---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But who shall tell how many ages it…"
description: "\"“But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?”\" — Mark Twain"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png"
---

#  But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?

![“But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png)

> ““But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?””

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The prisoner wonders how many ages have passed, highlighting the distortion of time in confinement.

**In simple terms:** Imprisonment skews perception of time.

Key Takeaway

Recognize how isolation alters your sense of duration.

Themes

time perception solitude

Mood

reflective somber

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- prison
- long‑term projects
- isolated work
- mental health

Key Concepts

psychology subjective experience

Questions to Reflect On

- How does isolation affect your sense of time?
- What anchors can restore objective time perception?

A Different Perspective

Subjective time can be misleading without external cues.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/)

## Related quotes

> [“I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement, it takes place every day. —Albert Camus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-d-price/i-shall-tell-you-a-great-secret-my-friend-do-not-wait-for-the-last/)

[Steven D. Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-d-price/)

> [“Shall I tell you a bedtime story?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-king/shall-i-tell-you-a-bedtime-story/)

[Steven King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-king/)

> [Love your enemies; for they shall tell you all your faults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-your-enemies-for-they-shall-tell-you-all-your-faults/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement, it takes place every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-shall-tell-you-a-great-secret-my-friend-do-not-wait-for-the-last-2/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [“I wasn’t sure what to say. Shall I tell her you’re out?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-wasn-t-sure-what-to-say-shall-i-tell-her-you-re-out/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/which-of-all-my-important-nothings-shall-i-tell-you-first/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [When I have one foot in the grave, I will tell the whole truth about women. I shall tell it, jump into my coffin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/when-i-have-one-foot-in-the-grave-i-will-tell-the-whole-truth-about/)

[Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/)

> [“Let me tell you a secret, a tremendous and wonderful secret. Let me share with you something so valuable that any schoolboy would gladly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-grantly/let-me-tell-you-a-secret-a-tremendous-and-wonderful-secret-let-me/)

Maxwell Grantly

> [When asked, 'Shall I tell my mother I'm gay?', I reply, 'Never tell your mother anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/when-asked-shall-i-tell-my-mother-i-m-gay-i-reply-never-tell-your/)

[Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/)

> [Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-austin/show-me-your-garden-and-i-shall-tell-you-what-you-are/)

[Alfred Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-austin/)

> [Tell me what you yearn for and I shall tell you who you are. We are what we reach for, the idealized image that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/tell-me-what-you-yearn-for-and-i-shall-tell-you-who-you-are-we-are/)

[James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/)

> [“I shall tell you a truth . . . your lips taste of sweet ripened berries. I should be so forward as to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nely-cab/i-shall-tell-you-a-truth-your-lips-taste-of-sweet-ripened-berries-i/)

[Nely Cab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nely-cab/)

> [How shall I ever tell Aunt Shaw?' she whispered, after some time of delicious silence. 'Let me speak to her.' 'Oh, no! I owe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/how-shall-i-ever-tell-aunt-shaw-she-whispered-after-some-time-of/)

[Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/)

> [Shall I tell you what you have that other men don't?… It's the courage of your own tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/shall-i-tell-you-what-you-have-that-other-men-don-t-it-s-the-courage/)

[D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/)

> [I shall not tell your husband and you shall not tell my wife." Tell them what?" That you and I were outwitted by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donita-k-paul/i-shall-not-tell-your-husband-and-you-shall-not-tell-my-wife-tell/)

[Donita K. Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donita-k-paul/)

## More by Mark Twain

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

[Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## More Ages quotes

> [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [People do stop me a lot, and what is really very rewarding is that the ages of the people who stop me vary so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-mcewan/people-do-stop-me-a-lot-and-what-is-really-very-rewarding-is-that-the/)

[Geraldine McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-mcewan/)

> [I have a very low tolerance for boredom and often think I would have missed out on books entirely if Id grown up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/i-have-a-very-low-tolerance-for-boredom-and-often-think-i-would-have/)

[Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/)

> [It is pain that ages us, not years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-prudden/it-is-pain-that-ages-us-not-years/)

Bonnie Prudden

> [We owe America something because they turned us into a touring band. But at least we feel confident about appearing in Britain again now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-marriott/we-owe-america-something-because-they-turned-us-into-a-touring-band/)

Steve Marriott

> [It's amazing when I do a gig how many people of different ages come up to me afterwards and chat to me about songs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-henderson/it-s-amazing-when-i-do-a-gig-how-many-people-of-different-ages-come/)

[Ella Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-henderson/)

> [There were three terrible ages of childhood - zero to 10, 10 to 20, and 20 to 30.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/there-were-three-terrible-ages-of-childhood-zero-to-10-10-to-20-and/)

[Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/)

> [Nothing ages like laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/nothing-ages-like-laziness/)

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/)

> [Music has no limits, borders or ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thalia/music-has-no-limits-borders-or-ages/)

[Thalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thalia/)

> [Ripen your mind to the glorious history of the ages and revel in your mastery as today's youth shall look upon you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximillian-degenerez/ripen-your-mind-to-the-glorious-history-of-the-ages-and-revel-in-your/)

[Maximillian Degenerez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximillian-degenerez/)

> [I think that as I had children, I have five sons, and they got into video games and were the prime ages through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/i-think-that-as-i-had-children-i-have-five-sons-and-they-got-into/)

[John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/)

> [Get off the stages, this is my show, my performance, for the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/get-off-the-stages-this-is-my-show-my-performance-for-the-ages/)

[Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/)

> [Chemotherapy is just medieval. It's such a blunt instrument. We're going to look back on it like we do the dark ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-topol/chemotherapy-is-just-medieval-it-s-such-a-blunt-instrument-we-re/)

[Eric Topol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-topol/)

> [The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-needham/the-seven-ages-of-man-spills-drills-thrills-bills-ills-pills-and-wills/)

[Richard J. Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-needham/)

> [A nation may be born in a day, but the great truths which make for the glory and uplift of the race only through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/a-nation-may-be-born-in-a-day-but-the-great-truths-which-make-for-the/)

[David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/)

Browse all 263 Ages quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mark Twain"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seemed-to-this-prisoner/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ages"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seemed-to-this-prisoner/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/mark-twain-22_ages_but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seem_2279307.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“But who shall tell how many ages it seemed to this prisoner?” — Mark Twain",
                "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": "Mark Twain",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“But who shall tell how many...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seemed-to-this-prisoner/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-who-shall-tell-how-many-ages-it-seemed-to-this-prisoner/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
