--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was often this way, life consisted of…" description: "\"It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.\" — Jonathan Lethem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png" --- # It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false… ![“It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png) > “It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is portrayed as a sequence of premature starts and empty claims, suggesting that people often proclaim progress toward goals they cannot yet see. **In simple terms:** False starts and hollow claims. Key Takeaway Beware of premature confidence. Themes illusion journey expectation self-deception uncertainty Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical literary observational When to use this quote - career planning - personal relationships - creative projects - spiritual quests Key Concepts goal-setting perception identity motivation Practical Applications - re-evaluate milestones - align declarations with tangible progress Questions to Reflect On - What evidence do you need before declaring progress? - How do you differentiate genuine advancement from illusion? A Different Perspective Some may argue that bold declarations can motivate and clarify direction, even without concrete evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings/) [Declaration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/declaration/) [Destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destination/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [The years... when I pursued the inner images were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-years-when-i-pursued-the-inner-images-were-the-most-important/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Despite her apparent freedom, her life consisted of endless hours spent waiting for a miracle, for true love, for an adventure with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/despite-her-apparent-freedom-her-life-consisted-of-endless-hours-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [..and certain that life consisted of a few simple signals and decisions; that death took root at the moment of birth and man’s only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/and-certain-that-life-consisted-of-a-few-simple-signals-and-decisions/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Children of her type contrive the purest philosophies. Ada had worked out her own little system. Hardly a week had elapsed since Vans arrival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/children-of-her-type-contrive-the-purest-philosophies-ada-had-worked-2/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [“It was interesting, how much of adult life consisted of pretending.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-canty/it-was-interesting-how-much-of-adult-life-consisted-of-pretending/) [Kevin Canty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-canty/) > [Wildness had never been a part of her life. Home, work, home, work. That's all her life had consisted of, really. She'd told Maddox…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/wildness-had-never-been-a-part-of-her-life-home-work-home-work-that-s/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [“A story is nothing more than a reproduction of the order of the world on a purely verbal scale. A replica of life, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-piglia/a-story-is-nothing-more-than-a-reproduction-of-the-order-of-the-world/) [Ricardo Piglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-piglia/) > [After a day on Mykines, I changed my mind about life not going on. A sort of life was going on, beating with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-millman/after-a-day-on-mykines-i-changed-my-mind-about-life-not-going-on-a/) [Lawrence Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-millman/) > [My whole life has consisted of overcoming the odds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-morgan/my-whole-life-has-consisted-of-overcoming-the-odds/) [Liv Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-morgan/) > [As an adolescent I was convinced that France would have to go through gigantic trials, that the interest of life consisted in one day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-gaulle/as-an-adolescent-i-was-convinced-that-france-would-have-to-go-through/) [Charles de Gaulle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-gaulle/) > [“But it wasn't just the distance. It was what had happened to me since these days, those endless, quiet days when I thought my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-holeman/but-it-wasn-t-just-the-distance-it-was-what-had-happened-to-me-since/) Linda Holeman > [The scary thing is that sometimes you are wrapping up animation on a sequence and you don't know how the movie ends or begins.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-scanlon/the-scary-thing-is-that-sometimes-you-are-wrapping-up-animation-on-a/) [Dan Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-scanlon/) > [Never run a bluff with a six-gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-masterson/never-run-a-bluff-with-a-six-gun/) [Bat Masterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-masterson/) > [ I got used to \[ Lars Von Trier\] doing the narration for 'Dogville' and 'Manderley.' And I said to him I do these narrations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/i-got-used-to-lars-von-trier-doing-the-narration-for-dogville-and/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/the-patriot-act-is-certainly-a-concern-all-of-those-things-are/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/my-heart-to-put-it-more-simply-got-nostalgic-for-the-present-always-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It's impossible to overstate how my relationship to music forms a preserve for the esoteric or even spiritual aspect of my relationship to cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-s-impossible-to-overstate-how-my-relationship-to-music-forms-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“If. If Mingus Rude could be kept in this place, kept somehow in Dylan's pocket, in his stinging, smudgy hands, then summer wouldn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/if-if-mingus-rude-could-be-kept-in-this-place-kept-somehow-in-dylan-s/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-had-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-who-confused-genre-boundaries-and/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Memory