--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s all as if words, phrases, images…" description: "\"“It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small glass beads from a necklace which was wrenched from some neck and spilled on the floor and do..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg" --- # It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small… ![“It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small glass beads from a necklace which was wrenched from some neck and spilled on the floor and down the sides of sofa cushions and armchairs and under bookshelves and maybe swallowed by the cat. I’ve got to find all the glass pieces before I can…” quote by Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg) > ““It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small glass beads from a necklace which was wrenched from some neck and spilled on the floor and down the sides of sofa cushions and armchairs and under bookshelves and maybe swallowed by the cat. I’ve got to find all the glass pieces before I can even reorder the color sequence, and restring it and tie it tighter than before. There’s always a splendor in beginning all over. Even if it means getting on one’s knees to search beneath that bookshelf or prospecting through years of lint and ashes beneath those cushions. Even if it means breaking open that cat’s shit, which it conveniently has deposited in a plastic box, more orderly than any secretary could ever hope to be. Then I’ll appreciate the value of each bead – rather, each word and image – that much more, never wasting another. And I will, I swear to myself, get it all back in time, string it all together, tighter, as I said, than before.”” [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating art is like gathering scattered fragments, requiring painstaking reconstruction to achieve deeper meaning. **In simple terms:** Art demands careful reassembly of broken parts. Key Takeaway Embrace the messy process of creation. Themes creativity perseverance reconstruction self‑reflection Mood introspective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - visual art - editing - research Key Concepts fragmentation meaning‑making Questions to Reflect On - What fragments of your past inform your work? - How do you stay motivated during tedious reconstruction? A Different Perspective The process can be exhausting and demoralizing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beneath Bookshelf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beneath-bookshelf-3922434/) [Glass Beads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glass-beads-3922436/) [Glass Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glass-pieces-1545067/) [Necklace Wrenched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necklace-wrenched-3922435/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) ## Related quotes > [“The mirror done broke and your life looking back at you from them sharp glass pieces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-leganski/the-mirror-done-broke-and-your-life-looking-back-at-you-from-them/) [Rita Leganski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-leganski/) > [“We are all broken in some way. But it’s all the shattered pieces that give us depth. Like stained glass, it’s how the pieces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-law/we-are-all-broken-in-some-way-but-it-s-all-the-shattered-pieces-that/) [Adriana Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-law/) > [“some of my most beautiful glass pieces have cracks running through them and I like them anyway because of the colours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cath-crowley/some-of-my-most-beautiful-glass-pieces-have-cracks-running-through/) [Cath Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cath-crowley/) > [A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-forche/a-thing-may-in-itself-be-the-finest-piece-of-writing-one-has-ever/) [Carolyn Forche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-forche/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [When I was 13, I began relaxing my hair, and that meant when I turned 18 it began to crack and fall off, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/when-i-was-13-i-began-relaxing-my-hair-and-that-meant-when-i-turned/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [A well-fashioned day - with a beginning and an end, a purpose and a content, a color and a character, a feel and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/a-well-fashioned-day-with-a-beginning-and-an-end-a-purpose-and-a/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It's amazing how someone can break your heart, but you still love them with all the little pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid/it-s-amazing-how-someone-can-break-your-heart-but-you-still-love-them/) [Sajid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid/) > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) ## More by Jim Carroll > [“they're fucking up minds they do not own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/they-re-fucking-up-minds-they-do-not-own/) [jim carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/conscience-is-no-more-than-the-dead-speaking-to-us/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I love kids that come to shows, little kids coming up to you with braces; like, some kid came up to me in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-love-kids-that-come-to-shows-little-kids-coming-up-to-you-with/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I need a consistency of my moods if there is to be any consistency in my style. I can't attempt to write always in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-need-a-consistency-of-my-moods-if-there-is-to-be-any-consistency-in/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [My voice has a quiver/ A quiver is where you keep arrows until you shoot them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/my-voice-has-a-quiver-a-quiver-is-where-you-keep-arrows-until-you/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [“Sex is no longer a beautiful thing", she said. "It