--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I could, I would work my way backward…" description: "\"“If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the years. I would reel my life arouond the wheel of this longing like so much loose wire.”\" — K..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/kevin-brockmeier-11982_backward_if-i-could-i-would-work-my-way-backward_213689.png" --- # If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the… ![“If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the years. I would reel my life arouond the wheel of this longing like so much loose wire.” quote by Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/kevin-brockmeier-11982_backward_if-i-could-i-would-work-my-way-backward_213689.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/kevin-brockmeier-11982_backward_if-i-could-i-would-work-my-way-backward_213689.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/kevin-brockmeier-11982_backward_if-i-could-i-would-work-my-way-backward_213689.png) > ““If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the years. I would reel my life arouond the wheel of this longing like so much loose wire.”” [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator imagines reversing time to unwind life, expressing longing to undo aging and reshape destiny. **In simple terms:** Wishing to reverse time and reshape life. Key Takeaway Accept the present while learning from past. Themes time longing mortality Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - creative writing - philosophical discussions Key Concepts existentialism nostalgia determinism Questions to Reflect On - If you could reverse one life event, what would it be? - How does longing for the past affect present choices? A Different Perspective May romanticize regret without actionable change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ## Related quotes > [“Time travel is one of Assad's major achievements, the problem is he only perfected it one way: backward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/time-travel-is-one-of-assad-s-major-achievements-the-problem-is-he/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [“Dreaming her way backward in time, resurrecting images, the young girl realized, with wonder, that the absent are always present, that you don't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-shields/dreaming-her-way-backward-in-time-resurrecting-images-the-young-girl/) [Carol Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-shields/) > [You don't know why, but you know you have to go home. It's an eternal longing. It's Marvell's drop of dew wanting to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-don-t-know-why-but-you-know-you-have-to-go-home-it-s-an-eternal/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“I walk with a dual longing for life and for death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-lee-houghton/i-walk-with-a-dual-longing-for-life-and-for-death/) Melissa Lee-Houghton > [“…The truth: dreaming is lonely the further away the closer to this one time No one has held me for so long Days stitch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angkarn-chanthathip/the-truth-dreaming-is-lonely-the-further-away-the-closer-to-this-one/) Angkarn Chanthathip > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/how-sad-he-thought-that-desire-found-new-objects-but-did-not-abate/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [If we really face our sadness, we find it speaks with the voice of our deepest longing. And if we face it a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/if-we-really-face-our-sadness-we-find-it-speaks-with-the-voice-of-our/) Peter Kingsley > [To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/to-show-a-longing-for-anything-that-one-cannot-have-for-instance-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It (taking photographs) is all about longingwithout longing-no pictures at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-petersen/it-taking-photographs-is-all-about-longingwithout-longing-no-pictures/) [Anders Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-petersen/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) ## More by Kevin Brockmeier > [Worry is a mean-faced dwarf who beats on your heart like a kettledrum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/worry-is-a-mean-faced-dwarf-who-beats-on-your-heart-like-a-kettledrum/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“The incident made her remember the story she had heard about the girl who was raised in a room with no horizontal lines. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-incident-made-her-remember-the-story-she-had-heard-about-the-girl/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“Sometimes I remember the way I used to be," she said as we sat across the table from each other, "and I'm surprised nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/sometimes-i-remember-the-way-i-used-to-be-she-said-as-we-sat-across/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [A successful song comes to sing itself inside the listener. It is cellular and seismic, a wave coalescing in the mind and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/a-successful-song-comes-to-sing-itself-inside-the-listener-it-is/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [What I wanted was to write a memoir that was immersive rather than reflective, to resurrect a long-gone version of my own consciousness. