--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have no idea where I am going, she…" description: "\"“I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have begun.”\" — Penelope Lively" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png" --- # I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have… ![“I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have begun.” quote by Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png) > ““I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have begun.”” [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uncertainty about the destination is offset by the momentum of having started the journey. **In simple terms:** Starting without a clear destination is okay. Key Takeaway Begin moving forward. Themes adventure uncertainty progress Mood hopeful curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - travel planning - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism motivation Questions to Reflect On - Where might you end up if you keep moving? - How does starting change your perspective? A Different Perspective Lack of direction can cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [“Which leads me to ask...what exactly are you going to do when we get there?" I thought about it. 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And when you get older, you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-never-know-what-s-going-to-happen-to-you-when-you-head-out-into/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [Everything has already begun before, the first line of the first page of every novel refers to something that has already happened outside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/everything-has-already-begun-before-the-first-line-of-the-first-page/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [I'm a vegetarian, but now, on my doctor's orders, I have begun eating egg white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeenat-aman/i-m-a-vegetarian-but-now-on-my-doctor-s-orders-i-have-begun-eating/) [Zeenat Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeenat-aman/) > [I've gotten into two fights since I've begun studying the martial arts, and each time, I was worried I'd kill the guy. One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-ve-gotten-into-two-fights-since-i-ve-begun-studying-the-martial/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I believe BMX has shaped me into who I am today, so if this journey never would have begun, then who knows the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-robinson/i-believe-bmx-has-shaped-me-into-who-i-am-today-so-if-this-journey/) [Donny Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-robinson/) > [“There's no way to slow it down now it has begun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-foxlee/there-s-no-way-to-slow-it-down-now-it-has-begun/) [Karen Foxlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-foxlee/) > [We were starting to get old before our time. I'm 10 years older than Kingy, but we'd both begun to shuffle, the knees were sore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-myers/we-were-starting-to-get-old-before-our-time-i-m-10-years-older-than/) [Dave Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-myers/) > [I had begun to write novels because of a fierce, self-serving impulse in my own heart. I had not considered the potential in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-had-begun-to-write-novels-because-of-a-fierce-self-serving-impulse/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [I've been writing songs all along, and since moving to Nashville in the late-'80s, I'd begun writing something like 15-20 songs a year, instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-leadon/i-ve-been-writing-songs-all-along-and-since-moving-to-nashville-in/) Bernie Leadon > [I have always believed that if you need to take your clothes off to get your man, you've begun to lose the battle. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/i-have-always-believed-that-if-you-need-to-take-your-clothes-off-to/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) > [“Begin the fun, the fun's begun. One for all, and all for one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-chester/begin-the-fun-the-fun-s-begun-one-for-all-and-all-for-one/) Laura Chester > [It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/it-s-a-bore-b-o-r-e-when-you-find-you-ve-begun-to-rot/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [“My life has begun to feel like an epilogue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-life-has-begun-to-feel-like-an-epilogue/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) ## More by Penelope Lively > [“I know quite well why I became a historian… It was because dissension was frowned upon when I was a child: 'Don't argue, Claudia,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-know-quite-well-why-i-became-a-historian-it-was-because-dissension/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I've always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresey. Shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-question-is-shall-it-or-shall-it-not-be-linear-history-i-ve/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/there-s-a-preoccupation-with-memory-and-the-operation-of-memory-and-a/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“He felt marvellously conscious of the moment, of here and now, of this day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/he-felt-marvellously-conscious-of-the-moment-of-here-and-now-of-this/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [People die, but money never does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/people-die-but-money-never-does/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“But her thoughts are often of the past. That evanescent, pervasive, slippery internal landscape known to no one else, that vast accretion of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/but-her-thoughts-are-often-of-the-past-that-evanescent-pervasive/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Unless I am a part of everything I am nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/unless-i-am-a-part-of-everything-i-am-nothing/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/getting-to-know-someone-else-involves-curiosity-about-where-they-have/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life; things happen differently for a beautiful woman than