--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd hit thirty, I'd sort of failed as a…" description: "\"I'd hit thirty, I'd sort of failed as a musician, I'd failed as an artist I felt at the time.\" — Paul Kaye" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/paul-kaye-32692_art_i-d-hit-thirty-i-d-sort-of-failed-as-a-m_48921.jpg" --- # I'd hit thirty, I'd sort of failed as a musician, I'd… ![“I'd hit thirty, I'd sort of failed as a musician, I'd failed as an artist I felt at the time.” quote by Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/paul-kaye-32692_art_i-d-hit-thirty-i-d-sort-of-failed-as-a-m_48921.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/paul-kaye-32692_art_i-d-hit-thirty-i-d-sort-of-failed-as-a-m_48921.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eee/paul-kaye-32692_art_i-d-hit-thirty-i-d-sort-of-failed-as-a-m_48921.jpg) > “I'd hit thirty, I'd sort of failed as a musician, I'd failed as an artist I felt at the time.” [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) ## 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 personal disappointment at reaching thirty, feeling he hadn't succeeded in creative pursuits. **In simple terms:** Self‑assessment of unmet artistic goals. Key Takeaway Mid‑life creative frustration. Themes self‑reflection failure creative identity age regret Mood melancholy contemplative Type personal anecdote reflective statement When to use this quote - career crossroads - mid‑life crisis - creative block - self‑evaluation Key Concepts career artistic ambition personal expectations Practical Applications - motivational coaching - career counseling Questions to Reflect On - What defines success for you? - How can you reframe perceived failure? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Failed Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failed-artist-703552/) [Failed Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failed-musician-703551/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Hit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hit/) [Hit Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hit-thirty-703556/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Musician Failed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician-failed-703554/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“When you hit thirty-five or forty, you know on one level that you are no longer the physical specimen you once were.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/when-you-hit-thirty-five-or-forty-you-know-on-one-level-that-you-are/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [No matter how successful I may get, I'll always be a failed musician, sitting at a concert double-fisting overpriced twenty-ounce beers, wishing it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-kreischer/no-matter-how-successful-i-may-get-i-ll-always-be-a-failed-musician/) [Bert Kreischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-kreischer/) > [I had to live on $17,000 a year until I was 33, because I was a failed artist until I was 29, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-duplass/i-had-to-live-on-17-000-a-year-until-i-was-33-because-i-was-a-failed/) [Jay Duplass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-duplass/) > [“Our bloodlust to destroy as much of Nature as possible will be exposed for what it is: the jealous rage of a failed artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petronius-jablonski/our-bloodlust-to-destroy-as-much-of-nature-as-possible-will-be/) [Petronius Jablonski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petronius-jablonski/) > [I'm a failed musician rather than a successful writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-m-a-failed-musician-rather-than-a-successful-writer/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I'm a semi-failed writer, but I'm a capital-F Failed musician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-mohr/i-m-a-semi-failed-writer-but-i-m-a-capital-f-failed-musician/) [Joshua Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-mohr/) > [There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. 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People around me have changed in their attitude toward me, but I haven't changed. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-penny/i-m-not-changing-because-i-m-part-of-a-hit-people-around-me-have/) [Joe Penny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-penny/) > [It's not until after you've been hit by a car and landed all right that the fear kicks in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-bell/it-s-not-until-after-you-ve-been-hit-by-a-car-and-landed-all-right/) [Zoe Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-bell/) > [Life is going to hit you some line drives, and sometimes you'll have to think fast. However, it's better to think first than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/life-is-going-to-hit-you-some-line-drives-and-sometimes-you-ll-have/) [John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/) > [I thought I would be an overnight star when I had a hit record in Brazil with my first album - but things didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-de-burgh/i-thought-i-would-be-an-overnight-star-when-i-had-a-hit-record-in/) [Chris de Burgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-de-burgh/) ## More by Paul Kaye > [I don't know what my ambitions are until they turn up really but I'd love to work with Shane Meadows, I know that much!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-don-t-know-what-my-ambitions-are-until-they-turn-up-really-but-i-d/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [Even when I go to the gym I sit in the steam room for an hour, come back really red-faced and pretend I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/even-when-i-go-to-the-gym-i-sit-in-the-steam-room-for-an-hour-come/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [Looking back, it amuses me that people imagined that I was a very brash, fearless, redheaded young revolutionary when I was in fact a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/looking-back-it-amuses-me-that-people-imagined-that-i-was-a-very/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [When I was younger I looked a bit like Matthew Modine out of 'Birdy'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/when-i-was-younger-i-looked-a-bit-like-matthew-modine-out-of-birdy/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I'm incredibly dull and I very rarely leave the house. I don't go out, I don't drink, I'm really boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-m-incredibly-dull-and-i-very-rarely-leave-the-house-i-don-t-go-out/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [The two books I've re-read more than any others are Guenter Grass's 'The Tin Drum' and Victor Hugo's 'Notre-Dame de Paris'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/the-two-books-i-ve-re-read-more-than-any-others-are-guenter-grass-s/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [There were points when I've thought about getting into landscape gardening or getting back to illustrating, but mostly with a bit of a chip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/there-were-points-when-i-ve-thought-about-getting-into-landscape/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I used to run into lampposts. That was my party trick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-used-to-run-into-lampposts-that-was-my-party-trick/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I watched the first week of 'Hell's Kitchen'. It was fascinating to see Marco Pierre White because I've only ever seen him in moody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-watched-the-first-week-of-hell-s-kitchen-it-was-fascinating-to-see/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [My only regret is that I didn't get into acting ten years earlier when I was handsome!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/my-only-regret-is-that-i-didn-t-get-into-acting-ten-years-earlier/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [From the age of 14 onwards it was really punk rock, The Clash particularly. I think I learnt more from them than I did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/from-the-age-of-14-onwards-it-was-really-punk-rock-the-clash/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I've tried, in periods of unemployment, to pick up a paintbrush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-ve-tried-in-periods-of-unemployment-to-pick-up-a-paintbrush/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I'd spent so much of my youth and twenties dying my hair bright red to either look like Ziggy Stardust or Johnny Rotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-d-spent-so-much-of-my-youth-and-twenties-dying-my-hair-bright-red/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) > [I remember lying to my producer that I'd heard Sean Penn was coming out of a different exit, just to avoid him - he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kaye/i-remember-lying-to-my-producer-that-i-d-heard-sean-penn-was-coming/) [Paul Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) [Explore all 15 Paul Kaye quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kaye/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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