--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What if what has been said one time not…" description: "\"What if what has been said one time not only does not cease to be said but always recommences, and not only recommences but also imposes upon us the id..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png" --- # What if what has been said one time not only does not… ![“What if what has been said one time not only does not cease to be said but always recommences, and not only recommences but also imposes upon us the idea that nothing has ever truly begun, having from the beginning begun by beginning again.” quote by Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png) > “What if what has been said one time not only does not cease to be said but always recommences, and not only recommences but also imposes upon us the idea that nothing has ever truly begun, having from the beginning begun by beginning again.” [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that every utterance is part of an endless cycle, implying that beginnings are merely repetitions of prior starts **In simple terms:** Every statement repeats, making true beginnings impossible Key Takeaway Recognize patterns of repetition in thought Themes philosophy time existentialism Mood reflective thought‑provoking Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing - philosophical discourse - personal reflection Key Concepts eternity recurrence Questions to Reflect On - What does “beginning again” mean for progress? - Can true novelty exist? A Different Perspective Repeated ideas can become stagnant ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begin again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-again/) [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“The beginning seems bitter but the end is sweeter. However, you can’t get through to the end without having a beginning. You must begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-beginning-seems-bitter-but-the-end-is-sweeter-however-you-can-t/) [Israelmore ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“The beginning seems bitter to you, but the end is sweeter for you. However, you can’t get through to the end without having a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-beginning-seems-bitter-to-you-but-the-end-is-sweeter-for-you/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“And this story, having no beginning, will have no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/and-this-story-having-no-beginning-will-have-no-end/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [I think one is naturally impressed by anything having a beginning a middle and an ending when one is beginning writing and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-think-one-is-naturally-impressed-by-anything-having-a-beginning-a/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [A great idea should always be left to steep like loose tea leaves in a teapot for a while to make sure that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/a-great-idea-should-always-be-left-to-steep-like-loose-tea-leaves-in/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [Brilliant ideas are gifts from God, sent to you in answer to your prayers . . . and all you need to do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/brilliant-ideas-are-gifts-from-god-sent-to-you-in-answer-to-your/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [If your idea is truly innovative, you're going to hear from the naysayers. After all, if it really were such a good idea, someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sallie-krawcheck/if-your-idea-is-truly-innovative-you-re-going-to-hear-from-the/) [Sallie Krawcheck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sallie-krawcheck/) > [Beauty is the idea of who you truly are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-carrera/beauty-is-the-idea-of-who-you-truly-are/) [Carmen Carrera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-carrera/) > [“The idea of living there, of not having to go back ever again to asphalt and shopping malls and modular furniture; of living there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-idea-of-living-there-of-not-having-to-go-back-ever-again-to/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/my-day-s-work-will-begin-again-the-next-morning-the-tomb-is-not-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [If once again Germany destabilizes Europe, then Germany will be not be divided again, but wiped off the map. East and West have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/if-once-again-germany-destabilizes-europe-then-germany-will-be-not-be/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [Sometimes I find the best way of getting from one place to another is simply to erase everything and begin again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/sometimes-i-find-the-best-way-of-getting-from-one-place-to-another-is/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time-i-thought-about-maman-i-felt-as-if/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The thing about acting is even if you get technically more skilled at what you do, every time you begin a film or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/the-thing-about-acting-is-even-if-you-get-technically-more-skilled-at/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [Begin: To have commenced is half the deed. Half yet remains; Begin again on this and thou wilt finish all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/begin-to-have-commenced-is-half-the-deed-half-yet-remains-begin-again/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) ## More by Maurice Blanchot > [“How not to search that space where, for a time span lasting from dusk to dawn, two beings have no other reason to exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/how-not-to-search-that-space-where-for-a-time-span-lasting-from-dusk/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [But my silence is real. If I hid it from you, you would find it again a little farther on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-my-silence-is-real-if-i-hid-it-from-you-you-would-find-it-again-a/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“As the German expression has it, the last judgement is the youngest day, and it is a day surpassing all days. Not that judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/as-the-german-expression-has-it-the-last-judgement-is-the-youngest/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“Writing is not destined to leave traces, but to erase, by traces, all traces, to disappear in the fragmentary space of writing more definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/writing-is-not-destined-to-leave-traces-but-to-erase-by-traces-all/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“If the sculptor uses stone and if the road builder also uses stone, the first uses it in a way that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-the-sculptor-uses-stone-and-if-the-road-builder-also-uses-stone/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer who writes, ''I am alone''... can be considered rather comical. It is comical for a man to recognize his solitude by addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-who-writes-i-am-alone-can-be-considered-rather-comical-it-is/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“I went in; I closed the door. I sat down on the bed. Blackest space extended before me. I was not in this blackness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/i-went-in-i-closed-the-door-i-sat-down-on-the-bed-blackest-space/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“But this is the rule, and there is no way to free oneself of it: as soon as the thought has arisen, it must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/but-this-is-the-rule-and-there-is-no-way-to-free-oneself-of-it-as/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [The Journal is not essentially a confession, a story about oneself. It is a Memorial. What does the writer have to remember? Himself, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-journal-is-not-essentially-a-confession-a-story-about-oneself-it/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [We can never put enough distance between ourselves and what we love. To think that God is, is still to think of him as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/we-can-never-put-enough-distance-between-ourselves-and-what-we-love/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [A writer never reads his work. For him, it is the unreadable, a secret, and he cannot remain face to face with it. