--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s like a snake that sheds its skin…" description: "\"“It’s like a snake that sheds its skin. The outside look different when the scales change, but the inside always the same.”\" — Jesmyn Ward" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/jesmyn-ward-1426_snake_it-s-like-a-snake-that-sheds-its-skin-th_3208925.png" --- # It’s like a snake that sheds its skin. The outside look… ![“It’s like a snake that sheds its skin. The outside look different when the scales change, but the inside always the same.” quote by Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/jesmyn-ward-1426_snake_it-s-like-a-snake-that-sheds-its-skin-th_3208925.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/jesmyn-ward-1426_snake_it-s-like-a-snake-that-sheds-its-skin-th_3208925.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/jesmyn-ward-1426_snake_it-s-like-a-snake-that-sheds-its-skin-th_3208925.png) > ““It’s like a snake that sheds its skin. The outside look different when the scales change, but the inside always the same.”” [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. External changes may alter appearance, but inner identity remains constant. **In simple terms:** Looks change, core stays same. Key Takeaway Recognize that true self persists despite outward shifts. Themes identity change self perseverance Mood reflective steady Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationship dynamics - cultural adaptation Key Concepts psychology metaphor continuity Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay true to yourself amid change? - What aspects of identity are truly immutable? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper internal transformations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Like Snake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-snake/) [Scales Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales-change-5988103/) [Sheds Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheds-skin-917092/) [Skin Outside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skin-outside-1900812/) [Snake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snake/) [Snake Sheds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snake-sheds-1553265/) ## Related quotes > [Like the snake sheds its skin living for a while in another one, man strips himself from opinions gathered up until a certain age,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/like-the-snake-sheds-its-skin-living-for-a-while-in-another-one-man/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/just-as-a-snake-sheds-its-skin-we-must-shed-our-past-over-and-over/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Breaking out is following your bliss pattern, quitting the old place, starting your hero journey, following your bliss. You throw off yesterday as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/breaking-out-is-following-your-bliss-pattern-quitting-the-old-place/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“If the snake sheds his skin before a new skin is ready, naked he will be in the world, prey to the forces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/if-the-snake-sheds-his-skin-before-a-new-skin-is-ready-naked-he-will/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [He's like a snake in the grass. Hey, if you chop it's head off, it'll still bite ya! -Si](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duck-dynasty/he-s-like-a-snake-in-the-grass-hey-if-you-chop-it-s-head-off-it-ll/) [Duck Dynasty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duck-dynasty/) > [I'm like a snake sleeping on a rock. I won't bother you unless you poke a stick at me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/i-m-like-a-snake-sleeping-on-a-rock-i-won-t-bother-you-unless-you/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) > [Love is like a snake and ladders game. We will never knows when the snake will bite us and make us die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/love-is-like-a-snake-and-ladders-game-we-will-never-knows-when-the/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [You're right. And so was my snake." Snake?" He pulled my arm out to expose my bracelet. "When I carved this my thoughts were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/you-re-right-and-so-was-my-snake-snake-he-pulled-my-arm-out-to-expose/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [“Leave your limiting-self just like a snake shedding its skin so that you can go beyond your own frontiers!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/leave-your-limiting-self-just-like-a-snake-shedding-its-skin-so-that/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would look people in the face and be like, 'Your snake cake's not good.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-byer/never-in-my-wildest-dreams-did-i-think-i-would-look-people-in-the/) [Nicole Byer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-byer/) > [Nature has neither core nor skin: she’s both at once outside and in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nature-has-neither-core-nor-skin-she-s-both-at-once-outside-and-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Yes, but if we hurt the Abadonna in the process, we’re going to find out what it feels like to be turned inside out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/yes-but-if-we-hurt-the-abadonna-in-the-process-we-re-going-to-find/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“These outward identities we build for ourselves are not all that we are. A person is made of so many layers. Skin is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-p-freeman/these-outward-identities-we-build-for-ourselves-are-not-all-that-we/) [Emily P. Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-p-freeman/) > [“But you can’t stop there, because that’s your body, your skin, your outside. Dead people have all that stuff too. There’s something else that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-p-freeman/but-you-can-t-stop-there-because-that-s-your-body-your-skin-your/) [Emily P. Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-p-freeman/) > [As she sheds her skin on stage. I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's P.A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/panic-at-the-disco/as-she-sheds-her-skin-on-stage-i-m-seated-and-sweating-to-a-dance/) [Panic At The Disco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/panic-at-the-disco/) ## More by Jesmyn Ward > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-voodoo-as-a-spiritual-tradition-has-been-demonized-for/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [There's so much I love about home, but then there's a lot that I can acknowledge that I dislike about home. And acknowledging that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/there-s-so-much-i-love-about-home-but-then-there-s-a-lot-that-i-can/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“The dream of her was the glow of a spent fire on a cold night: warm and welcoming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-dream-of-her-was-the-glow-of-a-spent-fire-on-a-cold-night-warm/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [The first writer that I think of immediately that I studied with at Michigan is Peter Ho Davies. He was really important to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-first-writer-that-i-think-of-immediately-that-i-studied-with-at/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like so much of what happened in the Delta over the decades since slavery was abolished seems much closer in the Delta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-feel-like-so-much-of-what-happened-in-the-delta-over-the-decades/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Vines catch my arms, my head; we tear through until we break out into the clearing before the fence, the field, the barn, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/vines-catch-my-arms-my-head-we-tear-through-until-we-break-out-into/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Before all the little mean things she told me gathered and gathered and lodged like grit in a skinned knee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/before-all-the-little-mean-things-she-told-me-gathered-and-gathered/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [People give the South a bad rap. It's often stereotyped as backwards and close-minded and dogmatic, and all of those things have been true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/people-give-the-south-a-bad-rap-it-s-often-stereotyped-as-backwards/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [By the time I wrote my memoir, 'Men We Reaped,' I had been running from writing it for a long time. When the events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/by-the-time-i-wrote-my-memoir-men-we-reaped-i-had-been-running-from/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-was-the-only-black-girl-at-a-small-private/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/she-was-the-murderous-mother-who-cut-us-to-the-bone-but-left-us-alive/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-people-who-read-my-books-feel-empathy-for-us-and-really-see-us/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was writing my first novel, 'Where the Line Bleeds,' which had young black men as its main characters, I was very invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-writing-my-first-novel-where-the-line-bleeds-which-had/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Lot of folks was in there for stealing food because everybody was poor and starving, and even though White people couldn’t get your work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/lot-of-folks-was-in-there-for-stealing-food-because-everybody-was/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) [Explore all 242 Jesmyn Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More Snake quotes > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [People project a grey energy that is very destructive to weaken you, to drain you - just as the snake uses position to capture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/people-project-a-grey-energy-that-is-very-destructive-to-weaken-you/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... It was a slow process for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-m-not-one-of-those-james-joyce-intellectuals-who-can-stand-back-and/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [“Intellectualism is a poor master over passion”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twe-stephens/intellectualism-is-a-poor-master-over-passion/) [Twe Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twe-stephens/) > [“Remember, it isn't the snake bite that does the serious damage; it's chasing the snake that drives the poison to the heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-it-isn-t-the-snake-bite-that-does-the-serious-damage-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“LOOK AT THIS SNAKE!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/look-at-this-snake/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [If I could send myself a bunch of snake emojis, I probably would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaska/if-i-could-send-myself-a-bunch-of-snake-emojis-i-probably-would/) [Alaska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaska/) > [“What is with these guys? Where's the thrill in watching snakes eat? I certainly didn't thrill in watching humans eat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/what-is-with-these-guys-where-s-the-thrill-in-watching-snakes-eat-i/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [The Devil is a Five-headed Snake, says the father. The son says, Nay, it's a Six-headed one. And then their hearts burn with hate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subramanya-bharathi/the-devil-is-a-five-headed-snake-says-the-father-the-son-says-nay-it/) [Subramanya Bharathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subramanya-bharathi/) > [“You can be bit in the leg by a rattlesnake and seek help to heal your wound, or you can run after it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/you-can-be-bit-in-the-leg-by-a-rattlesnake-and-seek-help-to-heal-your/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I'm still stupid. I still do what I'm not supposed to do. Are you serious? I'm Jake 'The Snake,' man. I never claimed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-roberts/i-m-still-stupid-i-still-do-what-i-m-not-supposed-to-do-are-you/) [Jake Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-roberts/) > [In neurotics, worm phobias are usually found as well as snake phobias.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-abraham/in-neurotics-worm-phobias-are-usually-found-as-well-as-snake-phobias/) [Karl Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-abraham/) > [“The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/the-snake-jabbed-its-tail-at-a-little-sign-next-to-the-glass-harry/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [“Jim Crow repeated the old strategies of the reptilian powers of the air: to convince human beings simultaneously and paradoxically that they are gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-d-moore/jim-crow-repeated-the-old-strategies-of-the-reptilian-powers-of-the/) [Russell D. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-d-moore/) [Browse all 444 Snake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snake/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s like a snake that sheds its skin. 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