--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am beginning to be sorry that I ever…" description: "\"“I am beginning to be sorry that I ever undertook to write this book. Not that it bores me; I have nothing else to do; indeed, it is a welcome distract..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/machado-de-assis-3758_books_i-am-beginning-to-be-sorry-that-i-ever-u_1889709.jpg" --- # I am beginning to be sorry that I ever undertook to write… ![“I am beginning to be sorry that I ever undertook to write this book. Not that it bores me; I have nothing else to do; indeed, it is a welcome distraction from eternity. But the book is tedious, it smells of the tomb, it has a rigor mortis about it; a serious fault, and yet a relatively small one…” quote by Machado de Assis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/machado-de-assis-3758_books_i-am-beginning-to-be-sorry-that-i-ever-u_1889709.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/machado-de-assis-3758_books_i-am-beginning-to-be-sorry-that-i-ever-u_1889709.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/machado-de-assis-3758_books_i-am-beginning-to-be-sorry-that-i-ever-u_1889709.jpg) > ““I am beginning to be sorry that I ever undertook to write this book. Not that it bores me; I have nothing else to do; indeed, it is a welcome distraction from eternity. But the book is tedious, it smells of the tomb, it has a rigor mortis about it; a serious fault, and yet a relatively small one, for the great defect of this book is you, reader. You want to live fast, to get to the end, and the book ambles along slowly; you like straight, solid narrative and a smooth style, but this book and my style are like a pair of drunks; they stagger to the right and to the left, they start and they stop, they mutter, they roar, they guffaw, they threaten the sky, they slip and fall... And fall! Unhappy leaves of my cypress tree, you had to fall, like everything else that is lovely and beautiful; if I had eyes, I would shed a tear of remembrance for you. And this is the great advantage in being dead, that if you have no mouth with which to laugh, neither have you eyes with which to cry.”” [Machado de Assis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/machado-de-assis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author laments his own work as tedious, blaming the reader’s desire for swift, smooth narrative while acknowledging life’s inevitable decay and the silence of death. **In simple terms:** The book is slow and messy; the reader wants speed and clarity. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection and slow pacing as part of artistic truth. Themes mortality art reader expectations imperfection existentialism Mood melancholic reflective ironic Type literary philosophical self‑referential When to use this quote - creative writing - literary analysis - teaching narrative structure - personal reflection - grief counseling Key Concepts nihilism literary self‑critique tempo style death Questions to Reflect On - How does your patience shape your appreciation of art? - What does the author’s view of death reveal about his worldview? A Different Perspective The critique ignores that slow, flawed works can foster deep contemplation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambles Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambles-slowly-2720568/) [Book Bores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-bores-810959/) [Book Tedious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-tedious-2720567/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [End Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-book/) [Eternity Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity-book-2720566/) [Live fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-fast/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [You will want a book which contains not man's thoughts, but God's - not a book that may amuse you, but a book that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-selden/you-will-want-a-book-which-contains-not-man-s-thoughts-but-god-s-not/) [John Selden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-selden/) > [Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-the-book-which-bores-you-when-you-are-twenty-or-thirty-2/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-the-book-which-bores-you-when-you-are-twenty-or-thirty/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [A book that bores me to tears is a book that neglects character building and quality of prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/a-book-that-bores-me-to-tears-is-a-book-that-neglects-character/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [For me the end of a book is just as exciting as it is for a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/for-me-the-end-of-a-book-is-just-as-exciting-as-it-is-for-a-reader/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [“The best ending ever, for a science fiction book - or any novel, now that I think about it - was in Rendezvous With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gaver/the-best-ending-ever-for-a-science-fiction-book-or-any-novel-now-that/) [John Gaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gaver/) > [I am rather saddened at the end of a book. 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You want to live fast, to get to the end, and the book ambles along slowly; you like straight, solid narrative and a smooth style, but this book and my style are like a pair of drunks; they stagger to the right and to the left, they start and they stop, they mutter, they roar, they guffaw, they threaten the sky, they slip and fall... And fall! Unhappy leaves of my cypress tree, you had to fall, like everything else that is lovely and beautiful; if I had eyes, I would shed a tear of remembrance for you. 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