--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many have changed so much that they have…" description: "\"Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps.\" — Peter Abrahams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg" --- # Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of… ![“Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps.” quote by Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg) > “Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps.” [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People become so consumed by material success that they forget the original inspiring vision that motivated them. **In simple terms:** Success can blind the original dream. Key Takeaway Recall and nurture your original aspirations. Themes ambition disillusionment dreams Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career advancement - entrepreneurship - personal growth - creative projects Key Concepts materialism identity loss nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - What original dream have you set aside? - How can you reconnect with it? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize struggle, ignoring structural barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bootstraps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bootstraps/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) ## Related quotes > [Only the magic and the dream are true — all the rest's a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/only-the-magic-and-the-dream-are-true-all-the-rest-s-a-lie/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) > [“It is a law of nature that a dream carried for too long inside you must, eventually, begin to rot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-bartlett/it-is-a-law-of-nature-that-a-dream-carried-for-too-long-inside-you/) [Neil Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-bartlett/) > [Oh, that river of wishes, the slippery crocodile dream of it, how it might have carried my body down through all the glittering sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/oh-that-river-of-wishes-the-slippery-crocodile-dream-of-it-how-it/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Dream no small dream; it lacks magic. Dream large. Then make the dream real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dream-no-small-dream-it-lacks-magic-dream-large-then-make-the-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But there was only so much worrying you could do before you just had to accept what life throws at you and move on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-bennett/but-there-was-only-so-much-worrying-you-could-do-before-you-just-had/) [Jenn Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-bennett/) > [Knowledge is soon changed, then lost in the mist, an echo half-heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/knowledge-is-soon-changed-then-lost-in-the-mist-an-echo-half-heard/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [But now old friends are acting strange They shake their heads, they say I've changed Well something's lost, but something's gained In living every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/but-now-old-friends-are-acting-strange-they-shake-their-heads-they/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Over the years I have changed myself for those around me and I have lost me along the way. Time to get back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/over-the-years-i-have-changed-myself-for-those-around-me-and-i-have/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [In life when think you found the own who has your heart then later figures out he changed and lost your heart... Well the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/in-life-when-think-you-found-the-own-who-has-your-heart-then-later/) [Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/) > [I love that in celebrating Halloween, we can get lost in the magic of make-believe and fantasy no matter what age we are!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalya-neidhart/i-love-that-in-celebrating-halloween-we-can-get-lost-in-the-magic-of/) [Natalya Neidhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalya-neidhart/) > [“And he knew that he would never come again, and that lost magic would not come again. 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'Coloured' is the South African word for the half-caste community that was a by-product…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/my-mother-was-a-member-of-the-cape-coloured-community-coloured-is-the/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [“To get from people you had to give a piece of yourself, a real piece that mattered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/to-get-from-people-you-had-to-give-a-piece-of-yourself-a-real-piece/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [For me, personally, life in South Africa had come to an end. I had been lucky in some of the whites I had met.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/for-me-personally-life-in-south-africa-had-come-to-an-end-i-had-been/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [I attended school regularly for three years. I learned to read and write. 'Lamb's Tales' from Shakespeare was my favourite reading matter. I stole,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/i-attended-school-regularly-for-three-years-i-learned-to-read-and/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [The familiar mood that awaits the sensitive young who are poor and dispossessed is a mood of sharp and painful inferiority, of violently angry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/the-familiar-mood-that-awaits-the-sensitive-young-who-are-poor-and/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [To live with the conscious knowledge of the shadow of uncertainty, with the knowledge that disaster or tragedy could strike at any time; to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/to-live-with-the-conscious-knowledge-of-the-shadow-of-uncertainty/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [“Ingrid shrugged...like Marie Antoinette hearing about the starving peasants.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/ingrid-shrugged-like-marie-antoinette-hearing-about-the-starving/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [The words dripped on my consciousness, sank into my being, and carried me away to the magic long ago of once upon a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/the-words-dripped-on-my-consciousness-sank-into-my-being-and-carried/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [“You see, love is strong. Stronger than hate even. Love is the only thing that can kill hate, nothing else. You see, hate destroys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/you-see-love-is-strong-stronger-than-hate-even-love-is-the-only-thing/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [What do you get out of hating people, out of having this bitterness in your heart always?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/what-do-you-get-out-of-hating-people-out-of-having-this-bitterness-in/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [They say life is all about connecting, like that's a good thing. But when brain and eyes are lining up you know different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/they-say-life-is-all-about-connecting-like-that-s-a-good-thing-but/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [To get from people you had to give a piece of yourself, a real piece that mattered. Just being nice was not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/to-get-from-people-you-had-to-give-a-piece-of-yourself-a-real-piece-2/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) [Explore all 20 Peter Abrahams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) ## More Bootstraps quotes > [It's an appeal as old as America and its presidency: This is an extraordinary country populated by hard-working, big-dreaming, freedom-loving people graced by God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/it-s-an-appeal-as-old-as-america-and-its-presidency-this-is-an/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pulling-ourselves-up-by-our/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/salvation-is-not-some-felicitous-state-to-which-we-can-lift-ourselves/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/if-there-is-still-an-american-dream-reading-is-one-of-the-bootstraps/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [I think everyone has some sort of connection to Gatsby as a character... he's created himself according to his own emotions and dreams and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/i-think-everyone-has-some-sort-of-connection-to-gatsby-as-a-character/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [You are not obligated to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find a way to conquer the odds, to be stronger or transform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/you-are-not-obligated-to-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-and-find/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [We live in a world where not everyone has the urge to help others... It is OK to encourage others to pull themselves up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-live-in-a-world-where-not-everyone-has-the-urge-to-help-others-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [‎It is a cruel injustice to tell a bootless man to pull himself up by his bootstraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/it-is-a-cruel-injustice-to-tell-a-bootless-man-to-pull-himself-up-by/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [President Obama is casting his lot in the middle of a debate as old as America itself: Are we rugged individualists pulling ourselves up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/president-obama-is-casting-his-lot-in-the-middle-of-a-debate-as-old/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [I don't want people who are in poverty, in pain, or suffering, to suffer because it's for their own good and they can pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-don-t-want-people-who-are-in-poverty-in-pain-or-suffering-to-suffer/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Computers bootstrap their own offspring, grow so wise and incomprehensible that their communiqués assume the hallmarks of dementia: unfocused and irrelevant to the barely-intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/computers-bootstrap-their-own-offspring-grow-so-wise-and/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [I think that now most people know someone in their family that is coping with something, but there is still a tremendous amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-think-that-now-most-people-know-someone-in-their-family-that-is/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody - a parent, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pulling-ourselves-up-by-our-2/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [I'm actually loving the soundtrack to 'The Secret Circle' that our music supervisor Liza Richardson puts together, like Washed Out and Cults, but my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-hennig/i-m-actually-loving-the-soundtrack-to-the-secret-circle-that-our/) [Shelley Hennig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-hennig/) > [I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible — I saw this guy do it once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-believe-in-pulling-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps-i-believe-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) [Browse all 40 Bootstraps quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bootstraps/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Abrahams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have-lost-the-magic-of-the-dream/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bootstraps" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have-lost-the-magic-of-the-dream/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/peter-abrahams-27567_bootstraps_many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have_3056833.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own…” — Peter Abrahams", "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": "Peter Abrahams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Many have changed so much that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have-lost-the-magic-of-the-dream/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/many-have-changed-so-much-that-they-have-lost-the-magic-of-the-dream/#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 } } ] } ```