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/what-i-wanted-was-to-write-a-memoir-that-was-immersive-rather-than/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [Sometimes they rose up inside her, these moments of fierce happiness, kindling out of their own substance like a spark igniting a mound of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/sometimes-they-rose-up-inside-her-these-moments-of-fierce-happiness/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [It's like you're born with all these blessings, only you don't realize they're blessings until you lose them. And if you're thick-headed enough, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/it-s-like-you-re-born-with-all-these-blessings-only-you-don-t-realize/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“The street lamps and illuminated signs were all extinguished, and on impulse everybody looked into the sky. The frogs and crickets fell quiet to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-street-lamps-and-illuminated-signs-were-all-extinguished-and-on/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [You have a pet theory, one you have been turning over for years, that life itself is a kind of Rube Goldberg device, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/you-have-a-pet-theory-one-you-have-been-turning-over-for-years-that/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [Who was it who said that every virtue contains its corresponding vice? C.S. Lewis? Virginia Woolf? You forget. But it has always worried you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/who-was-it-who-said-that-every-virtue-contains-its-corresponding-vice/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [The books you love best - those are the immensity of the sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-books-you-love-best-those-are-the-immensity-of-the-sea/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [The living carry us inside them like pearls. We survive only so long as they remember us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-living-carry-us-inside-them-like-pearls-we-survive-only-so-long/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“My son was something of a disciple of flying things. On his bedroom wall were posters of fighter planes and wild birds. A model…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/my-son-was-something-of-a-disciple-of-flying-things-on-his-bedroom/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would collapse, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-every-day-or-the-pieces-would/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“Was that what it meant to be alive - moving from a brightly lit corridor into a darkened room at every step? Sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/was-that-what-it-meant-to-be-alive-moving-from-a-brightly-lit/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) [Explore all 57 Kevin Brockmeier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) ## More Backward quotes > [I hate looking backward, but every once in a while it sneaks up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-lancaster/i-hate-looking-backward-but-every-once-in-a-while-it-sneaks-up-on-you/) [Burt Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-lancaster/) > [“Thus the thoughtless drift backward toward slavery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/thus-the-thoughtless-drift-backward-toward-slavery/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [“Whoever said that the past isn’t dead had it backward. It’s the future that’s already dead, already played out. This whole night has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/whoever-said-that-the-past-isn-t-dead-had-it-backward-it-s-the-future/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/honestly-if-you-were-any-slower-you-d-be-going-backward/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I learn things in a backward way. I learn all those limitations, and slowly my brain soaks them up, and if things go right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-odenkirk/i-learn-things-in-a-backward-way-i-learn-all-those-limitations-and/) [Bob Odenkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-odenkirk/) > [“It took us a while to discover that we do effectively think, but that we more readily narrate backward in order to give ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-took-us-a-while-to-discover-that-we-do-effectively-think-but-that/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The thing I love most about my job is watching people age backward, becoming more lively and energetic as they free themselves from situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/the-thing-i-love-most-about-my-job-is-watching-people-age-backward/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [“Dreaming her way backward in time, resurrecting images, the young girl realized, with wonder, that the absent are always present, that you don't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-shields/dreaming-her-way-backward-in-time-resurrecting-images-the-young-girl/) [Carol Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-shields/) > [“Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we retire and go to work. —CHARLIE GEHRINGER”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first-we-play-then-we-retire-and-go-2/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [This was the Darker Life, where every truth was written backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/this-was-the-darker-life-where-every-truth-was-written-backward/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!I am so weary of toil and of tears,-Toil without recompense, tears all in vain!Take them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chase-allen/backward-flow-backward-o-tide-of-the-years-i-am-so-weary-of-toil-and/) [Elizabeth Chase Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chase-allen/) > [I loved you backward and forward in time. I loved you beyond boundaries of time and space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/i-loved-you-backward-and-forward-in-time-i-loved-you-beyond/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead; that is where your future lies. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-landers/nobody-gets-to-live-life-backward-look-ahead-that-is-where-your/) [Ann Landers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-landers/) > [“Life, too, is like that. You live it forward, but understand it backward." from CUTTING FOR STONE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/life-too-is-like-that-you-live-it-forward-but-understand-it-backward/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) Browse all 340 Backward quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the years. 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