--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chunks of his life fell away, so that…" description: "\"Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.\" — Jeffrey Eugenides" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png" --- # Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving… ![“Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.” quote by Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png) > “Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.” [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The character feels his past life eroding while time moves forward, creating a sense of regression amid progress. **In simple terms:** Life feels like moving backward while time moves forward. Key Takeaway Recognize and address past losses. Themes memory time identity Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy - self‑reflection - life transitions - writing Key Concepts regression personal history psychological drift Questions to Reflect On - What parts of your past still hold you back? - How can you integrate past and present? A Different Perspective Focusing on past can hinder present growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moving ahead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-ahead/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“The weight of his life fell away and he embraced the promise of forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-torrington/the-weight-of-his-life-fell-away-and-he-embraced-the-promise-of/) Thomas J. Torrington > [Time is always moving forward, so you should too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-oishi/time-is-always-moving-forward-so-you-should-too/) Max Oishi > [“that droplet of moisture that had slipped from me like a tear seemed almost to tell the story of my life. It fell through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/that-droplet-of-moisture-that-had-slipped-from-me-like-a-tear-seemed/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [“that what chances he had chosen to take before he came into her life fell outside of her jurisdiction. But now that his life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-what-chances-he-had-chosen-to-take-before-he-came-into-her-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I cannot tell you what it is that guides us in this life; but for me, I fell toward the Chairman just as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/i-cannot-tell-you-what-it-is-that-guides-us-in-this-life-but-for-me-i/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [“But they don’t know what it’s truly like to lose control, and I’m not talking about my emotions, but about my life. I lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-a-denzil/but-they-don-t-know-what-it-s-truly-like-to-lose-control-and-i-m-not/) [Sarah A. Denzil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-a-denzil/) > [Then came nights when, lying awake beside my final wife, I would spend too much time putting my finger on what was wrong. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lutz/then-came-nights-when-lying-awake-beside-my-final-wife-i-would-spend/) [Gary Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lutz/) > [“There were moments when life at school became a matter of utter indifference to him. Then the putty of his everyday concerns dropped out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/there-were-moments-when-life-at-school-became-a-matter-of-utter/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“He didn’t want her to cry alone, he wanted her to be in his arms, each and every time her life fell apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jagears/he-didn-t-want-her-to-cry-alone-he-wanted-her-to-be-in-his-arms-each/) [Melissa Jagears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jagears/) > [“For every hundred bucks I make, I set aside five for Bernie's stone. What do you write on something like that? LIFE PASSED HER…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/for-every-hundred-bucks-i-make-i-set-aside-five-for-bernie-s-stone/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [This was the time in her life that she fell upon books as the only door out of her cell. They became half her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/this-was-the-time-in-her-life-that-she-fell-upon-books-as-the-only/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [I would walk until I had walked all the life out of me, and when I fell, I would die that much closer to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nando-parrado/i-would-walk-until-i-had-walked-all-the-life-out-of-me-and-when-i/) [Nando Parrado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nando-parrado/) > [“life. I lost control of my life. Everything around me fell apart while I remained the impotent bystander. I’ve”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-a-denzil/life-i-lost-control-of-my-life-everything-around-me-fell-apart-while/) [Sarah A. Denzil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-a-denzil/) > [Time is the moving imago of the unmoving eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/time-is-the-moving-imago-of-the-unmoving-eternity/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“Time was moving backward, it seemed, and the future was mostly forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/time-was-moving-backward-it-seemed-and-the-future-was-mostly-forgotten/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) ## More by Jeffrey Eugenides > [“Only the Lisbon house remained dark, a tunnel, an emptiness, past our smoke and flames.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/only-the-lisbon-house-remained-dark-a-tunnel-an-emptiness-past-our/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“She had just started living like a grown-up and she'd never felt more vulnerable, frightened or confused in her life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/she-had-just-started-living-like-a-grown-up-and-she-d-never-felt-more/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [It's often said that a traumatic experience early in life marks a person forever, pulls her out of line, saying, "Stay there. Don't move.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/it-s-often-said-that-a-traumatic-experience-early-in-life-marks-a/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Adolescents tend to seek love where they can find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/adolescents-tend-to-seek-love-where-they-can-find-it/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“The window was still open,” Mr Lisbon said. “I don’t think we’d ever remembered to shut it. It was all clear to me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/the-window-was-still-open-mr-lisbon-said-i-don-t-think-we-d-ever/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [I was aware that you weren't supposed to write about suburbia, that it was undignified in some way, the subject matter not momentous enough.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-was-aware-that-you-weren-t-supposed-to-write-about-suburbia-that-it/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Dr. Armonson stitched up her wrist wounds. Within five minutes of the transfusion he declared her out of danger. Chucking her under the chin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/dr-armonson-stitched-up-her-wrist-wounds-within-five-minutes-of-the/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“I don't approve of women driving, mind you. And now they get to vote!" He grumbled to himself. "Remember that play we saw ("The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-don-t-approve-of-women-driving-mind-you-and-now-they-get-to-vote-he/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Her face was calm, but inside she was tense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/her-face-was-calm-but-inside-she-was-tense/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [I know that attaching memories to books may be going out of the world, but while it lasts, it's a strong record of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-know-that-attaching-memories-to-books-may-be-going-out-of-the-world/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [I spend most of every day writing. I like to write every day if I can. I don't start extremely early.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-spend-most-of-every-day-writing-i-like-to-write-every-day-if-i-can/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [Maybe the best proof that the language is patriarchal is that it oversimplifies feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/maybe-the-best-proof-that-the-language-is-patriarchal-is-that-it/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [We knew that Cecilia had killed herself because she was a misfit, because the beyond called to her, and we knew that her sisters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/we-knew-that-cecilia-had-killed-herself-because-she-was-a-misfit/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [You can tell when something's not moving forward anymore. When the doubts you have about it don't go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/you-can-tell-when-something-s-not-moving-forward-anymore-when-the/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [Normality wasn't normal. It couldn't be. If normality were normal, everybody could leave it alone. They could sit back and let normality manifest itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/normality-wasn-t-normal-it-couldn-t-be-if-normality-were-normal/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) [Explore all 516 Jeffrey Eugenides quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeffrey Eugenides" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-while-we-were-moving-ahead-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-while-we-were-moving-ahead-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/jeffrey-eugenides-462_life_chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-whi_1459487.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.” — Jeffrey Eugenides", "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": "Jeffrey Eugenides", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Chunks of his life fell away,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-while-we-were-moving-ahead-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/chunks-of-his-life-fell-away-so-that-while-we-were-moving-ahead-in/#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 } } ] } ```