--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was born I became the visible…" description: "\"When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one destination. The map that is the unfolding ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg" --- # When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded… ![“When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one destination. The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere. The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate. There is a lot that you can't change when you are…” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg) > “When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one destination. The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere. The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate. There is a lot that you can't change when you are a kid. But you can pack for the journey...” [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. The metaphor likens birth to a map's starting point, emphasizing multiple possible paths and the limits of early control. **In simple terms:** Birth is a starting point with many routes. Key Takeaway Embrace life's many possibilities. Themes identity growth possibility Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - career planning - personal development Key Concepts Self‑discovery choice determinism Questions to Reflect On - What coordinates define your current path? - How do you navigate fixed early conditions? A Different Perspective Early constraints can feel limiting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can't change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-t-change/) [Destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destination/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [“It occurs to me if we kissed now, we'd be like a folded map of America. My Pennsylvania scab next to her New Jersey…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-king/it-occurs-to-me-if-we-kissed-now-we-d-be-like-a-folded-map-of-america/) [A.S. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-king/) > [If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is great for the status quo and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-question-if-they-can-t-question/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [When I travel, I always take my Winsor & Newton watercolor kit, which is the size of a pack of cigarettes when folded up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-minot/when-i-travel-i-always-take-my-winsor-newton-watercolor-kit-which-is/) [Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-minot/) > [Alzheimer's disease starts when a protein that should be folded up properly misfolds into a kind of demented origami.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-petsko/alzheimer-s-disease-starts-when-a-protein-that-should-be-folded-up/) [Gregory Petsko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-petsko/) > [I remember going to L.A. and doing shows, and people would just stand there with their arms folded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pimp-c/i-remember-going-to-l-a-and-doing-shows-and-people-would-just-stand/) [Pimp C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pimp-c/) > [“The paper was folded twice without a speck on it and bore a note in his handwriting: I cannot go on any longer. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/per-petterson/the-paper-was-folded-twice-without-a-speck-on-it-and-bore-a-note-in/) [Per Petterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/per-petterson/) > [There is something in me maybe someday to be written; now it is folded, and folded, and folded, like a note in school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/there-is-something-in-me-maybe-someday-to-be-written-now-it-is-folded/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Nobody pays attention to the way a person's shirt folds around his shoulder when they sit down, but if that shirt folded in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/nobody-pays-attention-to-the-way-a-person-s-shirt-folds-around-his/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Books are carefully folded forests/void of autumn/bound from the sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-williams/books-are-carefully-folded-forests-void-of-autumn-bound-from-the-sun/) [Saul Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-williams/) > [A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/a-rose-with-all-its-sweetest-leaves-yet-folded/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [My first course came and I put down my book, and I just happened to put up my hand to scratch my head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-jacobi/my-first-course-came-and-i-put-down-my-book-and-i-just-happened-to/) [Derek Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-jacobi/) > [“Everywhere I am folded, there I am a lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/everywhere-i-am-folded-there-i-am-a-lie/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Folded arms can’t fly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-barnes-sr/folded-arms-can-t-fly/) [Seth Barnes, Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-barnes-sr/) > [“It may have been just another night to all the people I saw rushing past my left and my right... but my hand was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/it-may-have-been-just-another-night-to-all-the-people-i-saw-rushing/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [I do not want to be folded for where I am folded, there I am a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-do-not-want-to-be-folded-for-where-i-am-folded-there-i-am-a-lie/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## 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 Arrows quotes > [With the arrival of electric technology, man has extended, or set outside himself, a live model of the central nervous system itself. To the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/with-the-arrival-of-electric-technology-man-has-extended-or-set/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Pure essence, and pure matter, and the two joined into one were shot forth without flaw, like three bright arrows from a three-string bow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/pure-essence-and-pure-matter-and-the-two-joined-into-one-were-shot/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [I did archery when I was in high school. In our gym class we had two weeks of archery, and I remember taking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrowman/i-did-archery-when-i-was-in-high-school-in-our-gym-class-we-had-two/) [John Barrowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrowman/) > [Game of Thrones. I'm all about it. I watch Arrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-r-mcqueen/game-of-thrones-i-m-all-about-it-i-watch-arrow/) [Steven R. McQueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-r-mcqueen/) > [I have shot mine arrow o'er the house And hurt my brother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-have-shot-mine-arrow-o-er-the-house-and-hurt-my-brother/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I had a map on my wall that had a circle around Lubbock and then giant arrows pointing toward New York City and Los…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-corbin/i-had-a-map-on-my-wall-that-had-a-circle-around-lubbock-and-then/) [Barry Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-corbin/) > [An arrow may fly through the air and leave no trace; but an ill thought leaves a trail like a serpent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mackay/an-arrow-may-fly-through-the-air-and-leave-no-trace-but-an-ill/) [Charles Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-mackay/) > [If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high... Hooray for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorian-corey/if-you-shoot-an-arrow-and-it-goes-real-high-hooray-for-you/) [Dorian Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorian-corey/) > [Our present time is indeed a criticizing and critical time, hovering between the wish, and the inability to believe. Our complaints are like arrows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-temple/our-present-time-is-indeed-a-criticizing-and-critical-time-hovering/) [William Temple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-temple/) > [You took a poison arrow and you aimed it at my heart. It's heavy and it's bitter, and it's tearing me apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/you-took-a-poison-arrow-and-you-aimed-it-at-my-heart-it-s-heavy-and/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [How long the thick dark clouds can prevent the truth from shining? The truth is an arrow that can pass through any shield!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/how-long-the-thick-dark-clouds-can-prevent-the-truth-from-shining-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Vasic said the words on Aden’s tongue. “The Arrows expect mercy from no one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/vasic-said-the-words-on-aden-s-tongue-the-arrows-expect-mercy-from-no/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [Follow your arrow / Wherever it points,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/follow-your-arrow-wherever-it-points/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [If the errors of my life have profited me one great truth it is this: believe. Believe in your destiny and the star from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/if-the-errors-of-my-life-have-profited-me-one-great-truth-it-is-this/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [Philosophy alone makes the mind invincible, and places us out of the reach of fortune, so that all her arrows fall short of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/philosophy-alone-makes-the-mind-invincible-and-places-us-out-of-the/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) Browse all 481 Arrows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one destination. The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere. The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate. There is a lot that you can't change when you are a kid. But you can pack for the journey...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeanette Winterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-corner-of-a-folded-map-the-map/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arrows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-corner-of-a-folded-map-the-map/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jeanette-winterson-166_arrows_when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-cor_876351.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one…” — 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": "When I was born I became...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-corner-of-a-folded-map-the-map/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-corner-of-a-folded-map-the-map/#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 } } ] } ```