is a rehearsal for a show that never goes on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/memory-is-a-rehearsal-for-a-show-that-never-goes-on/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“There is nothing Tourettic about the New York City subways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/there-is-nothing-tourettic-about-the-new-york-city-subways/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Mingus Rude, Arthur Lomb, Gabriel Stern and Tim Vandertooth, even Aaron K. Doily: Dylan never met anyone who wasn't about to change immediately into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/mingus-rude-arthur-lomb-gabriel-stern-and-tim-vandertooth-even-aaron/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I try to write every day. I don't beat myself up about word counts, or how many hours are ticking by on the clock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-try-to-write-every-day-i-don-t-beat-myself-up-about-word-counts-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Enough of this. Does every conversation with you have to be the director's cut? Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I'd excluded New York from my writing, and then I came back and I fell in love with it all over again. The energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-d-excluded-new-york-from-my-writing-and-then-i-came-back-and-i-fell/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More Beginnings quotes > [“As long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to start over and build a stable future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ha-campbell/as-long-as-we-re-breathing-we-have-a-chance-to-start-over-and-build-a/) [Kim Ha Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ha-campbell/) > [“God is going to send you someone that will rescue you. Then one day you will rescue them in return and together your story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-is-going-to-send-you-someone-that-will-rescue-you-then-one-day/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“I had brutal beginnings. I will not let the darkness in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jennings/i-had-brutal-beginnings-i-will-not-let-the-darkness-in/) [Melissa Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jennings/) > [My little notebooks were beginnings - they were the ground into which I dropped the seed... I would work in this way when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/my-little-notebooks-were-beginnings-they-were-the-ground-into-which-i/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [There are no beginnings, not even to stories. There are only places where you make an entrance into someone else's life and either stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-findley/there-are-no-beginnings-not-even-to-stories-there-are-only-places/) [Timothy Findley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-findley/) > [“Our beginnings never know our ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/our-beginnings-never-know-our-ends/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [My beginnings in the Southwest are clear and palpable. My beginnings here made me pay attention to where the sun is, where the winds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-predock/my-beginnings-in-the-southwest-are-clear-and-palpable-my-beginnings/) [Antoine Predock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-predock/) > [“... the scarlet thread,the red clay from which we were made, runs in tiny streams through all our veins, reminding us of where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-scarlet-thread-the-red-clay-from-which-we-were-made-runs-in-tiny/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“January 20th,2021 Blow the trumpets loud, Salute the National Guard in the crowd, New beginnings, A new day has dawned, No need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charmaine-j-forde/january-20th-2021-blow-the-trumpets-loud-salute-the-national-guard-in/) [Charmaine J Forde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charmaine-j-forde/) > [There are not many beginnings but there is a single Beginning, prior to multitude. But if you were to say that the beginnings are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-of-cusa/there-are-not-many-beginnings-but-there-is-a-single-beginning-prior/) [Nicholas of Cusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-of-cusa/) > [“The beginnings of marriage can be a tough phase because it's the time when two individuals are learning to synchronize their hearts, minds, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/the-beginnings-of-marriage-can-be-a-tough-phase-because-it-s-the-time/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [Bad beginnings, bad endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/bad-beginnings-bad-endings/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [Unity, I thought, implies the possibility of disunity. Beginnings imply and require endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-leckie/unity-i-thought-implies-the-possibility-of-disunity-beginnings-imply/) [Ann Leckie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-leckie/) > [“You see the bird and you see its flight. You can not see through its eyes. Therefore, you don't know its plight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaka-nkosazana/you-see-the-bird-and-you-see-its-flight-you-can-not-see-through-its/) [Amaka Nkosazana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaka-nkosazana/) > [Epic things start with small humble steps. Pay respect to your beginnings. And if you're just starting out, know that it's OK to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vishen-lakhiani/epic-things-start-with-small-humble-steps-pay-respect-to-your/) [Vishen Lakhiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vishen-lakhiani/) [Browse all 401 Beginnings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Lethem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beginnings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/jonathan-lethem-1403_beginnings_it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of_7474.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to…” — Jonathan Lethem", "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": "Jonathan Lethem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It was often this way, life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/#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 } } ] } ```