--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With great difficulty advancing by…" description: "\"With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year, I carve a road out of the rock. For millenniums my teeth have wasted and my nails broken to g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg" --- # With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year… ![“With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year, I carve a road out of the rock. For millenniums my teeth have wasted and my nails broken to get there, to the other side, to the light and the open air. And now that my hands bleed and my teeth tremble, unsure in a cavity cracked by thirst…” quote by Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg) > “With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year, I carve a road out of the rock. For millenniums my teeth have wasted and my nails broken to get there, to the other side, to the light and the open air. And now that my hands bleed and my teeth tremble, unsure in a cavity cracked by thirst and dust, I pause and contemplate my work. I have spent the second part of my life breaking the stones, drilling the walls, smashing the doors, removing the obstacles I placed between the light and myself in the first part of my life.” [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on a lifelong struggle to overcome self‑imposed barriers, using physical labor as a metaphor for personal growth and enlightenment. **In simple terms:** Hard work removes inner obstacles to reach freedom. Key Takeaway Persist despite pain; keep breaking barriers. Themes perseverance self‑discovery freedom Mood determined reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career transition - personal healing - creative projects - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism metaphor resilience Questions to Reflect On - What inner walls are you still building? - How can you balance effort with rest? A Different Perspective Progress can be slow and physically draining, risking burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancing/) [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Contemplate Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplate-work-4256443/) [Contemplating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplating/) [Cracked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cracked/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [Doors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doors/) [Drilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drilling/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Nails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nails/) [Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacles/) [Pauses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pauses/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Smashing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smashing/) [Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stones/) [Teeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth/) [Teeth Tremble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth-tremble-4256446/) [Teeth Wasted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth-wasted-4256445/) [Thirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirst/) [Unsure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unsure/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Work Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-spent-758286/) [Year Carve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/year-carve-4256444/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [You have to train yourself, think, contemplate, and work on your craft every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neeraj-kabi/you-have-to-train-yourself-think-contemplate-and-work-on-your-craft/) [Neeraj Kabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neeraj-kabi/) > [Please let me know if that work I spent sleepless nights on was good enough for you to take credit for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/please-let-me-know-if-that-work-i-spent-sleepless-nights-on-was-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nights without work I spent with whisky and books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/nights-without-work-i-spent-with-whisky-and-books/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“But there was always work to be done. We spent our lives making livings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/but-there-was-always-work-to-be-done-we-spent-our-lives-making-livings/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I learned how to play guitar by playing along to Jane's Addiction records and Smashing Pumpkins records, things you can totally hear if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chino-moreno/i-learned-how-to-play-guitar-by-playing-along-to-jane-s-addiction/) [Chino Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chino-moreno/) > [Never angrily rant into your web cam. While smashing a keyboard in half over a game of 'World of Warcraft' may seem totally justified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-william-johnson/never-angrily-rant-into-your-web-cam-while-smashing-a-keyboard-in/) [Ray William Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-william-johnson/) > [When I lived in New York, there wasn't as much TV or film around. I got asked to do a couple of indie films,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-iha/when-i-lived-in-new-york-there-wasn-t-as-much-tv-or-film-around-i-got/) [James Iha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-iha/) > [ With almost no time to decide, \[your loved ones\] gave the entire country an incalculable gift. They saved the Capitol from attack. They saved… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/with-almost-no-time-to-decide-your-loved-ones-gave-the-entire-country/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [In some ways, Trump is just going to continue the trend: by continuing the norm-smashing behaviour that Republicans used in opposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/in-some-ways-trump-is-just-going-to-continue-the-trend-by-continuing/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [I loved Japan. I used to read a lot about it when I was a child. And I always wanted to go. And it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-connolly/i-loved-japan-i-used-to-read-a-lot-about-it-when-i-was-a-child-and-i/) [Billy Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-connolly/) > [I was flying right toward him (the pig) at the speed of demigod-smashing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-was-flying-right-toward-him-the-pig-at-the-speed-of-demigod-smashing/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [I remember my parents yelling at each other and at me from an early age, and I remember a lot of things smashing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-diamond/i-remember-my-parents-yelling-at-each-other-and-at-me-from-an-early/) [Jason Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-diamond/) > [I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/i-never-wanted-to-leave-the-smashing-pumpkins-that-was-never-the-plan/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [There were so many Pittsburgh poets in my hallway that if, at that instant, a meteorite had come smashing through my roof, there