--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But then a foreboding thought cast a…" description: "\"“But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest, blunt and unadorned, and it was simply this: that for most of my life i had been emulating ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg" --- # But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest… ![“But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest, blunt and unadorned, and it was simply this: that for most of my life i had been emulating the thoughts and actions of other people. That so much I had done or said had been a mirror of what was said and done around me. And that if i…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg) > ““But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest, blunt and unadorned, and it was simply this: that for most of my life i had been emulating the thoughts and actions of other people. That so much I had done or said had been a mirror of what was said and done around me. And that if i continued in this manner, whatever glimmers of brilliant life still burned in me would soon go out. When i was very young it had been otherwise, but I could hardly recall that time, it was buried so far below. I was only certain that a period had existed in which i looked at the things of the world without needing to subordinate them to order. I simply saw, with whatever originality I was born with, the whole of things, without needing to give them a human translation. I would never again be able to see like that, I knew that, and yet, lying there, it seemed to me that I'd failed to fulfill the promise of that vision I once had, before i began to slowly learn to look at everything the way others looked, and to copy the things they said and did, and to shape my life after theirs, as if no other range of being had occurred to me.”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## 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 regrets losing original, independent perception by conforming to others, fearing loss of inner brilliance. **In simple terms:** Conforming erodes personal vision and originality. Key Takeaway Cultivate and protect your unique perspective. Themes identity conformity creativity Mood introspective melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - education - mental health Key Concepts self‑actualization social influence Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to reclaim originality? - How does society pressure conformity? A Different Perspective Original insight can be hard to sustain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emulating Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emulating-thoughts-1848634/) [Foreboding Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreboding-thought-1848633/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mirror Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror-said-387443/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Said Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-mirror-1008478/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thoughts and actions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-and-actions/) ## Related quotes > [I never walked out the door and said, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Baldwin brother of them all?"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/i-never-walked-out-the-door-and-said-mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-who-s/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) > [Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. 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The window said see the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/i-found-lifes-answers-in-my-room-the-fan-said-be-cool-the-roof-said/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [& for the first time in her entire life, today she looked in the mirror &said I'm really not all that ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/broken-soul/for-the-first-time-in-her-entire-life-today-she-looked-in-the-mirror/) [Broken Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/broken-soul/) > [I'd eat, eat, eat, not exercise, go to sleep, eat and eat. I looked up in the mirror and said I had to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biz-markie/i-d-eat-eat-eat-not-exercise-go-to-sleep-eat-and-eat-i-looked-up-in/) [Biz Markie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biz-markie/) > [When I Woke up this morning. I ask myself 'What are some of secrets of success in life' I found the answer right there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yass/when-i-woke-up-this-morning-i-ask-myself-what-are-some-of-secrets-of/) [YASS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yass/) > [I turned back to the mirror, seeing that there were no lines on it. It was empty. "What happened to my mirror?" I said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-turned-back-to-the-mirror-seeing-that-there-were-no-lines-on-it-it/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. 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Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [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/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. 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That so much I had done or said had been a mirror of what was said and done around me. And that if i continued in this manner, whatever glimmers of brilliant life still burned in me would soon go out. When i was very young it had been otherwise, but I could hardly recall that time, it was buried so far below. I was only certain that a period had existed in which i looked at the things of the world without needing to subordinate them to order. I simply saw, with whatever originality I was born with, the whole of things, without needing to give them a human translation. I would never again be able to see like that, I knew that, and yet, lying there, it seemed to me that I'd failed to fulfill the promise of that vision I once had, before i began to slowly learn to look at everything the way others looked, and to copy the things they said and did, and to shape my life after theirs, as if no other range of being had occurred to me.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicole Krauss" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-shadow-over-the-rest-blunt-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-shadow-over-the-rest-blunt-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1d/nicole-krauss-920_life_but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-sha_2589655.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest, blunt and unadorned, and it was simply this: that…” — Nicole Krauss", "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": "Nicole Krauss", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But then a foreboding thought cast...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-shadow-over-the-rest-blunt-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-shadow-over-the-rest-blunt-and/#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 } } ] } ```