--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perceval spends twenty years wandering in…" description: "\"“Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods, looking for the thing he had found, that was given to him, that seemed so easy, that was not. Lat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png" --- # Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods… ![“Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods, looking for the thing he had found, that was given to him, that seemed so easy, that was not. Later, when things were difficult for me with my work and I felt that I had lost or turned away from something I couldn't even identify, it was the…” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png) > ““Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods, looking for the thing he had found, that was given to him, that seemed so easy, that was not. Later, when things were difficult for me with my work and I felt that I had lost or turned away from something I couldn't even identify, it was the Perceval story that gave me hope. There might be a second chance...in fact, there were more than two chances-many more. I know, after fifty years that the finding/losing, forgetting/remembering, leaving/returning never stops.”” [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’s quests involve repeated loss and rediscovery; hope persists through cycles of finding and forgetting. **In simple terms:** Hope endures despite loss and wandering. Key Takeaway Embrace cycles, stay open to new chances. Themes search hope resilience transformation Mood introspective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career setbacks - creative blocks - relationship doubts - spiritual crises - midlife reflection Key Concepts existential longing mythic archetype personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What cycles repeat in your life? - How can you create new opportunities? A Different Perspective Repeated patterns may cause stagnation if not consciously broken. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) [Second chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-chance/) ## Related quotes > [I know now, after fifty years, that the finding/losing, forgetting/remembering, leaving/returning, never stops. The whole of life is about another chance, and while we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-know-now-after-fifty-years-that-the-finding-losing-forgetting/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I gulped, then stepped over the threshold into the house where I'd lived as a boy. After eighteen long years of wandering, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/i-gulped-then-stepped-over-the-threshold-into-the-house-where-i-d/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [I spent on the Other Earth many "other years," wandering from mind to mind and country to country, but I did not gain any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/i-spent-on-the-other-earth-many-other-years-wandering-from-mind-to/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [Spend the years of learning squandering Courage for the years of wandering Through a world politely turning From the loutishness of learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/spend-the-years-of-learning-squandering-courage-for-the-years-of/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [After all these years of wandering around as a street photographer and a journalist, I decided that this world is such a curious, screwed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burk-uzzle/after-all-these-years-of-wandering-around-as-a-street-photographer/) [Burk Uzzle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burk-uzzle/) > [I had a project for my life which involved 10 years of wandering, then some years of medical studies and, if any time was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/i-had-a-project-for-my-life-which-involved-10-years-of-wandering-then/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [It was a matter of going back through a lot of sermons and remembering the questions and conversations, where these ideas came from. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/it-was-a-matter-of-going-back-through-a-lot-of-sermons-and/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [I dont play when it comes to being unfaithful. You cheat, you get no second chance & you lost the best thing that ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-dont-play-when-it-comes-to-being-unfaithful-you-cheat-you-get-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I survived something meant to destroy me –I can’t squander this second chance by living a life that is beneath my standing. I don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-c-jones/i-survived-something-meant-to-destroy-me-i-can-t-squander-this-second/) Christina C. Jones > [America's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is our belief in second chances, our belief that we can always start over, that things can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-walton/america-s-greatest-strength-and-its-greatest-weakness-is-our-belief/) Anthony Walton > [We need to have more second chance programs. I'm glad that we're ending private prisons in the federal system; I want to see them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-need-to-have-more-second-chance-programs-i-m-glad-that-we-re/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“I never thought I'd get a second chance at a first time with you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-andrews/i-never-thought-i-d-get-a-second-chance-at-a-first-time-with-you/) [Amy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-andrews/) > [We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-estefan/we-seal-our-fate-with-the-choices-we-take-but-don-t-give-a-second/) [Gloria Estefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-estefan/) > [I'm a hard-ass when it comes to my work, and I'm not scared to take risks. On a social level, I'm not hard at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milla-jovovich/i-m-a-hard-ass-when-it-comes-to-my-work-and-i-m-not-scared-to-take/) [Milla Jovovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milla-jovovich/) > [I just like stories about redemption about getting a second chance at life, I think everyone in the world has a few major mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-just-like-stories-about-redemption-about-getting-a-second-chance-at/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) ## 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. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I have found that I am not a space where people want to live, at least not without decorating first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-have-found-that-i-am-not-a-space-where-people-want-to-live-at-least/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“Yes. Just pass me my leg will you? It's on top of the wardrobe where he threw it, and I think my right arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/yes-just-pass-me-my-leg-will-you-it-s-on-top-of-the-wardrobe-where-he/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Every second the Universe divides into possibilities and most of those possibilities never happen. It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [You are a pool of clear water where the light plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-are-a-pool-of-clear-water-where-the-light-plays/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“It's the cliches that cause the trouble. A precise emotion seeks a precise expression. If what I feel is not precise than how should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-s-the-cliches-that-cause-the-trouble-a-precise-emotion-seeks-a/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [What would it have meant to be happy? 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 Memory quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/your-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-doesn-t-it-simply-files-things/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/my-first-olympics-memory-was-watching-haile-gebrselassie-in-sydney/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [Always remember a little thing can change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-remember-a-little-thing-can-change-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God knows me I will never forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/if-god-knows-me-i-will-never-forget-him/) Trunxbeats [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods, looking for the thing he had found, that was given to him, that seemed so easy, that was not. Later, when things were difficult for me with my work and I felt that I had lost or turned away from something I couldn't even identify, it was the Perceval story that gave me hope. There might be a second chance...in fact, there were more than two chances-many more. I know, after fifty years that the finding/losing, forgetting/remembering, leaving/returning never stops.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeanette Winterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-in-the-woods-looking-for-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-in-the-woods-looking-for-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/jeanette-winterson-166_memory_perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-i_285225.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perceval spends twenty years wandering in the woods, looking for the thing he had found, that was given to…” — Jeanette Winterson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jeanette Winterson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Perceval spends twenty years wandering in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-in-the-woods-looking-for-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/perceval-spends-twenty-years-wandering-in-the-woods-looking-for-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```