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/a-writer-never-reads-his-work-for-him-it-is-the-unreadable-a-secret/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [Lovers of painting and lovers of music are people who openly display their preference like a delectable ailment that isolates them and makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/lovers-of-painting-and-lovers-of-music-are-people-who-openly-display/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“When Kafka allows a friend to understand that he writes because otherwise he would go mad, he knows that writing is madness already, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/when-kafka-allows-a-friend-to-understand-that-he-writes-because/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [“The anonymous puts the name in place, leaves it empty, as if the name were there only to let itself be passed through because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-anonymous-puts-the-name-in-place-leaves-it-empty-as-if-the-name/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [If nothing were substituted for everything, it would still be too much and too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/if-nothing-were-substituted-for-everything-it-would-still-be-too-much/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) [Explore all 42 Maurice Blanchot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) ## More Begin again quotes > [Begin: To have commenced is half the deed. Half yet remains; Begin again on this and thou wilt finish all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/begin-to-have-commenced-is-half-the-deed-half-yet-remains-begin-again/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) > [The thing about acting is even if you get technically more skilled at what you do, every time you begin a film or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/the-thing-about-acting-is-even-if-you-get-technically-more-skilled-at/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time-i-thought-about-maman-i-felt-as-if/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Sometimes I find the best way of getting from one place to another is simply to erase everything and begin again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/sometimes-i-find-the-best-way-of-getting-from-one-place-to-another-is/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [If once again Germany destabilizes Europe, then Germany will be not be divided again, but wiped off the map. East and West have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/if-once-again-germany-destabilizes-europe-then-germany-will-be-not-be/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/my-day-s-work-will-begin-again-the-next-morning-the-tomb-is-not-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I close my eyes. An image flashes—emerging from the van with Julian after our escape from New York City; believing, in that moment, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-close-my-eyes-an-image-flashes-emerging-from-the-van-with-julian/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Sometimes we reach a dead end. In that case, start again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felisa-tan/sometimes-we-reach-a-dead-end-in-that-case-start-again/) [Felisa Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felisa-tan/) > [I am from time to time congratulating myself on my general want of success as a lecturer; apparent want of success, but is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-from-time-to-time-congratulating-myself-on-my-general-want-of/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Living is the purpose of life, And meaning can be found therein. I finds thou. Thou becomes it. And it begins again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/living-is-the-purpose-of-life-and-meaning-can-be-found-therein-i/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [One of the characteristics of North American culture is that you can always start again. You can always move forward, cross a border of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/one-of-the-characteristics-of-north-american-culture-is-that-you-can/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Since the 1960s, exile for Haitians is a condition that ends only to begin again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-smartt-bell/since-the-1960s-exile-for-haitians-is-a-condition-that-ends-only-to/) [Madison Smartt Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-smartt-bell/) > [The hunger and thirst for knowledge, the keen delight in the chase, the good humored willingness to admit that the scent was false, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-william-maitland/the-hunger-and-thirst-for-knowledge-the-keen-delight-in-the-chase-the/) Frederic William Maitland > [Everyone's mind wanders, without doubt, and we always have to start over. Everyone resists or dislikes the thought of or is too tired to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/everyone-s-mind-wanders-without-doubt-and-we-always-have-to-start/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [Reconcile the loss of the painting - no matter how many times it may happen - with the joy of beginning again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-l-goldberg/reconcile-the-loss-of-the-painting-no-matter-how-many-times-it-may/) [Joshua L. Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-l-goldberg/) [Browse all 127 Begin again quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-again/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What if what has been said one time not only does not cease to be said but always recommences, and not only recommences but also imposes upon us the idea that nothing has ever truly begun, having from the beginning begun by beginning again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maurice Blanchot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not-only-does-not-cease-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Begin again" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not-only-does-not-cease-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/maurice-blanchot-12571_begin-again_what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not_1436483.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What if what has been said one time not only does not cease to be said but always recommences, and not only…” — Maurice Blanchot", "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": "Maurice Blanchot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What if what has been said...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not-only-does-not-cease-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/what-if-what-has-been-said-one-time-not-only-does-not-cease-to-be/#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 } } ] } ```