--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My life has been a disaster on the grand…" description: "\"“My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd better make clear from the start. A catalogue of my former ambitions would give a Napoleon s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg" --- # My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd… ![“My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd better make clear from the start. A catalogue of my former ambitions would give a Napoleon stage-fright. Art, Ethics, Theology, the Sciences (both practical and occult), even Perception itself, to say nothing of my later efforts at Empire…” quote by Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg) > ““My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd better make clear from the start. A catalogue of my former ambitions would give a Napoleon stage-fright. Art, Ethics, Theology, the Sciences (both practical and occult), even Perception itself, to say nothing of my later efforts at Empire Building, Commerce and Exploration - each of these were at some stage fields which I intended to master. My personality accepted no limits; all that could be conceived was possible. For me, personally. And now, even when I've come to the point where all personal considerations disgust me, I still realise the sublime inevitability of it all. I wasn't mistaken; I was merely trapped. Born trapped. Condemned for the length of a lifetime to play this buffoon Arthur Rimbaud. Yes, it's true what I always used to think when I was a kid: I is another.”” [Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) ## 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 life of grand, unfulfilled ambition across many domains, feeling trapped by an innate drive to master everything, leading to existential disillusionment. **In simple terms:** Overreaching ambition yields existential emptiness. Key Takeaway Boundless ambition can become a self-imposed prison. Themes hubris existentialism self-identity ambition disillusionment nihilism Mood melancholic reflective cynical Type personal confession philosophical musing When to use this quote - reflecting on a career of varied pursuits - contemplating personal failure - discussing the cost of overambition - exploring identity crises - examining the paradox of desire Key Concepts personal limits mastery vs. satisfaction theatre of self inevitability of failure Practical Applications - philosophical counseling - creative writing analysis Questions to Reflect On - What drives a person to pursue mastery in so many fields? - How does recognizing one's own limits alter the pursuit of greatness? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arthur-rimbaud/) [Born Trapped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-trapped-653099/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rimbaud/) [Rimbaud Yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rimbaud-yes-653101/) [Trapped Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapped-born-653100/) ## Related quotes > [“The poet makes himself a seer through a long, tremendous, planned detachment of all his senses. All the forms of love, of suffering, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbauld/the-poet-makes-himself-a-seer-through-a-long-tremendous-planned/) [Arthur Rimbauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbauld/) > [I learned a lot from Arthur Rimbaud. People talk about how he wanted to be a seer and do that through the derangement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-learned-a-lot-from-arthur-rimbaud-people-talk-about-how-he-wanted/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Arthur Rimbaud was a disreputable, mean, ruthless, perverse, hateful wretch. He was also one of the greatest poets who ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-sokolov/arthur-rimbaud-was-a-disreputable-mean-ruthless-perverse-hateful/) [Raymond Sokolov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-sokolov/) > [When I was a teenager, I had trouble getting a boyfriend, so I imagined Arthur Rimbaud or Bob Dylan as my boyfriend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-had-trouble-getting-a-boyfriend-so-i-imagined/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Amadeus Mozart is to music something like Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was to literature. They are people who created something that nobody before them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-macron/amadeus-mozart-is-to-music-something-like-jean-nicolas-arthur-rimbaud/) [Emmanuel Macron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-macron/) > [I would say there are different kinds of poems. There are things that poets in the history of poetry hit upon when they're very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-would-say-there-are-different-kinds-of-poems-there-are-things-that/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Some of us are born rebellious. Like Jean Genet or Arthur Rimbaud, I roam these mean streets like a villain, a vagabond, an outcast,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/some-of-us-are-born-rebellious-like-jean-genet-or-arthur-rimbaud-i/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“In winter we’ll travel in a little pink carriage With cushions of blue. We’ll be fine. A nest of mad kisses waits In each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/in-winter-we-ll-travel-in-a-little-pink-carriage-with-cushions-of/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [All of my role models, whether it was the disciples, or John the Baptist or Arthur Rimbaud, slept under the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/all-of-my-role-models-whether-it-was-the-disciples-or-john-the/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [ Hopefully I can inspire lots of people to learn about \[Patti Smith\], to read poetry or learn about William Blake or Arthur Rimbaud. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-sebring/hopefully-i-can-inspire-lots-of-people-to-learn-about-patti-smith-to/) [Steven Sebring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-sebring/) > [When Rimbaud became a slave trader, he stopped writing poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/when-rimbaud-became-a-slave-trader-he-stopped-writing-poetry/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [“At nineteen Rimbaud reminded us To despair: there was nothing more to do, Hell was closed for all seasons, And for all practical purposes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-f-lacaba/at-nineteen-rimbaud-reminded-us-to-despair-there-was-nothing-more-to/) [Jose F. Lacaba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-f-lacaba/) > [“What am I doing here? Rimbaud writing home from Ethiopia”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/what-am-i-doing-here-rimbaud-writing-home-from-ethiopia/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“If the mystery can be reduced to one solution, it lies in a simple coincidence: Rimbaud's interest in his own work had survived the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-robb/if-the-mystery-can-be-reduced-to-one-solution-it-lies-in-a-simple/) [Graham Robb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-robb/) > [ “We must change life,' the poet \[Rimbaud\] had written, and so the Situationists set out to transform everyday life in the modern world through… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-must-change-life-the-poet-rimbaud-had-written-and-so-the/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) ## More by Paul Strathern > [“As a consequence of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, the questions once asked by philosophy have now passed into the realms of poetry. The way poetry is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/as-a-consequence-of-wittgenstein-s-philosophy-the-questions-once/) [Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) > [“I'd like to hear your opinion on this piece of Beethoven. And remember, it is not Beethoven who is being examined here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/i-d-like-to-hear-your-opinion-on-this-piece-of-beethoven-and-remember/) [Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) > [“Whilst in the process of losing all his money, Cardano noticed that his opponent had marked the cards. Whereupon he leapt up, slashed his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/whilst-in-the-process-of-losing-all-his-money-cardano-noticed-that/) [Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) > [“Ultimately Russell himself admitted that he made his greatest efforts in the field of traditional philosophy – in epistemology, the search for the ultimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/ultimately-russell-himself-admitted-that-he-made-his-greatest-efforts/) [Paul Strathern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) [Explore all 5 Paul Strathern quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. 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. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd better make clear from the start. A catalogue of my former ambitions would give a Napoleon stage-fright. Art, Ethics, Theology, the Sciences (both practical and occult), even Perception itself, to say nothing of my later efforts at Empire Building, Commerce and Exploration - each of these were at some stage fields which I intended to master. My personality accepted no limits; all that could be conceived was possible. For me, personally. And now, even when I've come to the point where all personal considerations disgust me, I still realise the sublime inevitability of it all. I wasn't mistaken; I was merely trapped. Born trapped. Condemned for the length of a lifetime to play this buffoon Arthur Rimbaud. Yes, it's true what I always used to think when I was a kid: I is another.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Strathern" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand-scale-that-i-d-better-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand-scale-that-i-d-better-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8a/paul-strathern-60104_life_my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand_44031.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My life has been a disaster on the grand scale - that I'd better make clear from the start. A catalogue of…” — Paul Strathern", "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": "Paul Strathern", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strathern/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“My life has been a disaster...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand-scale-that-i-d-better-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strathern/my-life-has-been-a-disaster-on-the-grand-scale-that-i-d-better-make/#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 } } ] } ```