--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Looking backward through life, one can…" description: "\"“Looking backward through life, one can see the points of change like great locks through which one glides on a flood wave, so smoothly, on such irresi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/753/mary-o-hara-71667_change_looking-backward-through-life-one-can-se_2551442.jpg" --- # Looking backward through life, one can see the points of… ![“Looking backward through life, one can see the points of change like great locks through which one glides on a flood wave, so smoothly, on such irresistible power that one is hardly aware of any movement. But life is never the same again. One has gone through the lock and lives on a new level.” quote by Mary O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/753/mary-o-hara-71667_change_looking-backward-through-life-one-can-se_2551442.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/753/mary-o-hara-71667_change_looking-backward-through-life-one-can-se_2551442.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/753/mary-o-hara-71667_change_looking-backward-through-life-one-can-se_2551442.jpg) > ““Looking backward through life, one can see the points of change like great locks through which one glides on a flood wave, so smoothly, on such irresistible power that one is hardly aware of any movement. But life is never the same again. One has gone through the lock and lives on a new level.”” [Mary O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-hara/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s pivotal moments feel effortless yet irrevocably shift our direction, leaving us on a different plane of existence. **In simple terms:** Major changes happen smoothly but permanently alter life. Key Takeaway Embrace change and move forward. Themes change growth transformation inevitability awareness Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career transition - relationship shifts - personal breakthroughs - creative projects Key Concepts life cycles personal evolution momentum Questions to Reflect On - What unnoticed changes have reshaped your life? - How can you become more aware of life’s “locks”? A Different Perspective Change may be subtle and hard to notice until after it occurs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backward Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backward-life-1524466/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Glides Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glides-flood-1524465/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lives New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-new-1524467/) [Locks Glides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locks-glides-1524464/) [Looking Backward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-backward-388057/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) ## Related quotes > [“A book lives a new life every time it is read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/a-book-lives-a-new-life-every-time-it-is-read/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [My mom lives in New York still in the home that I grew up in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-daddario/my-mom-lives-in-new-york-still-in-the-home-that-i-grew-up-in/) [Alexandra Daddario](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-daddario/) > [I will not walk backward in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-not-walk-backward-in-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-joker/an-arrow-can-only-be-shot-by-pulling-it-backward-so-when-life-is/) [The Joker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-joker/) > [An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, just imagine that its going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orebela-gbenga/an-arrow-can-only-be-shot-by-pulling-it-backward-when-life-is/) [Orebela Gbenga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orebela-gbenga/) > [You can't go backward in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/you-can-t-go-backward-in-life/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [There is no difference in quality between a life lived forward and a life lived backwards, she thinks. She had come to love this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/there-is-no-difference-in-quality-between-a-life-lived-forward-and-a/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“You can't go forward if you're looking backward, Mac, Daddy always said. You run into walls that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/you-can-t-go-forward-if-you-re-looking-backward-mac-daddy-always-said/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [I try to avoid looking forward or looking backward, and try to keep looking upward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-try-to-avoid-looking-forward-or-looking-backward-and-try-to-keep/) [Charlotte Brönte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Traditionally art is to create and not to revive. To revive: leave that to the historians, who are looking backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/traditionally-art-is-to-create-and-not-to-revive-to-revive-leave-that/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [In order to move on from something of our past we have to change our way of thinking and our looking backward attitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/in-order-to-move-on-from-something-of-our-past-we-have-to-change-our/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/you-can-t-connect-the-dots-looking-forward-you-can-only-connect-them/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“We live our lives in forward motion, but only understand them when looking backward. I therefore challenge you to keep a six- to twelve-month…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-neal/we-live-our-lives-in-forward-motion-but-only-understand-them-when/) [Mary C. Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-neal/) > [You can't go forward if you're looking backward. You run into walls that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/you-can-t-go-forward-if-you-re-looking-backward-you-run-into-walls/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [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/) ## More by Mary O'Hara > [“I'll go on writing till the end of my days. I have been writing too long to stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-hara/i-ll-go-on-writing-till-the-end-of-my-days-i-have-been-writing-too/) [Mary O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-hara/) > [“She wondered if Howard, if Ken, would ever know love as she knew it. How would it come to them? It comes, she thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-hara/she-wondered-if-howard-if-ken-would-ever-know-love-as-she-knew-it-how/) [Mary O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-hara/) > [“Sooner or later every writer evolves his own definition of a story. Mine is: A reflection of life plus beginning and end (life seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-o-hara/sooner-or-later-every-writer-evolves-his-own-definition-of-a-story/) [Mary O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-hara/) [Explore all 4 Mary O'Hara quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-o-hara/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Looking backward through life, one can see the points of change like great locks through which one glides on a flood wave, so smoothly, on such irresistible power that one is hardly aware of any movement. 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