has become an entirely separate entity from what was quaintly known as making love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/sex-is-no-longer-a-beautiful-thing-she-said-it-has-become-an-entirely/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I love this mansion, though it is too many windows ...to open halfway each morning ...to close halfway each night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-love-this-mansion-though-it-is-too-many-windows-to-open-halfway/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [It's easy to get by on a facade of fancy style, but sooner or later, people are going to see through it. I'm trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-easy-to-get-by-on-a-facade-of-fancy-style-but-sooner-or-later/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I once said a poet has the right to sing as loudly and vocally as he wants to. Most poets should face a rock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-once-said-a-poet-has-the-right-to-sing-as-loudly-and-vocally-as-he/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [Billy was fascinated by the television. At its most basic level, it occupied his time and shut out the demons of isolation. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/billy-was-fascinated-by-the-television-at-its-most-basic-level-it/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [When I came back to New York, it was such a joke because I was always referred to as the pure young poet who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/when-i-came-back-to-new-york-it-was-such-a-joke-because-i-was-always/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I do believe that a poet would possess a stronger intuitive sense of phrasing with a rock song. There is a way to tap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-do-believe-that-a-poet-would-possess-a-stronger-intuitive-sense-of/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I should have stayed an athlete, body well-tuned, cruising around with my accountant in a Porsche, maroon and chrome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-should-have-stayed-an-athlete-body-well-tuned-cruising-around-with/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I was always the young guy. And when you're successful when you're young, it leads to an arrested adolescence or something, y'know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-was-always-the-young-guy-and-when-you-re-successful-when-you-re/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [Whiteness is the color of death, you know, not black. Wetness is life, the breeder and shaper of life. In the beginning the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/whiteness-is-the-color-of-death-you-know-not-black-wetness-is-life/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) [Explore all 43 Jim Carroll quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) ## More Pieces quotes > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [It's amazing how someone can break your heart, but you still love them with all the little pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid/it-s-amazing-how-someone-can-break-your-heart-but-you-still-love-them/) [Sajid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A well-fashioned day - with a beginning and an end, a purpose and a content, a color and a character, a feel and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/a-well-fashioned-day-with-a-beginning-and-an-end-a-purpose-and-a/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [When I was 13, I began relaxing my hair, and that meant when I turned 18 it began to crack and fall off, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/when-i-was-13-i-began-relaxing-my-hair-and-that-meant-when-i-turned/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-forche/a-thing-may-in-itself-be-the-finest-piece-of-writing-one-has-ever/) [Carolyn Forche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-forche/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/buddhism-advises-you-not-to-implant-feelings-that-you-don-t-really/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) [Browse all 6,227 Pieces quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small glass beads from a necklace which was wrenched from some neck and spilled on the floor and down the sides of sofa cushions and armchairs and under bookshelves and maybe swallowed by the cat. I’ve got to find all the glass pieces before I can even reorder the color sequence, and restring it and tie it tighter than before. There’s always a splendor in beginning all over. Even if it means getting on one’s knees to search beneath that bookshelf or prospecting through years of lint and ashes beneath those cushions. Even if it means breaking open that cat’s shit, which it conveniently has deposited in a plastic box, more orderly than any secretary could ever hope to be. Then I’ll appreciate the value of each bead – rather, each word and image – that much more, never wasting another. And I will, I swear to myself, get it all back in time, string it all together, tighter, as I said, than before.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jim Carroll" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-syntax-were-small-glass-beads/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Pieces" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-syntax-were-small-glass-beads/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/jim-carroll-15270_pieces_it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-synt_448911.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It’s all as if words, phrases, images, syntax were small glass beads from a necklace which was wrenched from…” — Jim Carroll", "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": "Jim Carroll", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It’s all as if words, phrases,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-syntax-were-small-glass-beads/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-all-as-if-words-phrases-images-syntax-were-small-glass-beads/#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 } } ] } ```