it's useless to gaze very early in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/the-shadows-in-the-early-morning-don-t-tell-much-the-shadows-rest-at/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“I discovered windows one afternoon and after that, nothing was ever the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-spollen/i-discovered-windows-one-afternoon-and-after-that-nothing-was-ever/) [Anne Spollen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-spollen/) > [Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/look-science-is-hard-it-has-a-reputation-of-being-hard-and-the-facts/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/what-ll-we-do-with-ourselves-this-afternoon-and-the-day-after-that/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Imagine you are walking down a leafy path…The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/imagine-you-are-walking-down-a-leafy-path-the-sun-is-receding-and-you/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [A good umpire is the umpire you don't even notice. He's there all afternoon but when the game is over, you don't even remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-johnson/a-good-umpire-is-the-umpire-you-don-t-even-notice-he-s-there-all/) [Ban Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-johnson/) > [Sometimes in the afternoon sky the moon would pass white as a cloud, furtive, lusterless, like an actress who does not have to perform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/sometimes-in-the-afternoon-sky-the-moon-would-pass-white-as-a-cloud/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Browse all 1,085 Afternoon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afternoon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've lived my life like a serial killer; finish with one part, strangle it and move on to the next. Life in neat little boxes is life in neat little coffins, the dead bodies of the past laid out side by side. 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