for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-intrigued-by-the-way-in-which-physical-appearance-can-often/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there is a raft of writers to whom I return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/since-then-i-have-just-read-and-read-but-that-said-i-suppose-there-is/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“I have a print - you can buy them at the Victoria and Albert Museum - of a photograph of the village street of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-a-print-you-can-buy-them-at-the-victoria-and-albert-museum-of/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Every novel generates its own climate, when you get going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/every-novel-generates-its-own-climate-when-you-get-going/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The power of language. Preserving the ephemeral; giving form to dreams, permanence to sparks of sunlight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-power-of-language-preserving-the-ephemeral-giving-form-to-dreams/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I wanted a structure whereby each of the main characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/conventional-forms-of-narrative-allow-for-different-points-of-view/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) [Explore all 118 Penelope Lively quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## More Begun quotes > [“My life has begun to feel like an epilogue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-life-has-begun-to-feel-like-an-epilogue/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/it-s-a-bore-b-o-r-e-when-you-find-you-ve-begun-to-rot/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [“Begin the fun, the fun's begun. One for all, and all for one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-chester/begin-the-fun-the-fun-s-begun-one-for-all-and-all-for-one/) Laura Chester > [I have always believed that if you need to take your clothes off to get your man, you've begun to lose the battle. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/i-have-always-believed-that-if-you-need-to-take-your-clothes-off-to/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) > [I've been writing songs all along, and since moving to Nashville in the late-'80s, I'd begun writing something like 15-20 songs a year, instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-leadon/i-ve-been-writing-songs-all-along-and-since-moving-to-nashville-in/) Bernie Leadon > [I had begun to write novels because of a fierce, self-serving impulse in my own heart. I had not considered the potential in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-had-begun-to-write-novels-because-of-a-fierce-self-serving-impulse/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We were starting to get old before our time. I'm 10 years older than Kingy, but we'd both begun to shuffle, the knees were sore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-myers/we-were-starting-to-get-old-before-our-time-i-m-10-years-older-than/) [Dave Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-myers/) > [“There's no way to slow it down now it has begun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-foxlee/there-s-no-way-to-slow-it-down-now-it-has-begun/) [Karen Foxlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-foxlee/) > [I believe BMX has shaped me into who I am today, so if this journey never would have begun, then who knows the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-robinson/i-believe-bmx-has-shaped-me-into-who-i-am-today-so-if-this-journey/) [Donny Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-robinson/) > [I've gotten into two fights since I've begun studying the martial arts, and each time, I was worried I'd kill the guy. One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-ve-gotten-into-two-fights-since-i-ve-begun-studying-the-martial/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I'm a vegetarian, but now, on my doctor's orders, I have begun eating egg white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeenat-aman/i-m-a-vegetarian-but-now-on-my-doctor-s-orders-i-have-begun-eating/) [Zeenat Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeenat-aman/) > [Everything has already begun before, the first line of the first page of every novel refers to something that has already happened outside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/everything-has-already-begun-before-the-first-line-of-the-first-page/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [I've begun to think like a Jew, to feel like a Jew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-ve-begun-to-think-like-a-jew-to-feel-like-a-jew/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Once a job it has begun, do not stop until it's done. Whether it is big or small, do it well or not all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-grylls/once-a-job-it-has-begun-do-not-stop-until-it-s-done-whether-it-is-big/) [Bear Grylls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-grylls/) > [The Founders were anything but demigods to themselves and their contemporaries, who recognized full well that the experiment in self-government had only begun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/the-founders-were-anything-but-demigods-to-themselves-and-their/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) Browse all 190 Begun quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have begun.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Penelope Lively" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thought-but-i-have-begun/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Begun" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thought-but-i-have-begun/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/penelope-lively-3959_begun_i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thou_1954866.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have no idea where I am going, she thought, but I have begun.” — Penelope Lively", "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": "Penelope Lively", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have no idea where I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thought-but-i-have-begun/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-no-idea-where-i-am-going-she-thought-but-i-have-begun/#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 } } ] } ```