would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/there-were-so-many-pittsburgh-poets-in-my-hallway-that-if-at-that/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) ## More by Octavio Paz > [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/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Changes are inseparable from democracy. To defend democracy is to defend the possibility of change; in turn, changes alone can strengthen democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/changes-are-inseparable-from-democracy-to-defend-democracy-is-to/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Grace is gratuitous; it is a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/grace-is-gratuitous-it-is-a-gift/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Death is the mother of forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/death-is-the-mother-of-forms/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Without democracy freedom is a chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/without-democracy-freedom-is-a-chimera/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“I went to the little window and inhaled the country air. One could hear the breathing of the night, feminine, enormous. ("The Blue Bouquet")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-went-to-the-little-window-and-inhaled-the-country-air-one-could/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/a-glass-pitcher-a-wicker-basket-a-tunic-of-coarse-cloth-their-beauty/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Between going and staying the day wavers, in love with its own transparency. The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/between-going-and-staying-the-day-wavers-in-love-with-its-own/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Two bodies face to face Are at times two waves And the night is an ocean. Two bodies face to face Are sometimes two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/two-bodies-face-to-face-are-at-times-two-waves-and-the-night-is-an/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/writers-you-know-are-the-beggars-of-western-society/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/solitude-is-the-profoundest-fact-of-the-human-condition/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“...you are you and your body of steam, you and your face of night, you and your hair, unhurried lightning, you cross the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/you-are-you-and-your-body-of-steam-you-and-your-face-of-night-you-and/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) [Explore all 150 Octavio Paz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More Advancing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The problem with merely writing so that you can be understood is that the wrong people, in advancing their agendas, are only too ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/the-problem-with-merely-writing-so-that-you-can-be-understood-is-that/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [I needed to save every penny…I needed to be strong, and needed to find some way to secure a future. That’s why I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-ka-shing/i-needed-to-save-every-penny-i-needed-to-be-strong-and-needed-to-find/) [Li Ka-shing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-ka-shing/) > [The corporation is not an independent "person" with its own rights, needs, and desires that regulators must respect. It is a state created tool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-bakan/the-corporation-is-not-an-independent-person-with-its-own-rights/) [Joel Bakan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-bakan/) > [I believe that the manned space program can engage the public by advancing the space frontier. Every next mission takes you farther out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-believe-that-the-manned-space-program-can-engage-the-public-by/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harington/five-qualities-there-are-wine-s-praise-advancing-strong-beautiful/) [John Harington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harington/) > [Ladies: Anne Hathaway is a feminist and she has amazing teeth. Let's save our bad attitudes for the ones who aren't advancing the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/ladies-anne-hathaway-is-a-feminist-and-she-has-amazing-teeth-let-s/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [Increasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization. We must put question marks along many of our inherited legal dogmas, since they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/increasingly-constructive-doubt-is-the-sign-of-advancing-civilization/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [The real debate is we've had an activist court, and the American people don't want an activist court. And the real fear from those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-coburn/the-real-debate-is-we-ve-had-an-activist-court-and-the-american/) [Tom Coburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-coburn/) > [When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/when-one-has-made-a-decision-to-kill-a-person-even-if-it-will-be-very/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [The universe is deathless; Is deathless because, having no finite self, it stays infinite. A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-universe-is-deathless-is-deathless-because-having-no-finite-self/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I'm convinced after spending three weeks in China and Tibet, unless the United States gets its act together, our grandchildren will be living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-kondracke/i-m-convinced-after-spending-three-weeks-in-china-and-tibet-unless/) [Mort Kondracke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-kondracke/) [Browse all 266 Advancing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year, I carve a road out of the rock. For millenniums my teeth have wasted and my nails broken to get there, to the other side, to the light and the open air. And now that my hands bleed and my teeth tremble, unsure in a cavity cracked by thirst and dust, I pause and contemplate my work. I have spent the second part of my life breaking the stones, drilling the walls, smashing the doors, removing the obstacles I placed between the light and myself in the first part of my life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Octavio Paz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-millimeters-each-year-i-carve-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advancing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-millimeters-each-year-i-carve-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e19/octavio-paz-1790_advancing_with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-milli_499506.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“With great difficulty advancing by millimeters each year, I carve a road out of the rock. For millenniums my…” — Octavio Paz", "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": "Octavio Paz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "With great difficulty advancing by millimeters...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-millimeters-each-year-i-carve-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/with-great-difficulty-advancing-by-millimeters-each-year-i-carve-a/#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 } } ] } ```