--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You are so young, Lyra, too young to…" description: "\"“You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/philip-pullman-525_blink-of-an-eye_you-are-so-young-lyra-too-young-to-under_315875.jpg" --- # You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but… ![“You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that…” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/philip-pullman-525_blink-of-an-eye_you-are-so-young-lyra-too-young-to-under_315875.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/philip-pullman-525_blink-of-an-eye_you-are-so-young-lyra-too-young-to-under_315875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/philip-pullman-525_blink-of-an-eye_you-are-so-young-lyra-too-young-to-under_315875.jpg) > ““You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain. We bear their children, who are witches if they are female, human if not; and then in the blink of an eye they are gone, felled, slain, lost. Our sons, too. When a little boy is growing, he thinks he is immortal. His mother knows he isn't. Each time becomes more painful, until finally your heart is broken. Perhaps that is when Yambe-Akka comes for you. She is older than the tundra. Perhaps, for her, witches' lives are as brief as men's are to us.”” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is fleeting; love and loss are inevitable, and we must accept mortality and the briefness of existence. **In simple terms:** Life is short and love brings pain. Key Takeaway Embrace impermanence and cherish moments. Themes mortality love loss impermanence Mood sad reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - grieving a parent - watching children grow - reflecting on aging - accepting loss - supporting bereaved friends Key Concepts existentialism human condition spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning after loss? - What practices help you honor impermanence? A Different Perspective It may overlook the resilience and growth that can arise from loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blink of an eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blink-of-an-eye/) [Butterflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterflies/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Witches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witches/) ## Related quotes > [“Men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/men-pass-in-front-of-our-eyes-like-butterflies-creatures-of-a-brief-2/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, and clever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/men-pass-in-front-of-our-eyes-like-butterflies-creatures-of-a-brief-3/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/men-pass-in-front-of-our-eyes-like-butterflies-creatures-of-a-brief/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Time can play all sorts of tricks on you. In the blink of an eye, babies appear in carriages, coffins disappear into the ground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-selznick/time-can-play-all-sorts-of-tricks-on-you-in-the-blink-of-an-eye-2/) [Brian Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-selznick/) > [We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-like-butterflies-who-flutter-for-a-day-and-think-it-is-forever/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I love it when the snowflakes are flying like butterflies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bohjalian/i-love-it-when-the-snowflakes-are-flying-like-butterflies/) [Chris Bohjalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bohjalian/) > [“I think that positivity— real positivity— is like the butterflies. The whole essence of the butterfly: caterpillar, cocoon, winged creature. When I look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/i-think-that-positivity-real-positivity-is-like-the-butterflies-the/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [I was more of, like, into butterflies, insects, playing out in the yard, planting flowers. I was really into plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-abraham/i-was-more-of-like-into-butterflies-insects-playing-out-in-the-yard/) [Farrah Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-abraham/) > [“Cats, like butterflies, need no excuse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/cats-like-butterflies-need-no-excuse/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I think humans might be like butterflies; people die every day without many other people knowing about them, seeing their colors, hearing their stories...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/i-think-humans-might-be-like-butterflies-people-die-every-day-without/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-like-butterflies-who-flutter-for-a-day-and-think-it-is-forever-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“My thoughts are like butterflies. They are beautiful, but they fly away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-thoughts-are-like-butterflies-they-are-beautiful-but-they-fly-away/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Just like that, those butterflies I'd first felt at twelve made a reappearance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-matson/just-like-that-those-butterflies-i-d-first-felt-at-twelve-made-a/) [Morgan Matson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-matson/) > [Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/little-girls-like-butterflies-need-no-excuse/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Real girls are like butterflies; Pretty to be seen but hard to catch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-girls-are-like-butterflies-pretty-to-be-seen-but-hard-to-catch/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-don-t-need-lists-of-rights-and-wrongs-tables-of-do-s-and-don-ts-we/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-stolen-ideas-from-every-book-i-have-ever-read/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. 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And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## More Blink of an eye quotes > [Looking back at the days you were sitting next to me, feels like it would last forever. In a blink of an eye, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-el-hallab/looking-back-at-the-days-you-were-sitting-next-to-me-feels-like-it/) [Mahmoud El Hallab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-el-hallab/) > [“sleep soon!” Rapture From Temporal to Eternal In the blink of an eye. Skinned, deboned And winged to fly!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-torridon/sleep-soon-rapture-from-temporal-to-eternal-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/) [Daniel Torridon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-torridon/) > [Always tell someone how you feel, because opportunities are lost in the blink of an eye but regret can last for a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-tell-someone-how-you-feel-because-opportunities-are-lost-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“in the blink of an eye, one’s whole world could take a swan dive; the elevator from heaven to hell was a fast-moving one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sierra-rose/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-one-s-whole-world-could-take-a-swan-dive-the/) [Sierra Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sierra-rose/) > [“I am 1324512000 seconds old. In the cosmic blink of an eye, I will become once again cosmic dust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/i-am-1324512000-seconds-old-in-the-cosmic-blink-of-an-eye-i-will/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“Of knowing that there is a larger energy and force that can crush our ambitions and plans in the blink of an eye, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-j-abdul-kalam-2/of-knowing-that-there-is-a-larger-energy-and-force-that-can-crush-our/) [A.P.J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam-2/) > [When I write about "realizations," I am describing a state in which a practitioner has wisdom of who she or he is, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-targ/when-i-write-about-realizations-i-am-describing-a-state-in-which-a/) Russell Targ > [You know, the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - and when you least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/you-know-the-smallest-thing-can-change-a-life-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [It takes an 365 days to complete an year, 31 or 30daysto complete a month, 7 days to complete a week, 24 hrs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kimani/it-takes-an-365-days-to-complete-an-year-31-or-30daysto-complete-a/) [Paul Kimani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kimani/) > [“in the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-my-beauty-becomes-but-a-feast-for-worms-and-i/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [“I could heal you-" "No," he says, sharply enough that it startles me. "Everyone is dead. Gavin, Jedro, Melita... All gone. 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